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Zoom class with Coyote Peterson: kid style reaction to seeing blood from a leech bite

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Last week, Coyote Peterson, a wildlife adventurer and educator, offered a 2-part Zoom class about bites and stings. It was a free course hosted by Varsity Tutors. We’re familiar with his show ever since kids discovered his adventures on YouTube. They were thrilled to see him live.

If you don’t know Coyote Peterson, here’s a brief intro: He’s a popular YouTube personality and wildlife expert who travels the world to highlight the characteristics and species of rare animals living in those areas. He catches these animals, not easy to find, and teaches viewers all about their characteristics, habitat, and interesting facts. He ends with the tagline: “Be brave. Stay wild, and See you on the Next Adventure.”

https://www.facebook.com/CoyotePeterson/

My kids are big fans, and a favorite episode is Coyote P. meeting a rescue baby Sloth named B-Rad in Costa Rica’s nature center. Ellis has played B-Rad hundreds of times and think it’s hilarious that sloths climb down trees every seven days to poop. Yep, you guessed it right. Both of them role play sloths pooping on the ground with their nubby tails.

Coyote Peterson Helps a Rescued Baby Sloth Go Poo in the Costa Rican Rainforest
http://laughingsquid.com/coyote-peterson-helps-a-rescued-baby-sloth-go-poo-in-the-costa-rican-rainforest/

This was a mellow episode but others are too much adventure for me. He swims, leaps, jumps, climbs, falls, hikes…mostly in dangerous terrains.

Their favorite episodes involve Coyote getting bit or stung. Don’t understand the appeal, but they think it’s cool and scary at the same time.

These incidents are documented for the sake of teaching people about the effects of those bites and stings. On the Zoom call, one student asked how many times he’s been bitten: the actual number is hard to determine, but he’s been bitten by 52 species. Eeeek! How is this guy still alive?!

I walked in during the class and found both kids huddled under Ellis’ blanket. Thought they were playing a trick on me. Nope, they saw a blurb of Coyote P. bleeding from a leech encounter. Scared but too interesting to turn it off.

Those bites and stings look painful to bear; some of those effects can last for hours and cause excrutiating pain. We wince and wonder why anyone would purposely get bitten. It’s attention-grabbing entertainment, teaches how to avoid and respond to these attacks, and raises appreciation for animal’s innate protective mechanism. Message: don’t mess with wild animals, they’re not interested in interacting with humans, and give them their space. Animals and insects attack when they perceive threat rather than seeking human contact. That’s good to know! I’ll stick to my space.

I really appreciated Coyote Peterson emphasizing what not to do when you encounter a wild animal. Resist the urge to turn and run. Don’t run away! If you do, they will chase you and get hurt. Instead, make yourself large with loud noises, wave your arms, and stomp your feet to make yourself seem large and scary.

The last part of the class: Zoom selfie shot

This was a nice treat! Thanks Varsity Tutors for offering this fun summer class for kids.

Categories: learning with kids

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singlikewildflowers

Welcome to my blog! My name is Esther and I'm so happy you are here. I'm an avid nature photographer and a daydreaming thinker. My posts revolve around photos of nature's beauty, homeschooling adventures with my 2 kids, sporadic reflections on my child's heart condition, Bible reading reflections, gardening feats, and other mish mash things. Hopefully you'll leave encouraged, pensive, or smiling at the simple things of life. Thank you for stopping by and hope you'll find some interesting posts to read!

15 replies ›

    1. Coyote P. is very entertaining and educational! I don’t know how they find these shows, but so many kids know about him. He wrote a book too and he has a mail kit called Brave Wilderness.
      If you have time, you should check out his site too. I think your granddaughter may be too young for this show.

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      1. Yes, my granddaughter is not watching TV r right now.

        There used to be a Crocodile Dundee show until the guy was killed. His daughter had a show. I don’t know if she still has it.

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      2. I remember Crocodile Dundee and got sad when he tragically passed. I don’t think I saw lots of his shows, but I remember him handling a crocodile. His daughter has a show and I think she’s married now.
        Do you know about Roy and Seigfreid in Las Vegas? They held live shows with white tigers they raised in their home and a tiger got violent and mauled him on stage.

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      3. We only saw the billboard. We never went to see his show. Wild animals are still wild even when they are raised in a home or shelter. I remember the movie Born Free. Have you seen it?

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      4. Tell me about it. Wild animal’s instincts will always be wild. Just awful when people think otherwise and then get hurt or even killed.
        Some of their life footage is on YouTube where they built a zoo in their backyard.
        Their tigers were mainly white and bred from birth. Pretty wild stuff.
        No, I’m not familiar with that movie. Do you recommend it?

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      5. Yes, I recommend it. Your kids can watch too.
        Description: This wondrous true adventure from the best-selling novel about a woman who raised a lioness and eventually set her free is beautifully photographed on the vast, golden savannas of central Africa. BORN FREE is a story of courage and love, nature and human nature, and a relationship unlike any.

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      6. Ohhhh, that sounds interesting and fun to watch. It sounds like a movie where we will need some tissue. My son gets emotional with some parts in movies and his eyes get red. When I look over at him, he flat out tells me, “I can’t help it. It’s so sad.” Then my little one taking his cue pretends to cry. Small comedians…

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      7. Even the little clip of YouTube I sent you got years in my eyes. I’m a very baby. When I watched movies with my daughter when she was young, she anticipated it and said, “Mom, you’re going to cry.”

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  2. I loved the picture of them huddled under the blanket and also the look on their faces as they watch the show too – you should send the post to the show to show them.

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      3. Ha ha – I’ll be glad to see Saturday afternoon and all this storminess is over. Next Wednesday we have 100 degrees (and 100+ heat index) … that’s going to no doubt make some horrid storms.

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