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  • - I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to enter

  • the pinch zone with the stag beetle.

  • One,

  • two,

  • three.

  • (yelling)

  • (tribal music)

  • Oh, oh, look at this, look at this.

  • - [Crew Member] You got something?

  • - Look at that, that's a stag beetle.

  • Mario!

  • - [Mario] Yeah?

  • - I've got a stag beetle.

  • - [Mario] Okay.

  • - Bring that little bug container up here,

  • we've got film with this.

  • - [Mario] Okay, yeah, I'll give him the container.

  • - [Crew Member] You got it in your backpack?

  • - [Mario] Yep.

  • - That's a stag beetle, some sort of stag beetle,

  • there's many different species, wow.

  • Try to climb up here.

  • Just filming B roll, getting these extra shots,

  • and sure enough we come around the back side

  • of this log and there is an enormous beetle.

  • I'm just gonna go ahead and pick it up.

  • Come here buddy, oh don't get pinched, don't get pinched.

  • Wow he's strong.

  • Got it, whoa, that's crazy.

  • Wow, yeah, check this out.

  • You guys can see this, I'm showing you B roll shots.

  • This environment's really tough to walk around in,

  • but this is perfect beetle territory,

  • with all this decomposing wood.

  • - Here. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

  • Just grab a piece of moss or something, yeah that's perfect.

  • Good thing we had this little bug carrier with us.

  • There you go buddy, oh he's pinching onto it.

  • Nice!

  • - [Crew Member] You got it?

  • - Oo, great find. - Yeah, yeah stag beetle.

  • - [Crew Member] Nice.

  • - We'll bring it down and lets get a little scene with it.

  • - [Mario] Alright, I'm gonna put him in my backpack.

  • - [Coyote] Yeah.

  • - [Man] Good save.

  • - [Coyote] Wow, I consider it a big one, right?

  • - Yeah that's big.

  • - Alright, down we go.

  • (tense music)

  • Whoa.

  • Yes, stag beetle, this is so cool.

  • Definitely a creature that we have not featured,

  • on the channel before.

  • Alright, let's find a good spot

  • to set up, and then we'll get a scene.

  • Check this out Mark, this thing is super cool, look at that.

  • - [Mark] Oh whoa!

  • - [Coyote] Yeah, right.

  • - [Mark] Check that out, here pull it

  • out of the container real quick.

  • - [Coyote] Watch your fingers though, watch your fingers.

  • He's kind of tangled up inside of this.

  • Oh, oh, oh, hold on there buddy, look at that, right.

  • - [Mark] Great stag.

  • - [Coyote] Pretty cool.

  • Whoa, whoa, whoa.

  • Alright, here, let's just get him back in the container,

  • grab him by the thorax there, Mario.

  • - [Mario] With the whole thing?

  • - [Coyote] No, just put him in like that,

  • 'cause he's just gonna grip onto that stuff.

  • Sweet, okay, cool.

  • I just wanted him to be on that

  • for coming down the hillside.

  • - Nice, dude. - Dude.

  • - Nice climbing Mario, that was awesome.

  • - I guess filming B roll pays off,

  • and now we're gonna get another episode, this is great.

  • - [Mark] Alright, cool, lets go over here into the light.

  • - Yeah, better light, woo.

  • Alright cool, this is a good spot.

  • Much better light, super dark up there in the forest.

  • This is the Brave Wilderness Adventure Kit, bug container.

  • We brought it out for some product photography,

  • and putting it to good use.

  • This was perfect because I didn't want to try to

  • slide down the hill with this beetle in my fingers.

  • If I drop it, it's gonna disappear into the underbrush.

  • What a cool find.

  • Alright, I'm gonna set this down, and take the bug out.

  • I put a little leaf in there,

  • so he wouldn't bounce around while I was walking.

  • - [Mario] You up for the reveal?

  • - Yeah, yeah, yeah, you ready, alright here we go.

  • Oh, he's hanging on, there we go buddy,

  • oh ya, grip onto that leaf, there we go.

  • - [Mario] Oh man.

  • - [Coyote] Oh, what a big guy.

  • - [Mario] Whoa, you can really see it now.

  • - Right, alright, now I'm gonna get that leaf off of there.

  • Come on, let go of that leaf.

  • Oh they are so strong, look at that,

  • I could just rip that leaf apart, and it just shreds up.

  • - [Mario] He's not letting go of that leaf.

  • - There we go, there we go.

  • Now those little legs are like grappling hooks,

  • so what I'm gonna do is,

  • place it on my finger, maybe it will just stay right there.

