If someone offered you a million bucks to get stung by one of the world's most painful creatures, would you do it? Sure, it's a tough question, but Brave Wilderness host Coyote Peterson decided to test his threshold for pain and all he got out of it was a few extra clicks online. In a very special episode of Brave Wilderness, Peterson trekked deep into the rainforest of Costa Rica in search of the most feared creature, a bullet ant, which the locals call Bala.
As the legend goes, Bala, which means "bullet" in Spanish, is said to have a sting that is so "excruciating that it feels as if one has been shot with a gun." Prior to embarking on this dare devil stunt, Peterson had previously subjected himself to 60 stings from harvester ants and sustained permanent scarring from fire and velvet ants. But even the painful sting from a tarantula hawk couldn't prepare him for what he was about to experience.
In the nearly 18-minute video, Peterson and his camera crew scoured the jungle and sloshed through acres of creek lands before stumbling upon the Bala insect. After finding the bug they had been looking for, Peterson sat at a table and applied the creature directly to his skin, trapping it there with a small container. At first, the insect seemed to be focusing more on getting out of confinement, but as it started to pick up on the pheromones of Peterson's skin, it geared up to make it's move.
After deciding another approach, which involved the visibly nervous host taking a tweezer-like object and placing the insect on his arm once again, the Bala attacked. "It's stuck in my arm! It's stuck in my arm. Oh my gosh," Peterson yelled repeatedly before dropping to the floor around the 13-minute mark of the video. He was shaking uncontrollably and fidgeting around on the ground. And it only got worse. Apparently, bullet ants have poneratoxins in their venom, which can cause hallucinations and muscle spasms in his arm and neck. And he got all of that at once.
For the remainder of the video, viewers watch Peterson suffer through hot flashes, puffiness in his face and arms, and all-around pain. "At the moment, I am experiencing, hot radiating waves of pain," he said, trying to compose himself. "It feels as if some one has stabbed me with a hot poker, and I can actually feel the venom. It's throbbing. This is getting worse; it's bad." It's safe to say, the Bala insect definitely deserves it's title for having the most painful sting on Earth. Don't try this at home folks, or at all.
