Nat Geo's Brady
Barr's Blind Croc
Mysteries; They're Just
Bad Boys
By April MacIntyre,
monstersandcritics.com
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.
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.
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