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Alright, on today's adventure, we are checking deep into the Amazon rainforest of Peru in search of the incredible frogs and amphibians that call this environment home. Now, there is one particular species of frog that I have always wanted to find in the wild, the legendary Pacman frog, one of my favorites since childhood, and with any luck, today's the day we're going to catch one. Here we go. There's a lot of species that live out here that are exclusively nocturnal and will be sleeping this morning. So we're gonna have to take our time scanning the leaves, looking for frogs that are up in the canopy off the floor.
And there is definitely no guarantee that we're gonna find one. So this is gonna be a great habitat for Pac-Man frog right here. See all in this leaf litter right up against the tree. And what I'm looking for is I'm looking for horns sticking up above the leaves and maybe a set of eyes. Oh, frog right there. Oh, look at this little guy. All got it? Oh, this is a monkey frog. Hello. Sorry to wake you up. Don't worry. We'll put you right back.
Oh man, this is a, a juvenile, just a small one. They can get a lot larger than this, but I know it's a monkey frog because of those distinct ridges on the side of its head behind the eyes. Now you can see why they call them monkey frogs. Look at those long limbs and how they walk. Oh, they can jump. Whoa. Hey buddy, where'd you go? Now this is an i Boreal species. They live up off of the ground being a leaf frog. They have sticky pads on those fingers.
What's also unique about this species is you'll notice they're not very wet, they're more damp than anything, and that's because they excrete a waxy substance that protects their skin from moisture loss when they're up in the canopy. All right? Probably don't wanna handle this frog too much. And it is worth noting anytime you handle frogs, you wanna make sure you're not wearing any insect repellent or sunscreen. I have thoroughly washed my hands this morning in preparation for this adventure. They are very fragile, and any contaminants on your skin can really hurt a frog. So if you're ever out fogging, wash those hands first and afterward.
All right, let's put this little fella back and keep on our search. Bye buddy. So cool. That monkey frog was awesome and a great way to kick off our search for the Pac-Man Frog, a species known to inhabit this particular part of the Amazon rainforest. All right, guys, got a little river crossing here, a little stream ahead. Oh wow. Giant nettle plant guys. They have huge stingy nettles out here, so careful for those. Look right there. Look at that right there. Where guys, Mario, is that a fringe? Are you kidding me? Wow, look at that guys. Oh my gosh.
This is like the frog to find here in this part of the Amazon guys. Wait until you see this frog open up. Oh my goodness. Wow. Yes. Look at that frog. Are you kidding me? Look at this. I'm trying not to drop the frog, but it's hard to keep my composure 'cause of how cool this is of a fine guys. This is the fringed leaf frog and the reason it's called the fringe leaf frog. Look at those fringes on the hind legs. See all the fringes all around its body and its feet.
It's able to tuck in and conceal itself and it blends in perfectly. Let's go back one more time. If you see all the spots on this leaf, look at the spots on the back of this frog blends in almost perfectly. I don't think it'll get away if we just let it sit there. Honestly, if we didn't point out that nettle right next to us right there, I never would've saw this frog. I can't believe you saw it. How lucky, how lucky. This is the first time I've ever seen a species this rare during the day. And look at those pads and they're so sticky.
They're super gummy and tacky. I could feel with every step those sticky pads. Oh man, that is so cool. Look at the underside. Look how bright orange it is underneath, almost has tiger stripes up and down the legs. Look at those eyes. Those eyes are just so cool. Gray with the vertical pupils. So we've seen a lot of leaf frogs in the history of brave wilderness, but this is the first truly rare species that we've ever found in the Amazon.
We're definitely have to get a few photos before we let this one go. This is one for the wall. Oh my gosh, we're waking up this little frog, keeping it up a little past its bedtime, but that's okay. We're gonna put it right back. But wow. Had to show you that one. The fringe leaf frog. Guys, take a good look. You may never see one on video again. Wow, coming across that fringe leaf frog was a big surprise. And it made me think if we kept spotting all of these incredible species, maybe I would finally track down a Pac-Man frog.
Have to cover a lot of ground, but also get a little lucky just scanning, looking for anything that stands out. Oh, holy cow. Look at the size of that frog, Mario. All right, here's something that I've run into a lot. This part of the video is sponsored by Zocdoc. Now, when you travel as much as I do, one thing people tend to overlook is what happens if you actually need to see a doctor? I've definitely had times where I've had things come up and I'm sitting there thinking, do I deal with this now? Or do I just wait and tough it out until I get home? But at a certain point, you need to realize it might not be something you
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So go click the link in the description and head to zocdoc.com/brave wilderness. It takes minutes, and honestly, it's so much easier than you'd expect. Thank you to Zocdoc for sponsoring today's video. Alright, now back to the action. Look at that. I can see it from here. See that branch that's hanging over? Oh man, look how big that tree frog is. Oh my goodness. It's a giant. Let's see if we can get a little closer on. It might jump. That is a big frog. Wow. All right.
