-Funding for "Coastal Kingdom" is provided by by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina, which proudly supports this program.

Through the generosity of our members and donors, the ETV Endowment has funded educational and entertaining programing like "Coastal Kingdom" for more than 40 years.

-I've spent a lot of time in the field, and it really isn't dangerous.

You just got to take the time to learn about some of the hazards that are here.

In this episode, we're going to look at some potentially dangerous animals and plants and teach you some techniques so that you can be safe in the field.

♪♪ ♪♪ So, look at that little guy.

Okay, we got something big on.

There we go.

We've got the bird in.

There's already a chick in there.

♪♪ ♪♪ Many people have this misconception that most snakes are dangerous.

In fact, just the opposite is true.

We have 38 species of snakes in South Carolina, and only six are venomous.

So let's go find a snake, and I'll show you what I'm talking about.

♪♪ ♪♪ So, what I've done is, I've set out cover objects, cover boards, and the idea is snakes like to hide underneath things.

So what I'm doing is walking along and flipping these over, and a lot of times, you can find a snake that's hiding underneath it.

♪♪ ♪♪ Not a snake under this piece of tin, but if you look right here, there is a wonderful spider.

Now, we don't have a lot of dangerous spiders.

We have two.

We have a brown recluse and then the more common black widow.

Actually, that's not true.

We have other widow spiders, as well, but the best-known one is the black widow spider.

And this is one that's got all kinds of scary names and things like that, but the reality is, they don't really bite a lot of people, and you have to really kind of mess with them to get bit.

That being said, when you see that bright-red hourglass on the abdomen, you know that's a black widow.

It's really, really characteristic.

And the bite is pretty bad.

It would require medical attention.

But I think they're beautiful animals.

This is a female, probably.

And it's -- The males are quite a bit smaller.

And this one's not as big as they sometimes get.

But if you see a black, shiny spider with that red hourglass on the abdomen, underneath the abdomen, black widow.

Fabulous spider.

So, this really is a perfect place for a black widow, because they like to be close to the ground and they like to hide underneath something, so this provides perfect cover for it.

One characteristic thing about black widows is the webbing is really, really tough.

I mean, you know, it almost makes a crackling sound when you move your hand through it.

So, I'm going to reach down and scoop this little spider up on the -- You know, I think this is a black widow, but, boy, it has a ton of red on the back.

But, yeah, I think -- I still think black widow.

Black widows can eat big insects.

You know, they can even eat bees and things like that.

And their webbing is very strong, so they can catch big insects.

And, of course, they have that venom to subdue them.

So they eat big grasshoppers and big things for sure.

And other invertebrates, not just insects.

We're going to set this piece of tin back down, but, really, this poses no danger to us unless we mess with it or, you know, get too close.

Now, if this is in your house or something, you may be forced to remove it.

But out here in nature, I think we can just leave it alone.

♪♪ ♪♪ So, one of the things that I do, I'm wearing a pair of just hiking boots, but I'm really careful about where I put my feet.

I don't want to inadvertently step on a snake or anything for that matter.

There we go.

There's a snake right there.

So, this is a non-venomous snake, of course.

Now, there's a couple ways I can tell.

I'm going to get this one behind the head, because even non-venomous snakes sometimes bite.

So let me see if I can get this one carefully.

There we go.

I got it behind the head.

But the first thing you notice about this snake is it's long and slender.

And most of our snakes that are non-venomous are long and slender.

I notice a couple other things.

You can see the mouth open.

So, now, it doesn't mean it won't bite.

But look at the shape of the head.

It's a little wider than the neck, but not much.

And that's different from a pit viper.

Rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths -- they have a big, chunky, long -- you know, a big, chunky body, and then they have a head that is much wider than the neck.

One other thing, and, again, you got to get really close to tell, but if this was a venomous snake, it would have a vertical pupil, almost like a cat eye, whereas this one has a round pupil.

This is a black racer, and although they bite, they are completely harmless to people, so they're not going to hurt anybody.

So, a common non-venomous snake.

Let's go see if we can catch a venomous one.

