- I can get this one.
(water splashing)
- [Observer] Right here, right here.
(intriguing adventure music)
Still up, Coyote, right here.
- Oh, my goodness.
- [Male Spokesperson] Nice Cooter turtle.
- [Coyote] Wow.
(old movie film rolling)
(drumming adventure music)
(crackling)
(deep, mysterious music)
- [Narrator] Since the dawn of mankind,
stories have been the fuel
responsible for igniting our imaginations.
Many tales are centered around some type of legend.
And whether based in historical fact
or unauthenticated lore,
it's these so-called legends that stoke our imaginations
and cause them to burn wild.
I was once privy to a legend,
the tale of a man that licked a frog
in the name of science.
- Ah, ah.
- [Narrator] However, unlike most fairytales
the end to this story was not concluded
that fine frog-licking day.
Instead of a happy ending,
the power possessed from the poison of that frog,
metamorphosized, this once somewhat sane man
into an unspeakable creature
that lurked amongst our planet's muddy swamps,
and rolling riverbeds.
Hold on tight little ones,
because this is the legend of the Pantanal Frogman.
♪ Pan ♪
- Bog.
♪ Tan ♪
♪ Al ♪
♪ Pantanal ♪
♪ Frogman ♪
(mysterious orchestral notes)
- Ribbet, ribbet.
Ribbet.
(splashing)
(bubbling)
(bullfrogs croaking)
- What's going on, Coyote Pack?
It's a dark, eerie night here in Texas.
And we're heading out into these dark waters,
to try to find some nocturnal creatures.
To be able to do this, I'm taking on the full form
of the Pantanal Frogman.
(mysterious strumming music)
Now we had some rain move through earlier today,
which is fantastic.
It's got all the animals moving right now.
I do see some fish.
Musk turtle.
- [Male Spokesperson] Get that turtle.
(splashing)
Yes, look at that!
(eerily laughing)
First creature of the night.
That is Razor-back musk turtle, I think.
I can't see it too good.
Let's come up here on shore and take a look.
Whew!
The Razor-backed musk turtle.
The musk turtle gets its name
from a very pungent musk that they will release
when they feel threatened.
And right now this turtle is not releasing any musk,
which means you're rather comfortable.
You're not even tucking into your shell.
The name Razor-backed musk turtle,
in part also comes from the ridges
that run right down the center of the carapace.
When these turtles are juveniles,
and this is what I would consider a full grown adult.
But when they're juveniles,
those ridges are much more prominent, very well pronounced,
almost look like the blades of a saw.
That's where they get the name Razor-back.
Now similar to snapping turtles,
they have a rather small plastron,
which as we know is the bottom of the shell.
And they can not completely
tuck their arms, legs and head in.
And while they're not related to snapping turtles,
the reason that they've developed this ability
to secrete that musk is to ward off predators.
Now if threatened, they can give
a pretty painful little bite.
You can see the hook on the underside of that jaw,
not too much of a hook on the top of the beak.
But the underside, if that catches onto your finger,
it will definitely take a chunk out of you, that's for sure.
You are just the cutest little turtle.
In the real hot months of summer like this,
these turtles will stay hunkered down during the day,
but it's at night when they will come out
and start to do their hunting.
I imagine this turtle was forging along for small tadpoles,
fish, and maybe even frogs, small frogs,
if it could come across it.
Alright, let's let this little turtle go
and see what else we can find.
- [Narrator] Good get.
(deep orchestral tones)
- That water's way too deep to catch gar in.
My cousin, the bullfrog,
relative to the Pantanal Frogman, saw me,
swam way out into the deep water.
No chance of gettin' that guy.
There's a Cooter, there's a Cooter.
- [Narrator] Get that turtle.
(mysterious, moving music)
- Ah, missed him.
- [Narrator] Too slow.
- It's a lot deeper out there than it looks.
I actually got real close to him.
Then he realized I was just behind him,
and he went, boom, like a bullet.
Ah, that was close.
That'd been a great one.
That was a Cooter, which is a big turtle.
A lotta of these fish, look like they're already asleep.
There's a Cooter, another Cooter right there.
Yeah, it's not onto us yet.
I can get this one.
(water splashing)
Don't move, don't move.
- [Narrator] Round two.
(adventurous orchestral music)
Get that turtle.
(water splashing)
- [Frogman] Reh, reh, reh, reh.
Ah.
- [Narrator] It's getting away.
- [Observer] Ooh look, Coyote right here, right here.
- Got him.
They are so slippery underwater,
Yes, that's one wild turtle catch right there.
Okay, let's go back up to the shore and take a look.
That is one good looking Cooter right there.
Oh my goodness.
- [Narrator] Nice Cooter turtle.
- Wow.
Believe it or not, that's a first time,
I have ever caught a Cooter.
Look at that turtle.
Now these are oftentimes,
easily mistaken for red-eared sliders,
but as you can see, much larger and beautiful coloration.
Look at the yellow striping,
that runs all down the length of the face and forearms.
And then the carapace is absolutely stunning.
This turtle is unbelievably slippery.
That is such a cool turtle.
Look at the weird design to the nose.
Now as compared to a painted turtle or a red-eared slider,
which has a much more prominent nose,
this has a very stumped piggy looking nose.
And you can see this turtle's rather gregarious,
keeping its arms and legs tucked in.
Oh, there we go.
Now you're gonna swim? You're gonna swim in the air.
It's actually the best way to hold onto this turtle.
You can see I'm balancing it beneath on its plastron
and the legs can't actually reach me.
Wow, look at the beak.
It almost looks as if this turtle has teeth.
It has serrated beak.
That is crazy.
I've never seen anything like that.
Certainly not a turtle that I'd want to get bitten by.
This thing could get you a serious chomp.
Now in comparing this Cooter,
to the turtle that we caught earlier,
the Razor-backed musk turtle,
the design is quite a bit different.
You'll notice how large the Cooter is,
as compared to the musk turtle.
And when we looked at the most turtle,
it had a very small plastron and remember,
its appendages could not actually tuck into its shell.
But that's completely the opposite with the Cooter.
Look how far those rear legs and front legs
are capable of tucking in.
Even an alligator
would have a hard time eating a turtle like this.
It would have to be a very big alligator,
to be able to chop through the shell.
Anything under the length of four feet, alligator wise,
it's likely not going to try to eat a turtle like this.
Now the streamlined design of the carapace,
you can see it has these ridges.
Almost looks like a fighter jet,
and that allows the turtle to perfectly, hydro-dynamically
move itself through the water.
Wow.
Well, how cool is that?
(deep sigh)
Turned myself into the Pantanal Frogman
for a night of catching unique turtles.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see on the next adventure.
All right, Cooter, time to get you back into the water.
(gentle, rolling piano music)
- [Narrator] No one really knows
what happened to the Frogman after that night.
He finally caught a Cooter,
but legend says that if you are under a full moon
in the swamps of Southeastern Texas,
that sometimes you can hear him calling.
- [Frogman] Bar, bar.
- [Narrator] So until next time,
just make sure that's only a mere bullfrog
you hear walloping when wandering around a swamp at night.
For the Pantanal Frogman stirs and awaits.
(deescalating adventurous music)
(booming)
- [Frogman] Bareh.
(wolf howling)