(water splashing)
- Whoa, whoa, Mark
check this out.
Oh, look at that!
Ah, there it is, ah.
- [Mark] What is
this, what is that?
- [Coyote] Oh, gross.
Nice, actually,
that's not an eel.
(upbeat drum music)
Our planet is teaming with life.
Whether on land, deep in the
water or above us in the air.
Many of the creatures
that we have come across
on our adventures, often
feel like long lost friends.
But there are some
encounters that are so slimy,
so bizarre and so strange that
I just can't help but wonder
if these animals
are actually aliens.
Today we are going to count down
the top five most
alien looking creatures
we have featured on the
Brave Wilderness channel.
But before we begin,
let's take a look
at some of the other
worldly moments
that didn't quite make the cut.
- [Mark] I don't even know
what to say about this.
It's like a combination
of a sea urchin,
a sea star, an octopus.
- [Coyote] It's like
many things all at once.
But on the underside,
look at that,
looks just like a
scorpion or a spider.
- [Mark] it's camouflage
is incredible.
- [Coyote] That is
amazing, okay, look at
how he can almost morph
the shape of his body
to fit all of these
little plants.
And these guys have an
incredible defensive posture.
Look at that, they will not
back down, that is for sure.
It kinda looks
like a caterpillar
that has a bunch
of spikes on it.
Now on the underside,
right there in the middle,
that's its mouth but
it's also its butt.
Many of the animals we
seek are quite elusive.
And one order in
particular, the Urodela,
is always a challenge to get
up close for the cameras.
These creatures are better
known as salamanders.
We've even entered dark,
spider-ridden caves
just to get a glimpse of them.
- [Mark] I got a glipse, right
here beside of those rocks.
That is a cave
salamander, you see it?
- [Coyote] Other species
have required us to travel
around the world to
find and feature.
There he goes.
But one salamander specifically
was so strange and so unlike
any salamander I had seen before
that I actually
misidentified it as an eel.
Coming in at number five
is the slimy crayfish
hunting amphibian
known as the amphiuma.
(upbeat music)
Amphiuma, (water splashing)
oh guys an eel, eel!
(suspenseful music)
- [Mark] Got something?
- I got it, I got it, I got it!
- [Mark] What do you got?
- It's an eel, right in
the bottom of the net.
Wow, that is so cool.
- [Mark] All I can
see is his butt.
- Watch your camera,
no, no, no, look it.
There's some spots right there.
- [Mark] Whoa.
- Ah, it's fillin' like the
entire bottom of the net.
Look at that, wow.
He's not being too,
too crazy acting,
woo, there, it's
startin' to move.
Look at that, nice, actually,
that's not an eel.
- [Mark] What is it a catfish?
- No, dude Mario.
- [Mario] Yeah.
- I think this is an amphino,
is that how you say it?
- [Mario] Amphiuma.
- Amphiuma, amphiuma.
- Let me see.
- Dude, I don't think this is
an eel at all, look at this.
- Oh yeah, dude, that's
totally an amphiuma.
- Is it really?
- [Mario] Yeah.
- No way, okay guys
this is not an eel.
- [Mark] What is it?
- It's actually a
huge salamander.
- [Mario] Yeah, look, I got
this little bucket of water.
- Yeah, yeah, let's
get it in here.
Back up a little bit further.
- [Mark] Oh, oh, oh.
- [Mario] Oh, that's amaphiuma.
- [Coyote] Holy cow.
Hey there buddy, I
do what to be careful
because they can give
you a pretty nasty bite.
- [Mark] All right, you're
gonna have to give me the name
of this one more time,
what is it called?
- It is an amphiuma, amphiuma.
All right, let me see if I
can, whoa, hold on, move.
Okay, just let it
hang out for a second.
That's actually good we
want it to do just that.
- [Mark] It's walking.
- [Coyote] It is.
- [Mark] It walks?
- [Coyote] It does, it
has small vestigial legs
and what it will actually
try to do is burrow down.
We don't want that to
happen, come here buddy.
Let me bring you back up.
All right, look at that, look at
the pointy nature of its snout.
Now these things are incredibly
good at burrowing down
into the mud and the muck.
Now different from some
salamanders species
these salamanders actually
have fully developed lungs
and they can stay
out of the water
for a considerable
amount of time.
Look at that, you
can actually see it
taking breaths of
air right there.
Up next on our list is an animal
that we just couldn't skip over.
An alien looking master of
camouflage the frog fish.
(upbeat music)
wow, I hope you guys
are ready for this.
Here comes the frog fish, wow.
Have you ever seen
a fish this bizarre?
Now this animal is a
veracious carnivore
which means that they
will eat anything
that comes across their path.
They're ambush hunters, right?
So they will sit there,
lie in wait for an
unsuspecting prey item
to come across their mouth.
Their mouths can actually
open 12 times the size
of what you see on the
front of their face
and they can swallow food
almost as large as they are.