This guys is what's called a gladiator tree frog. How's it going, buddy? Wow, you're huge. Oh my gosh, you're so big. The gladiator tree frog is actually pretty rare for us to find in this environment. Typically, from what I know, you find these frogs closer to streams. So seeing one out here in this dense forest is a real surprise. If you can't tell, I'm shocked. Not only by the size of this frog, but the fact that we found one. Oh boy. All right, we got a hopper. Hang on. Hello. Hang on.
Let's try to calm down. Alright, gladiator tree frog. Why did they get that name? Well, it's because it's one of the few species where the males are actually larger than the females. And almost all frogs, the females are larger, but not the gladiator tree frog. And that is because the males will actually spar and fight for territory. So this of course is another ab boreal species, a tree frog or a leaf frog. And you can see that there has those big sticky pads and they are sticky. Man. Look at the size of those legs. So you can see that this is a very powerful frog capable of jumping great distances through the canopy from tree to tree. But I have to say, when it comes to gladiator tree frogs,
I think we found a true champion in this one. Let's put 'em back up on his perch and keeps searching for one of those Pac-Man frogs. How cool. For those who don't know, the frog I'm searching for gets its name from the classic video game Pac-Man, where you control a yellow character with a big mouth that moves around the screen gobbling up everything in sight. All right, guys, a little soupy here. Oh yeah. Oh, you good?
Hang on, Pacman, we got a Pacman right here. Holy smokes. This is one of my favorite all time frogs. And now I get to hold one for the first time we got 'em, the Pac-Man frog. And if you can't tell, I am over the moon right now. As a kid, I absolutely loved to read about frogs and learn about these amazing amphibians. Of course, my all time favorite is the green and black poison frog, the dja betas raus. But this is a very close. Number two, the Pac-Man frog. First and foremost, let's just take in how cool this frog looks. Look at how big the face and the mouth is of that frog. But look at how, oh geez, they tried to bite me.
Do you see that? Oh, geez. They tried to bite me again. Now I, I've heard they can bite, so I wanna be careful. They do have a tooth in there. Oh boy. Hey buddy. Okay, definitely tried to bite me twice. I'm gonna keep my finger back. I'm gonna point from behind the frog, not in front. All right. It's hungry little guy. All right. It is stout. You could tell this frog is, is an ambush predator. Now, there are species of horn frogs.
You can see the two horns above the eyes here, and that's usually all that you will see. And the only reason I was able to really see this frog is because there's a pop of light, almost spotlighting it through the trees. But typically when you find them out here, you'll only see those two little points with little eyes sticking up above the leaf litter. They choose to stay hidden so they can ambush their prey as it's walking by. One of the more unique facts about this frog species is it will eat literally anything.
It can fit into that mouth. And when I say everything's on the menu, literally everything, anything that moves other frogs, snakes, and even other Pac-Man frogs. This is a cannibalistic species. So typically you don't find them hanging out right next to each other unless of course it's mating season. Now, this is an adult Pac-Man frog, but they can get a whole lot larger this. In fact, they can get up to five times this size.
Imagine a big max size version of this frog. They can literally get that big. Now of course, these frogs are very common in the pet trade. There's all different types of color mores, but the ones that you will see out here in the wilds of the Amazon rainforest, they're going to be brown and red like this coloration, and then they would drift all the way to a bright green, which are a little bit more rare. But you can see why this brown coloration, this brownish red is a perfect camouflage for the leaf litter in this forest. So just by that fact alone, you'd have to assume there's gonna be a lot more of these frogs,
this brown color than the green leaf litter. But you do find 'em bright green, even though it does look very toad like it is a frog. But they are terrestrial, meaning they're gonna live here on the forest floor, not around the water, not up in the trees. This would be a prey item for predators out here. You'd have birds, small cats, like an ocelot, would love to make a meal out of a Pac-Man frog. So they definitely want to stay hidden, not only to ambush their prey, but also to evade predators. Look at that little meatball. The Pac-Man frog of the Amazon Childhood Dream come true. Check. All right guys, well, I hope you enjoyed this adventure out into the rainforest of Peru.
I certainly did. This is one I'll not soon forget. I'm Mark VINs. Be stay wild and we'll see you on the next adventure. Alright, let's go put this packin frog right back. Cool. Thanks.
