INTERVIEW: Animal Planet’s ‘Gator Boys’ hunt for El Diablo

Paul Bedard and Jimmy Riffle, Animal Planet’s Gator Boys, know a thing or two about American alligators. On the new season of their hit reality series, the guys get acquainted with a slightly different beast: the crocodile. Their new mission was to set up a crocodile rescue for an aquarium owner in Mazatlan, Mexico.

“They had heard about the alligator rescue, and they wanted to start a crocodile program very similar, like a no-kill nuisance crocodile program,” Bedard said recently on a phone interview. “So they contacted us and offered us a free trip down there.”

The operation is similar to the guys’ facility in Florida. When a crocodile is “too close for human contact,” Bedard said, there needs to be a removal process in place.

“It’s actually much easier down there,” Bedard continued. “Down in Florida, we have the Florida Wildlife Commission, and we have the snake and alligator program which works within them. And they kind of guide us. Whereas in Mexico it’s just pretty much the guy who owns the aquarium has free reign, so whatever he wanted to do, he was allowed to do.”

This Mexico adventure, along with other travails, will be the subject of new episodes Sundays at 8 p.m.

One of the crocodiles that Bedard and Riffle looked for was a legendary reptilian known as “El Diablo”. With a name like that, anticipation must have built up in the minds of the Gator Boys.

“We had kind of a guide down there that would act as an interpreter for us and show us around to different places,” Bedard said. “He ensured us that this thing was real. It’s a pretty big crocodile. It was definitely one of the more memorable hunts we’ve been on for one of these guys, and just an interesting experience overall.”

Riffle said that there are some differences between alligators and crocodiles. First off, he said, alligators are timid while crocodiles can be explosive. “In the new season coming out, you’re going to see when we’re in Mexico, you’re actually going to see the difference, how explosive the crocodiles are, what’s the different techniques we have to use to actually catch the crocodiles unlike that of the alligator,” said Riffle, who recently opened up a BBQ restaurant.

Bedard and Riffle together have probably been involved in hundreds of alligator rescues. Bedard said the number may be more than 1,000 at this point. Although Mexico was an exotic break from Florida, their main operation is catching gators  in the Sunshine State. The rescued alligators sometimes become part of their wrestling show at Everglades Holiday Park. Although the practice of wrestling gators is controversial, Bedard said that’s what funds their no-kill operations.

“The thing with our alligator wrestling shows at Holiday Park is they are done for the rescue,” Bedard said. “As a trapper you don’t get paid. You are supposed to get the meat and the hide of the alligator, and since we don’t kill or process the alligators, we basically work for free. So the wrestling shows at the park is what funds the rescue.”

Money from the wrestling shows is used on food and medical procedures for the gators. “A lot of these gators are banged up when we catch them,” Bedard added. “They’ve been chased out of another area by a bigger alligator … maybe a leg ripped off or broken jaw. And you’ll see some of that on this season.”

Sometimes when trapping the reptiles, it’s the humans that present the largest challenge. Riffle said that many people are uneducated on alligators. They have lived up north or out west and now are living in the South for the first time. “People need to realize that we need to learn to live with each other because alligators have been here way before us, and they’ll be here way after,” Riffle said. “And the best thing we can say is just stay out of certain situations. Don’t put yourself in a situation. Don’t go swimming in lakes and canals. Try to go swimming in swimming pools where you can see the bottom. Enjoy them from a distance.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Gator Boys airs new episodes Sundays at 8 p.m. Click here for more information.