Now if waiting for your food
to come alone doesn't work,
they have three distinct
spines on their dorsal ridge.
And the one up front is
actually used as lure
to draw in fish or small shrimp.
Anything that comes in front
of the animal is fair game.
- [Mark] Oh, what did I
see on it's fin there?
- [Coyote] Where?
- [Mark] I see like
a, it's like a,
like an octopus
jet behind its fin.
- Yeah, you see that?
That's located on the back
of the pelvic fins there
and they can actually force
water through those openings
to give themselves a
jet propulsion of speed
if they need to
quickly get away.
Believe it or not we caught
a more bizarre looking
and even bigger frog fish.
Are you guys ready to see that?
- [Mark] I think we're ready.
- Now the reason we really
wanted to get this one
up close for the
cameras is look how much
this animal looks
like a head of coral.
It even has little tubulars
growing off of its skin.
It's crazy, it's
perfectly camouflaged,
almost impossible to
see when this is beneath
the ocean's surface.
- [Mark] So it's
safe to say this fish
isn't trying to stand out.
- [Coyote] No, this fish is
tryin' to blend in at all costs.
His entire life relies
on being camouflaged.
So many of our ocean's
creatures appear alien
because their adapted
to spending their lives
in aqueous environments.
Next on our countdown
is something
a little more nightmarish.
It's smelly, it looks
like a combination
between a scorpion,
centipede, and a water bug
and it almost
crawled into my ear.
Slinking in as our
number three alien
get ready to meet
the hellgrammite.
(upbeat music)
(water splashing)
No, nothin'.
Oh!
- [Mark] What is it?
- [Coyote] There's
one right here.
- [Mark] What?
- [Coyote] Ah!
- [Mark] What is this?
- [Coyote] There it is!
- [Mark] What is that?
- [Coyote] Ah, woo gross!
Ah, I got it, ah, ah, ah,
oh it's tryin' to bit me!
Oh, there it is!
- [Mark] What is that?
- It's a hellgrammite!
Holy mackerel,
that's a big one too!
Wow, all right guys, well,
if you remember an Instagram
post I made a few weeks ago
of a creature that looks, ah!
Oh he's biting me!
Okay, they do bite!
There you have it!
Everybody wanted to
know do they bite,
yes they do bite
and it is latched on
to my finger right now.
Oh, that hurts but
it's not breaking skin.
That's ah, oh, ah, ooh,
it's got a hold of me.
Now the hellgrammite is actually
the larva stage
of the dobsonfly.
It's about as wicked
looking as this thing is
only with big wings and
enormous front mandibles.
However, those mandibles
aren't strong enough
to pinch and bite onto anything.
Now, if the bite isn't enough,
what they will also
do to deter a predator
is squirt a nasty smelling
musk from their rear end
and it actually smells
just like human feces and--
- [Mark] Ewe, what?
- Ooh.
- [Mark] Smells like--
- Ooh, like poop,
exactly like poop.
- [Mark] Ewe.
- And it has already squirted
musk all over my finger.
Ooh, it absolutely stinks.
There look at that, oh
wow, that is so bizarre.
- [Mark] I don't know how
you're letting this guy--
- Ah, it's like an alien!
What did I tell you, it's
like a living nightmare,
look at that!
Can you image what
it would be like
to have one of these
things crawl into your ear?
It's gonna eat your brain.
- [Mark] No, no,
no, no, no, no, no!
- Ow, ah, hoo, that
actually really hurts.
Oh, hoo, hoo, hoo.
- [Mark] Looks pretty good dude.
- I think it's actually
poked a hole in my ear.
- [Mark] Ah.
- Ow, what do you guys think?
Hellgrammite earrings?
Could this be the new look?
- [Crew] No!
- Is it dangling
down from my ear?
- [Mark] Oh yeah!
- [Coyote] Ah.
I found one hellgrammite and
then I kept flippin' over rocks
and I found 25 hellgrammites.
- [Mark] Dude.
(laughing)
That is so gross.
- So, what I challenge
you to do right now
is put your hand into this bowl
and see if you get
bitten by a hellgrammite.
- I'm director Mark and I'm
about to enter the bite zone.
25 hellgrammites.
All right, I can't watch this.
- Put your hand
in there, come on.
- One, two, three.
- [Coyote] And let
it lay in there.
- [Mark] Oh, it's so creepy.
- [Coyote] Put some on ya there.
- Oh they're poopin' on me.
- [Mark] Ah, its got me!
Oh, nope, oh, there's
another one, ah!
- Imagine yourself falling
into a swimming pool
filled with hellgrammites.
If you think 25
of them are creepy
try to picture 25 thousand.
Okay, maybe that's
not such a good idea.
In at number two and even
stranger than its cousin
the black sea hare,
let's give an ink-spewing
standing ovation for
the brown sea hare.
(upbeat music)
oh, oh Mark, check this out!
Ho, if you thought the
banana slug was big
look at that!
