The giant Asian centipede is an animal ‘best admired from a safe distance’.
So says wildlife expert Coyote Peterson. And he should know, because he allowed one of the highly venomous creatures to bite him in the name of science – and to raise money for rhino charity Save The Horns.
Coyote, the face of renowned wildlife adventure channel Brave Wilderness, knows a thing or two about pain scales, having previously been stung by 500 fire ants, a ‘murder wasp’ and bullet ants, to name but a few.
Following the bite from the Asian centipede, he concludes that it’s one of the most extreme things he’s ever done.
Coyote’s tormentor is a mysterious and potentially lethal Thai giant cherry centipede, which bites him under the watchful eye of Dr Jordan Wagner – aka YouTube‘s Doctor ER – during a live-streamed event recorded for posterity and now available to watch on YouTube.
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Coyote Peterson, the face of renowned wildlife adventure channel Brave Wilderness, allowed a Thai giant cherry centipede (above) to bite him
Dr Jordan Wagner – aka YouTube’s Doctor ER – keeps an eye on proceedings
Coyote explains in the video that he carries out the experiment to see how his body reacts to the bite using biometric tracking – he’s hooked up to a cardiac monitor – to discover if it ranks as his most painful experience to date, to ‘show readers what a doctor would do to treat this type of bite’, and fourth, to raise awareness and financial support for Save The Horns.
The warm-up act for the bite event is a venomous Peruvian giant white leg centipede, which Coyote ‘free handles’, letting it crawl around his hand and arm.
He persuades Dr Jordan to let it crawl along his arm, reassuring the medical expert that there’s ‘only around a one in five or two in four chance of the animal biting him’.
Then the Thai giant cherry centipede is brought out and Dr Jordan explains how centipede venom works.
The warm-up act for the bite event is a venomous Peruvian giant white leg centipede, which crawls along Dr Jordan’s arm
He says: ‘Centipede venom contains a neurotoxin and a cardio/myotoxin. The neurotoxin interferes with the ion channels leading to your nerves, so you can experience horrible pain, paralysis, numbness… that is the neurotoxin working.
‘On top of that, you have this cardio myo-type toxin that will increase your heart rate, which could cause cardiac arrhythmias, meaning your heart starts going high beats – abnormal beats coming from the wrong areas of the heart. And that’s when we might need to shock somebody out of an abnormal rhythm.’
Coyote says: ‘I have been told this bite is going to put me in the most painful situation I have ever been in.
Following the bite from the Asian centipede, Coyote concludes that it’s one of the most extreme things he’s ever done
‘Top three most painful are putting my hand into a box with 200 yellow jacket wasps, the bite from a giant desert centipede, and the gympie-gympie leaf.
‘So this may [be] the new top-tier level of pain.’
However, Coyote stresses that centipede venom is ‘very unlikely to kill you unless your body has a negative allergic reaction’.
Once Coyote has the centipede under control and held between his fingers, he stretches out a forearm for the bite experience, with Doctor Jordan warning that ‘we do not want direct inoculation into your vein’.
Coyote stresses that centipede venom is ‘very unlikely to kill you unless your body has a negative allergic reaction’
Once Coyote has the centipede under control and held between his fingers, he stretches out a forearm for the bite experience, with Doctor Jordan warning that ‘we do not want direct inoculation into your vein’
He advises Coyote to make sure the centipede bites him above or below the main vein – and points out a ‘target spot’.
The centipede bites – and Doctor Jordan says ‘breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe’.
‘Tell me what you’re feeling,’ he says.
Coyote replies: ‘Searing pain. Oh my gosh. The pain is bad and I’m feeling an incredible numbness in my arm right now. Holy mackerel.
‘I’m super lightheaded. My arm is twitching. It’s convulsing.’
Doctor Jordan explains what to do if you’re ever bitten by a highly venomous creature.
He says: ‘You want to clean the wound, get to an area of safety, get to the hospital, and then what I could do as an ER doctor treatment-wise for you, is [I could give you] anti-inflammatories, strong pain medicine, IV fluids, and you’d go on a cardiac monitor [which they have in the studio] to monitor blood pressure, your heart rate.’
Signs of anaphylaxis would be a lump in the throat and a swollen tongue. Doctors would also watch for diarrhoea and vomiting.
Coyote describes the consequence of the centipede bite as ‘searing pain’
Coyote reveals that even after Dr Jordan applied an anti-inflammatory shot, he still suffered. He says: ‘For nearly 30 hours I battled a state of discomfort’
Dr Jordan explains that if a patient is bitten by a highly venomous creature he would administer anti-inflammatories, strong pain medicine, IV fluids, and they would go on a cardiac monitor
Coyote, at this point, reveals that it’s ‘definitely getting worse’ and Doctor Jordan observes that his pupils are dilated – part of a ‘flight or flight response’.
In addition, Coyote’s calf muscles begin ‘locking up’.
Coyote reveals that even after Dr Jordan applied an anti-inflammatory shot, he still suffered.
He says: ‘For nearly 30 hours I battled a state of discomfort that included waves of intense pain, a sleeplessness night, and a renewed sense of respect for the potency of centipede venom.’
For more from Coyote visit www.youtube.com/@BraveWilderness. For more from Doctor ER visit www.youtube.com/@DoctorER, twitter.com/DoctorER and www.instagram.com/doctorer.
To donate to Save The Horns visit www.savethehorns.com.