♪♪ ♪♪ And, guys, it is so dry.

Oh, my gosh!

Look right here.

Boy, what a beautiful copperhead!

So, you know, you can just glance at this and tell it's a venomous snake.

Chunky body, big head.

I'm going to move some of this pine straw out of the way.

And this was hiding under the -- Oh, look at that beautiful pattern.

I love Copperheads, and they have just this really neat cryptic pattern.

So if this was in leaves -- I mean, it kind of is now, but if it was in a pile of leaves, it'd be pretty much invisible.

And one of the ways they protect themselves is camouflage.

But camouflage works a couple different ways.

It protects the snake, but it also allows the snake to stay hidden from its prey.

So if a frog or a mouse or something doesn't see the snake, it's in kind of ambush mode.

It bites it and can swallow it.

Now, let's talk venomous snakes.

So, this is one of six venomous snakes that we have in South Carolina, and it's one of five pit vipers.

And the pit vipers are chunky-bodied snakes with great big, wide heads.

And, so, pit vipers have a pit between the eye and the nostril, and they can use that, actually, to sense heat of warm-blooded prey.

So if a mouse walks by, even if it's pitch-black, even if they can't see it, they can sense that it's there with those pits, which is really, really a neat trick.

Now, copperheads do bite a lot of people.

It's the number-one snakebite in the United States, I think.

And probably, that's because people often don't see them.

They step on them and things like that.

Snakes don't chase people.

They don't attack people.

But if you step on one or try and catch one, there's a chance you're going to get bit by it.

If you're careful where you step and you don't try and catch snakes, you're probably going to be in pretty good shape.

So, this is a venomous snake, but if I leave it alone, it's not going to hurt anybody.

♪♪ [ Rattling ] So, this snake is actually one from our nature center, but if you encountered this species, a canebrake rattlesnake, this is where you're probably going to see it is on the road.

These get big.

This is a fairly small rattlesnake.

But they move across roads typically very slowly.

And so if you're out driving around, especially on a dirt road like this, in this habitat, there's a chance you might see this species.

So, canebrake rattlesnake.

It's okay to call this a timber rattlesnake, as well.

The lowland form is the canebrake, and then, if you get up in the mountains, it's typically called a timber rattlesnake.

Of course, characteristic rattle.

This one has the original button.

So the tail looks -- The rattle looks like it's never actually broken off.

Now, one of the misconceptions people have is that every year, they get a new rattle.

Well, that's not the case at all.

Every time they shed, they get a new button on the rattle, but the rattle breaks off a lot, so you really can't age a rattlesnake just by counting the number of rattles.

This is a fairly young snake, though, for sure.

And they are beautiful.

Look at that wonderful rusty stripe down the back that's characteristic of this species.

And heavy body.

Pit vipers are very chunky compared to other snakes.

And the canebrake rattlesnake is obviously one of the pit vipers.

But look at that big lance-shaped head, kind of a triangular head.

And, also, it's got the pit between the eye and the nostril and also that pit-viper eye.

Now, a lot of people want to say this snake is poisonous.

No, it's venomous.

Poison is ingested.

Venom is injected.

Now, this is a snake you don't want to get bit by, believe me.

It's very powerful venom.

Good news is, they don't bite a lot of people.

And if I stay out of striking range and don't mess with it, it's going to leave me alone.

See?

It's already stopped rattling.

So it's already starting to relax a little bit.

Now, I'll bet you, if I touch it again... [ Rattling ] Yeah, it started to rattle.

Probably, I should have just not touched it again.

But this is defensive, guys.

This animal wants to just get away from us.

He doesn't want to bite anybody.

If a venomous snake bites anything, it uses up valuable venom.

So the best bet is to just kind of stay hidden and stay away from big animals that it can eat.

You know, I'm well out of range of a strike here.

So you just don't want to get close enough where a snake can strike you and bite you.

If you do get bit by venomous snake, you don't want to do home first aid.

No sucking the venom out, slicing it with a buck knife.

None of that stuff.

What you want to do is call 911.