  • It's going to hook on and hopefully we can get this scene.

  • You gonna hold on?

  • Oh, balancing act, here get this little leg out.

  • There we go, now he's happy.

  • Now the male stag beetles are much larger,

  • and much more defined than the females.

  • This is, ow, no pinching, this is without question, a male.

  • There are many species of stag beetles,

  • and I said this to the GoPro,

  • when I was up there catching it,

  • I'm not sure exactly what species this is.

  • We're gonna have to look it up.

  • But it is without question, a stag beetle of some sort.

  • They get that name, oo oo, come here,

  • oh he's hooking on again,

  • they get that name from those front mandibles.

  • If you zoom in on him, there Mario,

  • you can see that they almost look

  • like the antlers of a deer.

  • They look very intimidating, right?

  • And you may be thinking to yourself,

  • wow I bet this beetle can give you a very powerful pinch.

  • Let's see bad how the pinch of the stag beetle really is.

  • You guys ready?

  • - [Mario] If you're ready.

  • Oh you're just going right for it?

  • - I'm going right for it but I'll give you

  • the classic intro, you ready?

  • I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to enter

  • the pinch zone with the stag beetle.

  • One,

  • two,

  • three.

  • (yelling)

  • He did pinch pretty good there,

  • but not powerful enough to break skin.

  • Now, actually, what will get you more

  • than the pinchers, is the little grappling hook like legs.

  • Go ahead and zoom in there, they have all these tiny hooks

  • that almost look like fish hooks,

  • and when they grapple onto your skin, they dig in.

  • When you try to pull the insect off of you,

  • it just locks in place.

  • That's actually more painful than the mandible pinch.

  • It appears as if they would use those mandibles

  • to catch and kill their prey, to crush it, to pinch it,

  • but these insects are actually herbivores,

  • they eat nectar and fruits.

  • Now during the breeding season they use those stags,

  • for not only display but also to battle

  • against other males for the rights to a breeding territory.

  • The body design of this insect is just so cool.

  • As you guys know, insects break down into three parts,

  • the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

  • If I turn the beetle up like this, look at its head,

  • it almost appears as if it's wearing a helmet.

  • And when you look at those mandibles,

  • you can see why this is such an intimidating little insect.

  • Look off to the side here, you see these little antenna?

  • It almost appears as if they're fingers,

  • just at the tip, those are little chemical sensory organs

  • that help them investigate their environment.

  • If I also hold the beetle like this

  • and you zoom in real tight,

  • you can see all these goldish hairs running

  • over the course of the exoskeleton.

  • Now, holding the beetle like this, I actually

  • have to exert quite a bit of power,

  • because of how strong this insect is.

  • Now, pound for pound, the stag beetle is one of the most

  • powerful insects on the planet.

  • The exoskeleton is incredibly rigid,

  • really strong, really hard, it's like armor plating.

  • It would be very tough to squish this beetle.

  • They are actually capable of flying.

  • Can you see these two protective shields over the abdomen?

  • There are actually wings underneath there.

  • Because this insect is so heavily bodied,

  • it cannot fly long distances, but if it needs to move

  • from spot to spot quickly, it can do that.

  • Of course, often times to escape something

  • like a predator or to move from

  • territory to territory during breeding season.

  • You can see it's just investigating my arm right now,

  • and using those grappling hook-like appendages to hold on.

  • Now, this time of year between September and October,

  • you will see these beetles moving about,

  • getting ready for breeding season,

  • but they die shortly after.

  • They actually only have a lifespan of about a year,

  • from larva or grub state to adult,

  • when they emerge and then breed.

  • There are a number of different beetle species

  • that live here in Japan, in fact

  • beetles are considered little cultural icons.

  • People collect beetles, people trade beetles,

  • they are highly regarded in Japanese culture,

  • as just this cool little insect

  • that only comes out once a year,

  • and people certainly admire them for what they are.

  • Pretty cool, right?

  • - [Mario] Oh yeah.

  • - Man, what an awesome little bug.

  • Alright, well let's get this guy back up into the underbrush

  • so he can continue his day searching for nectar.

  • I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild.

  • We'll see ya on the next adventure.

  • (playful music)

  • Alright, it is time for the climb

  • back up the hillside, to release the beetle.

  • Alright, come here little buddy.

  • There he goes.

  • If you thought getting pinched by this giant beetle

  • was entertaining, make sure to go back

  • and watch the episode where I was pinched

  • by its Costa Rican cousin, ouch, that one was painful.

  • And don't forget, subscribe and click the notification bell

  • so you can join me and the crew on our next wild adventure.

- I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to enter

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