My team attempted to do something that has rarely been accomplished -- weigh full-grown wild crocodiles in the field at their capture site!

We armed ourselves with strong climbing ropes of the finest quality, lots of cargo netting, chain, tackle, winches and an industrial-sized scale, normally used to weigh automobiles. It would be quite an operation and definitely a spectacle.

Our first patient was a monster, literally, at more than 16 feet long. It was one of the largest crocs I have ever captured -- there was to be no learning curve here! The big boy was also blind in one eye, exactly the patient we were looking for. After an epic battle, and one that nearly cost me my right index finger, the croc was ours. My finger became entangled in the rope during the battle, and as my doctor described it, I experienced a catastrophic spiral fracture in my finger. It was literally pulverized by the size, power and mass of the croc. Fortunately, a long surgery later in the day, and multiple titanium screws, rebuilt and saved my finger.

Undaunted by the mishap, the team and I pursued our objective. We staggered, stumbled and struggled through the thigh-deep mud along the shoreline as we prepared the croc. We dragged, slid, pushed and tugged the big croc across the mud toward an enormous tree that we felt could support his massive weight. Positioned directly beneath its branches, we fought to get the cargo net beneath him, which would act as a sling to hoist him into the air. After a long, long time and seemingly endless struggles, we were able to get the netting underneath the croc and the heavy chain, scale, and block and tackle into the tree and miraculously in position to attempt this big experiment. Everyone held their breath as we ever so slowly started winching the giant off the ground. Our fascination soon became terror as the team ran for cover in response to the creaking and splintering of wood above our heads. The strong old tree was groaning behind such weight. The ropes sang, chain clattered, cargo net popped, but lo and behold, the behemoth was lifted off the ground. The monster was airborne!! Only by a few inches, but this baby was swaying in the breeze! As crew members frantically screamed to check the scale, check the scale, an accurate reading was barked out. The croc was quickly lowered back to the ground before the tree or our gear gave way. Wow, we had done it. The weight of our croc was 1,600 pounds -- one of the largest living crocs ever weighed in the field.

This was a great start to an epic research expedition. If we could conquer this monumental challenge, I was fully confident that my Dream Team could correctly diagnose the problem and come up with a successful treatment for the eye affliction.