You want to get to medical attention and let the professionals deal with this.

It's a very serious situation.

I'll tell you what -- one of the most important things you can do is just learn to identify the species that live around you.

38 types of snakes.

Most of them are non-venomous, so you just have to learn six of them.

There's three types of rattlesnakes... And then there's the copperhead and the cottonmouth, or water moccasin -- same snake.

And then there's the coral snake.

So, those are the six dangerous species that we have here.

If you have any doubt at all about what it is, just stay away from it.

Anyway, they're part of what makes, you know, the Lowcountry so special is animals like this.

A big canebrake rattlesnake is not an awful thing.

It's a wonderful thing.

When people think about safety in the outdoors, they generally think about snakes and alligators and stuff like that, but believe it or not, this is one of the most dangerous animals that you can run across.

So, I think most of you guys recognize this.

This is a fire-ant mound, So, this looks pretty inactive right now, but I'm going to scratch the surface a little bit, and I think they're going to erupt right out of this mound.

And, boy, look at them boil out.

So, they're protecting the mound.

And I've got to be a little bit careful, because if they -- They're going to figure out where I am pretty quickly and bite to protect their mound.

Lots, and, boy, we're just seeing a few of the ants that are in here.

So, this is an animal called Solenopsis invicta.

And even the name sounds kind of dangerous, doesn't it?

This is the imported fire ant.

And so this is one that is invasive and hasn't always been in the United States.

It probably moved in through Mobile, Alabama, and has just sort of marched north and east, actually marched a lot of different directions.

And so they're very, very common now.

Now, it's pretty cool today, but these things warm up pretty readily.

So if they're in the sun, you know, the ants can thermoregulate inside the mound and move up and down.

And they can do things like protect the young and the eggs in the nest, as well.

So, what sometimes happens is, people don't see these, and they step in them or stand in them and just get swarmed by these ants.

And there can be just thousands and thousands of them in a mound, and they all seem to sting at once.

I've done this multiple times where I've gotten into fire ants.

Must be some sort of pheromonal signal.

But, boy, they all sting and bite you at the same time.

And they can sting and bite, which is pretty impressive.

And the sting can form kind of a nasty little blister.

And this can actually be dangerous, because some people are allergic to fire ants.

And so they can actually go into shock and all kinds of things like that.

But if you have any kind of serious effects from it, you need to get to medical attention.

You know, out here in the nature preserves, we just leave them alone.

They're hard to control.

It's unfortunate we have so many of them.

But there's no point in trying to control them.

I guess what I would say about controlling them in your yard is just use as little chemical as possible, because any chemicals that you put into the environment, even if it's in your yard, can cause damage to other organisms.

So whenever possible, you know, don't over-treat anything, including fire ants.

One of the things to look for when you're walking through the woods is this right here.

So, anytime I see a hairy vine like this, I think poison ivy.

It's really, really common.

In fact, some cases, it can be the dominant vegetation on the ground.

So, I'm just assuming it is, and these leaves, although they're beat up, look suspect.

But if I look all the way down right here, I see three leaflets.

So, that's leaflets -- parts of a bigger leaf, and that means poison ivy.

Now, poison ivy, if you get it on your hands, you get some stuff called urushiol, and that is a toxin that can give you blistering.

And some people, it can give them hives and cause all kinds of problems.

I happen to be really lucky.

I can actually touch it and not get poison-ivy symptoms from it.

But you can't take any chances.

Some people end up having to take steroids and actually even go to the hospital for it.

So you've got to be really careful.

But if you don't touch it, it's not going to hurt you.

If you see a hairy vine like this, especially one that has three leaflets, boy, don't mess with it.

Now, you know, the poison ivy, poison oak -- they're very, very similar.

And sometimes, poison ivy -- you see it as just a little sprig, almost like a little shrub or something on the ground.

And then, sometimes, it snakes way up trees and looks like it's part of the tree.

So it can take a variety of forms.

But if you see those three leaflets, you know, it might be something else, but why take chances?

It's actually a beneficial plant.