- [Mark] Whoa, what is that?
- That is a sea hare
also known as a sea slug.
Boy, is this thing slimy.
Oh, there's another one!
Look at that!
Two right next to each other!
- [Mark] Whoa.
- Handful of sea slugs.
Here, give me the container.
- [Mark] Hey, here, hold this.
- It's gonna be much easier
for us to see 'em like this.
It's like a big organ!
Look at that!
Wow!
This is the California
Brown Sea Hare
and the reason that
they're called sea hares is
can you see these
tentacles up front there?
Kinda looks like the
ears of a rabbit.
These slugs don't really
have many predators at all.
One defense that
they do have though,
just in case something
does try to eat it,
is the ability to ink
just like an octopus.
If it gets agitated
it will excrete this
nasty lookin' purple substance
allowing them to then
slink down into the
rocks and disappear.
And I want to show that
to you guys real quick
before we let them go.
Now this isn't gonna
injure the animal
in any way whatsoever.
Now the ink is actually
a byproduct of the kelp
that they are eating.
That's what gives it
this purple pigmentation.
Look at that!
Oh, I'm gettin' totally
stained right now.
Okay, I'm gonna put the
slug back in the container
and let's see what
that looks like.
There ya go, now that
is what they will do
to create confusion for
any potential predator
that's tryin' to eat it.
And as you can see
the slug is just fine.
Still have ink comin' out
of the back parapodia,
look at that, woo, woo,
there it goes again.
See that?
Wow, that is crazy, look,
little bubbles floatin' up?
Look at all this slime.
That's not water, that is slime.
Look at it running down
my hand, can you see that?
Oh, it is all slimy,
that is crazy, wow.
Well, if our number two
animal wasn't alien enough
with its perfectly
designed camouflage,
gooey slime, and purple
ink, our number one creature
might just be enough
to make you believe
that our planet is
crawling with aliens.
(angelical music)
- [Mark] Mario!
- [Mario] Yeah.
- [Mark] Come look
at what I found!
- [Mario] What?
What'd you get?
- [Mark] I've got a giant
onychophora, the rare one.
- [Mario] On man.
- [Mark] Right here on
this rock, what do we do?
- [Mario] Wow.
Coyote's not even here,
what do we do just film it?
- Well certainly
we have to film it.
I've got a container
in my backpack.
We could contain it, take
it back to the lodge,
have Coyote check it out
and we get some
great phora shots.
- We'll bring it back.
- Yeah, we'll bring
it right back after
and it'll be awesome.
- Dude.
- [Mario] Great find dude.
(suspenseful music)
- [Mark] Coyote!
- [Mario] Coyote!
- [Coyote] You guys callin' me?
- [Mario] Yeah, maybe.
- [Coyote] Maybe?
- [Mark] Show him.
- Check out what mark found.
- Oh, get outta here!
- [Mark] We found--
- You are kidding me!
- [Mark] We found it on the rock
like four paces where
we found the brown one.
- [Coyote] Get outta here,
I cannot believe that.
- [Mario] Yeah.
- Oh my gosh, I can't
believe you found,
oh my God bro!
This is insane!
(excited laughter and cheers)
Whoa, this is crazy!
Whoa, you are looking
at the velvet worm.
Quite possibly the rarest
creature you can come across
in the Costa Rican Rain Forest.
This creature's
ancestors date back
500 million years to
the Cambrian Period.
That is before the
time of the dinosaurs.
They are actually capable
of shedding the outer layer
of skin around once a
month just like a snake.
And when they do shed
that they basically
walk out of the skin,
similar to the way a snake
slithers out of
its skin, and then
they're even softer and
more brilliantly bright.
Now despite the fact
that this creature
is actually kinda cute,
believe it or not,
it is a veracious predator.
And the way that they hunt
is they slowly move through
the Rain Forest floor,
forging amongst leaves
and dead logs and they'll use
those two front sensory organs
to kinda tap on their prey.
And as soon as they
sense something to eat
they shoot out a sticky slime
and it is so incredibly strong
that it can immediately
pin the prey down.
And they have a
little mouth up front.
Inside that mouth
is a single tooth
that is like a razor blade.
They insert that tooth
into their victim
and then they leak in saliva
and it slowly breaks down
the insides of their prey
and they drink it up just
like a milkshake, wow.
The funny thing about
the velvet worm,
which actually
isn't a worm at all,
is that it is one of the first
terrestrial species
to walk the planet.
So in a sense, I guess we could
consider it an ancient alien.
I hope you all
enjoyed this look back
at some of our favorite
alien encounters
and we can't wait to discover
more creatures like these
on our upcoming adventures.
Revisiting our creepy
earth-bound aliens was a blast
but if you're in the mood for
something a little more cuddly,
make sure to go
back and watch our
top cutest creatures episode
and don't forget, subscribe
and click the notification bell
so you can join me and the crew
on our next wild adventure.
(wings flapping
and coyote howling)
