For survivalists, YouTube can be a great resource. It provides a truly immense amount of video demonstrations of useful survival techniques from guys like Primitive Technology and AlfieAesthetics. However, on the other hand, YouTube also provides even more content that leaves us shaking our heads and wondering, “why would anyone do that?!” The following video from self-proclaimed “adventurer” and “animal expert” Coyote Peterson definitely falls into this second category.

Here's Peterson after being stung by a tarantula hawk in a previous video. He keeps coming back for more.

In the video, Peterson travels to Costa Rica with a singular purpose: to force a bullet ant to sting him on video. For those not familiar, the bullet ant is renowned for its excruciatingly painful sting, one which tops the list of most painful insect stings and is supposedly akin to being shot by an actual bullet.

While this is very obviously a bad idea, we must admit we find the schadenfreude factor a bit entertaining. It seems others have as well — the video already has over 11 million views. File this under “never, ever try this at home”.

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So, despite the entertaining nature of watching Mr. Peterson squirm in pain, here are a few practical takeaways from this video:

This video shows that, like most dangerous animals, the bullet ant isn't out to get you. In fact, it just wants to get away from you and stay alive. Peterson literally had to coerce the ant to sting him by holding it against his skin with forceps. If anything, that makes us less concerned about these critters.

If this is what it takes to get stung by a bullet ant, we don't have anything to worry about.

Also, if you ever managed to get stung by a bullet ant in a real survival scenario, it certainly wouldn't be pleasant, but it's unlikely that it would do any actual lasting harm.

We'll leave you with a palate-cleanser video from the BBC, for a bit of contrast. Here are some thoughts from a professional naturalist and wildlife presenter on the bullet ant:

Written by Patrick McCarthy