I mean, a lot of birds eat the berries.

Some animals eat the foliage and have no problem with it at all.

So, in a lot of ways, it's a beneficial plant.

And if you come in contact with it, just use a real strong detergent soap and just make sure you wash yourself really good, take a shower.

Anyplace where you think you've touched, you know, scrub that really, really good, and a lot of times, you won't get it.

But remember, that oil can spread all over your body, and if you get it on your hands, you can get it on your face and everything else.

You really got to take it kind of seriously.

♪♪ Guys, if you look right here, there's something really cool.

And this is a velvet ant.

It's actually a mutillid wasp.

I'm going to see if I can get it to come on this stick.

There we go.

So it's on the stick.

And I'm going to be really careful with this, because, well, the first thing you notice is this thing is bright, kind of orangy-red, and it's walking around in the middle of the day.

There's predators.

There's birds.

There's all kinds of things all over the place.

The fact that it's not hiding tells you this is a tough little customer for sure.

So, velvet ant.

And they pack a wallop.

In fact, one of the common names for this is cow killer.

And they get the name because the sting hurts so bad, people used to say it could kill a cow.

And I've had the -- I've been unfortunate enough to be stung by these two times, and it is impressive to say the least.

And I don't want to make this the third time.

So, anyway, amazing animal.

And it's a mutillid wasp, one of the Hymenoptera, the bees, ants, and wasps group.

And a lot of these animals can sting -- generally, the females.

And the females have a stinging apparatus.

And, as I said, in the case of this one, a very long, slender, modified ovipositor.

Whoa.

And that -- If it gets you with it, for about a minute, it hurts so bad, you just can't believe it.

But I think the bright colors are a pretty good warning.

This is one of those that you got to pick it up for it to mess with you, so if you just leave it alone and recognize it as something that can sting you, you're gonna be just fine.

♪♪ You know, if you spend any time in the Lowcountry fishing or just in the outdoors or even crabbing, you're going to run across blue crabs.

They are really common and they're really cool.

But you got to be careful handling them, because, believe it or not, a blue crab can really do some damage if it gets ahold of your finger.

So, I'm going to show you how I handle them.

So, this is actually a pinfish trap, and you see I was trying to catch pinfish in this.

And you can see how they just go through these slots.

But crabs are pretty good at getting these, too.

So, I'm going to open this up and see if I can get a crab out.

And I'm going to start with a little one.

And this looks like a little female.

Now, what I'm gonna do is just very, very carefully... [ Chuckles ] ...very carefully put my foot on him and then I'm gonna grab these swimming legs.

Now, what's kind of interesting about this crab is the first thing we notice is this is a female.

I can tell by the apron.

Also, it's got a claw that's regenerating.

So, this is one that this claw looks intact.

This one broke off, and it's growing a new claw, and that's why it's smaller.

Now, crabs have to be 5 inches from spine-to-spine to keep, so this one definitely too small.

Now, we're not keeping crabs today at all, but they have to be big enough to keep.

But I'll tell you what -- these claws?

Even one this size, they can do a lot of damage.

These are designed for, you know, tearing apart fish and all kinds of things like that.

Okay, I'm going to pop this one back in.

So, that was a little female.

Let's look at a big male.

And, boy, this is a bruiser right here.

Wow!

Look at the size of this.

So, I can tell it's a male because you see that sort of vertical apron.

Man, look at the claws on that thing.

If this one grabbed you, that'd be terrible.

I think it might -- It might even be stitches.

I've been unlucky enough to be pinched by a couple not quite this big.

And you really do have to be careful.

I mean, it seems like it'd be kind of funny to get pinched by a crab, but it's not funny at all.

It really, really hurts.

So, what you do is handle them by the claws or you can handle them back here by these swimming legs, as well.

But you got to be careful.

And, again, you can use tongs and other things.

Anyway, blue crabs are cool, but you got to be careful.

Pretty much every body of water in the Lowcountry is going to have its share of alligators, like this little guy, even salt water.

But the trick is to learn to live with alligators.

I mean, we don't want to get rid of them.

