- I'm Coyote Peterson, and today we're on the search
for the elusive water anole.
I got one right here off this ledge!
Oh god!
(fast, dramatic music)
From a bird's eye view, the rain forests of Costa Rica
seem to be nothing but endless treetops.
Drop beneath the canopy and you will find that
the terrain is incredibly rugged,
yet intricately laced with miles of canyons
cut into the wild by flowing water.
(exhales) Wow.
This environment is seriously challenging.
Everything is so slippery, and all the rocks
are sharp and jagged.
It's almost like controlled falling.
You do everything you can not to hurt yourself.
Right, well we're working our way up through this canyon,
and hopefully that's where we're gonna find
the water anole.
When it comes to the Osa Peninsula,
the landscape is absolutely epic.
And the biodiversity that thrives in this remote paradise
is an animal enthusiast's dream come true.
The Brave Wilderness team and I have embarked upon
many grand adventures,
but nothing would push us to the limit like our quest to
find one of the rarest lizards in the country.
A tiny dragon that can only be found
deep in the heart of the rain forest.
Look at that.
That's a baby one.
Wow, I'm gonna try to grab him.
Got him.
Look at that.
Well, we found one.
It's just really really tiny.
That is a baby water anole right there.
All right, we're gonna put this little guy
back on his leaf.
Try to find one of his big brothers.
Encountering a juvenile water anole was a definite sign
that we were headed in the right direction.
But then, the rain hit.
(rain falling on camera lens)
For nearly two hours we hiked through a torrential downpour.
And with the main cameras packed away,
GoPros captured the journey
as we navigated the dense jungle.
Our destination, a remote waterfall that was rumored to be
the one place on the Osa Peninsula where
the largest water anoles could be found.
Local guides talked about these lizards as if they were
mythical rain forest dragons.
Creatures of the shadows
that could spring from cliff-sides and disappear
into the watery abyss in the blink of an eye.
Just to see one would be rare.
To capture one would be epic.
In the distance the sound of falling water
echoed through the canyon.
And as we rounded the bend, before I knew it,
we had entered the dragon's lair.
(water splashing into the gorge)
I got one right here off this ledge.
Hold on.
Oh god!
- [Voiceover] Nice catch. - Yes!
Whoo! Look at that!
- [Voiceover] Beauty. - And it is a male!
Look at that dewlap, watch this.
Oh, yes.
The elusive water anole, there it is.
All right, I imagine you probably don't want to film
next to this waterfall.
Let's bring him back into the better light,
and get him up close for the cameras.
Yes! We finally got one!
Oh, look at that.
That is a water anole.
You guys have no idea how much effort it has taken to
land ourselves in this canyon
and find one of these elusive lizards
We've been hiking for hours,
we've been dealing with rainstorms.
Got a waterfall, and finally as I came across that turn,
shining with my flashlight and said, this is the moment.
That is a male, that is the one that I have to catch.
Now, this lizard as an anole, you may be thinking,
"Ah, Coyote, we've seen so many anoles," but trust me.
You have not seen an anole like this.
This lizard is incredibly well-adapted for
this water ecosystem.
What they will do, and fortunately for me I was
quicker than he was, they'll wait on the edges of the canyon
like that, and as soon as a predator gets close,
they dive off of the wall, into the water,
and find a crevice to go into.
They sit there and they wait until the danger's gone,
then (bubbling sound) they emerge back up and
go about their daily business.
- [Voiceover] Wait, how do they go again?
- (bubbling sound)
They emerge back up, and go about their daily business.
Now, ha, let me catch my composure because this was
such a tough lizard to catch, my hand is actually shaking.
We did catch a female earlier,
and they're a bit smaller than the males, but.
Look what he's doing, you see that?
He's being completely limp in my hand because he wants me to
think that he's dead.
He's not, trust me, at any second he could go blop,
just like that, and launch off of my hand.
I can't do that for too long, because he'll realize
that I don't have a good hold on him, oop, come here.
- [Voiceover] And do that. - And do that.
Try to spring off, but let's take a look at
this lizard's camouflage,
because they are incredibly cryptic.
I was only able to spot him with my flashlight because
the striping and those little yellow dots
are what stood out.
He looks just like the mosses and the lichens
that are covering these rocks.
You're very good at camouflaging, buddy, you know that?
But if you look at him from the side,
you can see that bluish stripe that
runs down the length of the body.
Incredibly beautiful, kinda reminds me of a Dilophosaur
from Jurassic Park.
Now you guys want to see this lizard's dewlap?
- [Voiceover] Yep. - It is pretty cool.
All right, get ready for this.
This is the coolest part of this lizard.
Now because this is a male, all male anoles have a dewlap.
And they are absolutely beautiful.
And this doesn't hurt the lizard in any whatsoever.
- [Voiceover] Wow.
- Look at that.
Now what they use the dewlap for is to attract the ladies.
So this gentleman will puff up his chest,
extend out his dewlap, and then he'll bob up and down
and say, "Ladies? How good lookin' am I?"
And that he is, one handsome little fella.
Aside from being incredibly handsome,
there you go buddy,
he is also a really great hunter.
What they're out here looking for, pretty much
any little invertebrate they can come across,
but they specialize in catching water nymphs.
And of course, because they're adapted for water,
they go down in there, look for their food, grab a meal,
bring it up onto the sides of the canyons, and have a feast.
So, he has a pretty limited diet
in an environment like this, but as you can see this lizard
looks incredibly healthy.
It's about average size for a male.
The males are a slight bit bigger than the females.
Yeah, I see you, I know, you're an excellent hunter.
And he's a little discouraged right now
because he was caught by a potential predator.
Now these lizards are really well-adapted to
this canyon waterfall ecosystem.
And their skin is actually really hydrophobic,
which means that water will bead up on it and run right off.
Let me grab a handful of water and show you
what that look like, hold on a second.
Check this out.
We'll drip some water down on him.
Look at that, you see how the water just beads up,
and runs right off?
- [Voiceover] So he's staying dry, and we're soaked.
- He's much drier than I am right now.
I'm soaked having to go into that waterfall to
catch this lizard.
And right now this guy just wants to get back up
onto the rocks so he can continue hunting.
But what an awesome adventure to get down here
into the canyon and catch the elusive water anole.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
Every time we deploy into the wild,
Mother Nature tests us with some
seemingly impossible challenges.
And there are certainly times where the team and I
have wanted to give up.
To throw in the towel and say, "You know what?
"This episode just isn't going to happen."
But this is Breaking Trail, so when the going gets tough,
the Brave Wilderness team gets going.
And Mother Nature always rewards hard work
with something spectacular.
To this day, I still can't believe that we actually caught
a rain forest dragon.
(dramatic music)
If you thought this adventure was epic,
go back and watch our expedition that led to
the capture of a beautiful yet toxic little amphibian,
the poison frog.
And don't forget, subscribe to join me and the crew
on this season of Breaking Trail.