G'day Hivians and the wonderful people of Amazing Nature. I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. I'm still stuck in Vic and things are looking like we're about to go into another round of lockdown and now New South Wales and QLD have reported COVID clusters.
In honour of our friends up northern I thought I would write about another deadly animal here in Australia. Pretty much everything kills you here.
Located up north or as we like to call "the top end" are the biggest reptiles on the planet. The salt water crocodile. These bad boys love the tropics and can be found all over the globe in warm climates.
Able to grow a whopping 6m in length and weighing upto 1.3 tonnes they are a dominant predator in the salt water that keeps many at bay. Also Australia's first line of defence from foreign invading scuba divers 🤣.
Quite often the only thing you will see of a salty as they are know is their nostrils raised out of the water. When a threat arises they will raise their heads. Fortunately for me I was in this boat so wasn't as scared. But they are known to lunge out of the water so best keep your limbs inside at all times.
Port Douglas is well know for its crocks and statues often line pools and there are a heap of awesome things around. While on holiday with my daughter she thought this was a real crock. So as all awesome dads do I pretended to tackle it and of course lose... 🤣🤣🤣🤣 the terror in her eyes when she thought I was being eaten by a crock. Ah dad jokes. Traumatising kids since day 1.
But I won in the end ;)
So how old are crocodiles? According to research the salt water crocodile first appeared in Australasia 25 Million years ago. Before humans! Then migrated to Africa and Indo pacific through shortened land mass, tropical weather and the ease of access through short journeys.
As you can see, their ability to remain in stealth upon land banks greatly aided their survival. Not much if anything can compete against a salt water crocodile.
Can you spot it above?
The difference between an alligator and a salty? In America I believe cohabitation is a policy as alligators where scary aren't as large or aggressive.
Jump in the water with a Salty and it WILL see you as food. Chances of survival when crossing paths with a salty are unlikely. The first thing these bad boys do is grab a limb, drag you under the water and commence a death roll.
If you're lucky. It will tear off your limb and provide you the opportunity to escape.
So if you're visiting Australia.
Mind the Saltwater crocs.