They're an important part of the ecology of the area.

So, if you look at an alligator, they're pretty well built for what they do.

They have strong jaws.

And I'm sure I can get him to open up.

I have to be careful that I don't get too close to him.

But -- And very sharp teeth.

This would allow an alligator this size to eat frogs and little snakes and fish and things like that.

Also, notice how the eyes are mounted on top of the head so they can swim with the minimal amount of their body exposed, in fact, just their eyes, which makes them hard to see sometimes.

So you don't always know when alligators are present.

They have a very powerful tail.

In fact, they're half tail.

Half of its body and the whole half of the animal is this tail, and that's the propulsion for an alligator.

So, this is an alligator we caught earlier for some research we're doing, but at this size, alligators don't really pose any danger to anybody unless someone was to catch one or something like that.

But let's look at some other situations.

Believe it or not, one of the most dangerous-size alligators is these guys right here.

And these are little baby American alligators.

And the reason for that is the problem is mom.

Mom is usually very protective of her babies.

So if you were out in the field somewhere and you ran into babies and actually heard the vocalizations -- And these guys aren't really doing it yet, but they make kind of a chirping noise.

They're just -- [ Alligator chirping ] There.

They're starting to do it now.

And that chirping noise is a warning to mom.

So, mother alligators are really protective of their babies, and this is somewhat unusual in the reptile world.

They're one of the few reptiles that will not only build a nest, but will also guard it and protect it.

And even after the babies hatch, mom will stay near them for up to a year and a half to protect them.

Now, these guys didn't come from here, but we probably ought to keep our eyes open for the -- Because there is a female that lives in this pond for sure.

But, anyway, you can't mess with baby alligators.

If you do, you're asking for trouble for sure.

But let me show you something really, really impressive.

Now, this is an alligator skull.

So, this is as big as alligators get.

And you'll hear stories of 18-footers and 20-footers.

In South Carolina, this is as big as an alligator gets.

This is a skull from about a 13-footer.

But you know what?

There's no relationship between a bigger alligator being more dangerous than a smaller alligator.

This is a predator.

This is an animal that feeds on other animals, including other alligators.

So we have to treat them like a predator, because that's what they are.

And the best way to deal with alligators is just to not get too close to them.

And a couple real specific rules.

Number one is don't get in the water where there are alligators.

Another thing is don't let your dog close to the water.

Don't let your dog in the water.

Don't, you know, walk your dog on a leash next to the water.

And I think the biggest one is don't feed alligators, because if you feed alligators, they associate people with food, and it can really cause a problem not only for you, but for other people, as well.

So, one of the other things to do is to be careful when you're fishing.

So, when you're fishing, you're often using you know, an artificial lure, something that looks like a fish or a frog or something, and moving it across the top of the water.

Alligator doesn't know the difference, just like a bass wouldn't.

So, I mean, that's what they're made to do.

So if you're reeling in a lure, there's a good chance an alligator will be interested in that.

If you see that happen and you see an alligator chasing your bait, go someplace else, fish someplace different.

There's no point in taking any chances.

So, that is really a big skull.

But it's time for this animal to be released.

So, this is one we caught yesterday as part of some research we're doing.

And it's time to take it back and let it go.

But I'll tell you what.

You know, I like having alligators around.

I'm fascinated by them.

They're incredible creatures.

And they deserve to be here, like any other animal.

And they're part of what makes the Lowcountry wild and special.

There he goes.

So, we've seen some really cool things today.

And, obviously, there's some hazards, some wildlife hazards, around, but the best thing you can do is learn to identify them.

If you learn about the animals, then you can do a really good job of protecting yourself.

But you know what?

No matter what, don't ever stop getting out enjoying the amazing habitats we have and seeing some of the incredible animals and plants that are here.

And thanks for joining us on "Coastal Kingdom."

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Funding for "Coastal Kingdom" is provided by by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina, which proudly supports this program.

Through the generosity of our members and donors, the ETV Endowment has funded educational and entertaining programing like "Coastal Kingdom" for more than 40 years.