Coyote Peterson - Wildlife Educator, Facts and Family

Coyote Peterson was born on September 1, 1981, in Newbury, Ohio. Growing up in a rural area, Coyote was close to nature. As a child, he would often see animals roaming around his house, which was a fascinating experience for him. Furthermore, there was a pond at the back of his house where he would often go fishing with his father. Soon, he started catching water animals with bare hands and was immensely excited by the experience.

One of his most memorable experiences as a kid was catching a common snapping turtle at the age of 8. It weighed 40 pounds, and catching it was not easy for a kid as young as him. Interestingly, the turtle he caught is known to be one of the most dangerous water animals, whose bite is as dangerous as that of a white shark.

This experience made him develop a keen interest in catching dangerous animals. His mother supported his interests by taking him on vacations around the country. At the age of 10, he shocked his parents when he caught a deadly rattlesnake in Arizona with his bare hands. He once had a close encounter with a buffalo in Wyoming. However, this was not enough to stop him.

In school, he became interested in sports, particularly baseball, which he played quite extensively with his father. He finished school from the ‘Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School.’ While in high school, he aimed to become a documentary filmmaker. He had immense interest in screenwriting and film direction and attended ‘The Ohio State University’ for the same.

By the time he was 18 years old, he had traveled to almost all 50 states of the US. Bear Grylls and Steve Irvin inspired him to follow his passion of exploring the wilderness. He contacted several documentary film channels with his proposal but was rejected by all of them. However, instead of being disheartened by this, he decided to start his very own ‘YouTube’ channel, ‘Brave Wilderness,’ in 2014.

His channel was founded on September 8, 2014, and the very first video on the channel was titled ‘Breaking Trail-Trailer.’ The video was uploaded on September 14 and was a minute-long introduction to the series ‘Breaking Trails.’ It was appreciated by wildlife lovers.

He soon began uploading videos that documented his animal-catching adventures. The snapping turtle was one of the first animals to be featured on his show. His first video featuring a snapping turtle quickly gained a lot of views.

Following this success, he began uploading a video every week, and sometimes, even twice a week. For his third video, he caught an extremely dangerous Gila monster. This was one of the first videos on his channel to have crossed a million views.

As his channel progressed, Coyote and his team also faced quite a lot of trouble. In one of his early videos, he showed how one of his cameramen was attacked by a giant alligator. Another video showed leeches burrowing into Coyote’s hands. His rawness and utmost honesty became his biggest selling point, and his channel grew at a very rapid pace. Soon, it became a widely viewed and subscribed channel.

His videos showed him catching tarantulas, poisonous snakes, turtles, and crocodiles. Many of his videos garnered a million views, causing his channel to earn millions of subscribers within a short span. This was a major achievement, and following that, Coyote became a local celebrity in the US and was invited to several TV interviews.

He was lapped up by the American mainstream media after he appeared on ‘Conan’ with Jeff Goldblum. He brought a large slug and a bird-eating tarantula on the show. He showcased other animals, too, and his channel received a huge boost, owing to his appearance on national TV. In 2015, he received an ‘Emmy Award’ for his series ‘Breaking Trails.’ His ‘YouTube’ channel runs several different series such as ‘Dragon Tails,’ ‘Coyote’s Backyard,’ ‘On Location,’ and ‘Beyond the Tide.’

Some of his most-viewed videos are the ones where he lets dangerously poisonous insects bite him. One such video shows him getting stung by a cow killer wasp. Its sting is known to be the second-most painful sting on the entire planet. The video has amassed more than 38 million views and has greatly contributed to the overall success of Coyote as a “YouTuber.”

The channel has earned more than a billion views. Presently, Coyote has been working very hard to release at least two videos each week. He spends most of his time traveling and aims to travel to every country in the world, shooting his videos. He is working on a new series, where he intends to showcase behind-the-scenes footage of the shoots and his discussions with his crew regarding their experiences.

Coyote had also written a book titled ‘Coyote Peterson’s Brave Adventures: Wild Animals in a Wild World,’ in which he has documented some of his most adventurous experiences.

Coyote Peterson got married in the mid-2000s. He has a daughter named Pup Peterson. She appears in many of her father’s ‘YouTube’ videos.