my $sep = "\x01";
my @list = ('jumping turtle', 'frog!', 'tad?pole');

for my $var (@list) {
   if (join($sep, '', @list, '') =~ /\Q$sep$var$sep\E/) {
      print "Found $var\n"
   } else {
      print "Didn't find $var\n"
   }
}