By April MacIntyre Jun 7, 2008, 23:06 GMT
On Tuesday, June 10, at 9:00 pm ET/PT, Nat Geo’s Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr: Blind Croc Mysteries premieres, and takes us to Costa Rica’s Tarcoles River in an attempt to understand what is making the giant crocodile population blind.
THIS IS A REALLY BAD IDEA: A female crocodile trainer puts her head on the mouth of a crocodile during a crocodile show at Sriracha Tiger Zoo, Sriracha, about 120 km south east of Bangkok, Thailand, 13 February 2008. EPA/BARBARA WALTON
Dr. Brady Barr is an affable Texan, with a similar spirit to Mutual of Omaha's Marlon Perkins and Animal Planet star Jeff Corwin. He seeks out animals in their natural habitats; his personality is quirky, and his methods unconventional, as witnessed by his climbing inside a dung smeared Kevlar hippo suit for hours on end in the last episode in search of wild Hippopotamus in Africa. His python adventure was something else too.
In 1997, Barr signed on with National Geographic as a field specialist for their Explorer series, becoming National Geographic's resident herpetologist, and he has since appeared in more than 60 National Geographic films.
Barr is now the host of the NGC hit series, "Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr," and he is a member of the Endangered Species Coalition of the Council of State Governments.
His goal for this episode was to determine what is causing a cataract looking white film that seems to be coating the eyes of crocs in the contaminated Tarcoles River of Costa Rica.
Barr floats some theories: Is it trauma, or viral and/or bacterial pathogens? Perhaps it is pollutants and heavy metals that are also found in these waters from run-off.
He enlists local help as well as a Texas Tech’s Dr. Thomas Rainwater, there to collect samples for further analysis in his lab. Dr, Nick Millichamp is also in on the adventure, he will examine the eyes of these big beasties.
This all sounds lovely on paper, but the reality of capturing powerful crocodiles, which Barr notes are akin “to a reptilian version of a battering ram,” ain’t easy.
It’s muddy, dangerous and fraught with injuries, which Barr sustains in the process.
He suffers a diagonal break on his finger that gets caught up in the snare line as a 16-footer starts to death roll in hopes of wiggling out of his impromptu, unasked-for exam.
Now, I am not trying to pick on Barr, but he does devote a good deal of tape to his finger saga.
First “Juan” responds to Barr’s alarming, “pull it, Juan, pull it, pull it” admonishments to, you know, pull his finger.
Juan gives Barr’s badly broken finger a yank in hopes of straightening it; this leads to bleeped audio and grimaces. Next comes duct tape, which apparently can do anything, even secure a broken digit.
As the action ensues, the big croc is weighed, sampled, prodded, sawed on and measured; Barr keeps us up to the minute on his swelling finger, which is really the size of a Kielbasa now.
Okay, so his team collects data and tissue samples in the field, and after a careful evaluation, they are able to make two key findings. The eye damage does not appear to be a result of infection and it seems to affect only large male crocodiles. Further examination reveals the eye trauma is a result of injuries from battering.
Hmmm. Hello, Dr. Barr: Can you say common male territorial and mating bad behaviors? Yes, the blindness appears to be the result of a rageful reptilian guy thing.
Barr also goes to St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park in Florida, where an experiment with albino crocodiles gives surprising insights. Crocs and alligators have similar eyes, and Brady learns firsthand about the chin area domed receptors that are sonar sensory (similar to the jelled filled pores in the snouts of sharks) for alligators, and crocodiles, so their eyesight can be lost, and the animal can still find and eat you if you fall out of the boat, based on pressure and sound waves.
So. Long story short, back in Costa Rica, we learn that an unusually higher than normal male to female ratio is causing havoc and river rumbles with the big males. Males in the animal kingdom apparently need their space from other males, or bad things occur.
Barr is healing, and by now we have seen many nice x-rays of his finger showing screws and such. His trip the hospital was squeezed in between first Costa Rica footage and St. Augustine. He will live. The crocs are still behaving badly, and there are way too many flying insects in Costa Rica for me to ever entertain a riverboat cruise there anytime soon.
Fun show for kids. Family friendly.Grade B+
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