Jail house croc

Police at Gunbalanya in the Northern Territory captured a 2 metre crocodile that was reported loitering near the township by concerned locals. The police captured and bound up the croc and kept her in the jail cell for 3 days. The policeman was quoted;

"I wanted to jump on it Steve Irwin style," he said. "But (the rangers) wouldn't let me."

Perhaps they didn't want him to use unnecessary force.

A few months earlier Police at the same community shot dead a crocodile that was also found walking overland. On this occasion they stated that the crocodile had become aggressive and was attacking a fence. A fence which apparently was the barricade between the crocodile and the safety of the waterhole on the other side.

Crocodiles attack idiots

With some of the crocodile attack stories that occur you would wonder whether the victim was attempting to make a claim for the Darwin awards.

A few days ago a man was attacked by a crocodile after swimming at Bucket Billabong within Kakadu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It is a location that is well known and signposted as being crocodile habitat and people are warned not to swim. The victim received deep puncture wounds to his arm and was treated at a nearby clinic in Jabiru.

Also within the last week, an American tourist was attacked by a crocodile near the Mexican tourist resort of Cancun. The victim approached the waters edge to take a leak when he was attacked by the crocodile. He received multiple bites wounds and a head injury but survived to tell the story, sheepishly. The area also reportedly has plenty of crocodile warning signs in place.

This goes to show that although crocodile warning signs are important for crocodile safety and most people take them seriously, there are always a few who think they know better.

Coral Bay crocodile

On Tuesday a large saltwater crocodile was spotted near Coral Bay in Western Australia. This was the first time in 10 years they had found a crocodile this far south on the west coast. The problem was they had lost sight of it again and the Easter long weekend was quickly approaching.

The stretch of coastline is a popular destination for recreational campers for boating, fishing and swimming. Not knowing where the crocodile would next turn up was creating a political nightmare for the Department of Conservation and Environment who had to find the croc and attempt to get the message out to the local community and visiting tourists on the potential risk.

By Saturday they had found the crocodile again near Gnaraloo Bay 30 kilometres south of Coral Bay. With a spotter plane to assist the search they attempted to track it, planning to capture it alive if possible. However keeping a eye on its movements was proving difficult as it kept diving out of sight. Later on it was spotted again moving north and authorities deemed it a better option to shoot the animal instead to end the matter.

Crocodiles stalking beach-goers

A territory teacher and paddle boarder John Miller told his story in todays NT News of how a 2 metre crocodile surfaced close by whilst he and his kayaking mate were 10 metres offshore on Monday.

"we paddled back quickly to shore and when we got up on the sand and looked back it had followed us and come right in to the shallows. Its pretty scary."

Earlier on today crocodile management officers caught 3 crocodiles in traps in Darwin Harbour, including a 2 metre crocodile in a trap in Rapid Creek that had been set yesterday.

Some other crocodile related incidents on beaches.

Darwin, NT. In early 2003 an incident occured where a dog was nearly nibbled. A group of people standing on the Rapid Creek bridge were marveling at the sight of a crocodile in the shallows directly below, when somebody down below, oblivious to the crocodile threw a stick out in the water for his dog to fetch. The shocked observers on the bridge shouted down to warn him but it was then a race between the dog and the crocodile who thought all his xmas's had come at once. Luckily the dog made it back to dry land first, with the stick as well.

Darwin, NT. In the late 1980's a local was taking a training swim outside the NT Surf Life Saving Centre at Casuarina Beach when life guards spotted a large crocodile moving slowly towards him and attempted to warn him. The swimmer was oblivious to the crocodile but luckily he was not attacked.

Cairns, QLD. Last year Max, a ridgeback-cross, had a rather lucky escape from the jaws of a crocodile. The dog was drinking from a freshwater pool at Clifton Beach when...

"I heard this enormous splash... there was a flurry of water and activity and then the dog came flying out and he was bleeding," said the dog's owner Ms. Callaway. "It was just all water and me screaming."

After being patched up by the vet, the dog seems to have gotten over it now.

"It's me that needs a stiff drink," Ms. Callaway said.

Cairns, QLD. last year a lady swimming within the stinger net at Holloway's Beach had a shock of her life when she came face to face with 2-3 metre crocodile resting on the edge of the stinger net. She swam away without incident.

North QLD. A few years ago a local north of Cairns dived into the surf after having what he described as a few too many, got an even bigger shock of his life when he landed on top of a crocodile, it lashed out at him and swam away, probably as shocked as he was.

Cover photo

Here in the Northern Territory, crocodiles feature on the cover of our local paper more then anything else. I don't know of anywhere else in the world that does this as frequently as this paper does. If anyone does know of any other newspapers with frequent crocodile or alligator photos such as this I would love to hear of it.

The cover on the left is from today's paper, showing Burt the star of Crocosaurus Cove, a tourism facility in Darwin.

On the right is photo from a few weeks ago, with a crocodile feasting on a shark. Click for a larger view.