So today I thought I would share with you some photos and my experience when we relocated our Saltwater crocodile Billy.
Billy was around 10 at the time of his move and we had him since he was a baby. He was rescued from a leather farm where, at the age of 4 he would of been killed, skinned and turned into handbags or wallets or shoes.
Billy now at his new home
Billy does not thank us for that and would happily tear any of us to pieces if given half a chance. You can actually see in the photo the right hand underside of his mouth has a large black patch of dead skin. This is scar tissue from when he took opposition with a cable attached to a heater and electrocuted himself. It doesn't bother him now though.
At approximately 300kg and 3m long at the time of his move, Billy was beginning to outgrow the humble enclosure we had built for him when he was younger. It was decided that for his wellbeing he would be moved.
We found a lovely wildlife park in Gippsland Victoria and a plan was hatched for his relocation.
The prep.
We had a team of 5, plus a couple of other helpers who were mostly there to watch.
To prepare for his move a temporary transport container was built, it somewhat resembled a coffin.
Multiple plans were discussed.
The first involved us wrestling him Crocodile Dundee style and basically just jumping on him, pinning him down and taping the mouth. We would then need to maneuver him into the container. We decided against this as it can cause undue stress to have them confined for such a long period with their limbs and mouth taped/tied.
In the end we decided to try and lure him into the container and then shut it behind him, after which we could lift the whole container onto a trailer, secure it and be on his way. It sounded easy so we should of known it wouldn't be.
The capture.
We started by removing one of the panels of fence around his enclosure and butting the container against the opening. We then ran a length of rope through the container and tied meat to the end, someone then stood inside the enclosure and dangled the meat near the pool to convince him out.
Once he left the water the person in the enclosure jumped out and another person began pulling the rope backwards through the container. Unfortunately he was too fast and grabbed the meat immediately and just chomped it down.
It was then decided we would try and "hook" him with the rope and drag him into the container. This surprisingly worked because once hooked he wanted to get whoever was holding on the other end and basically walked into the transport himself. Then it was just a matter of holding down the hatches on either end. This proved surprisingly difficult and at one point when I glanced inside I saw his face and realised he had almost managed to turn himself an entire 180 inside the box.
When we finally managed to push both hatches shut they were secured with large screws and straps. Billy was safely inside and no one had been hurt.
Most of the people involved have some experience with crocodiles but none of us had been involved in a move of one this size. Billy has an incredible amount of strength and power so it was both an exciting but scary experience.
I have only ever been that close to him once before when he was large and that was during a medical emergency.
Secured in his transport Billy will be at his new home shortly
Being so close to such a massively strong ancient predator is kind of amazing and while I may never have another Salty as a pet I will forever remember Billy and the experiences we had with him.
Billy now.
Since the move Billy has been doing well and has gotten much larger. Whilst with us he was on a schedule of 3-5 feeds a week of smaller amounts. Crocodiles will grow dependant on their environment and abundancy of food. The more you feed the larger and faster they grow.
Since moving Billy now gets fed 3 full chickens a day. Every day.
Covid put a halt on Billy's new enclosure being finished so he was being housed in a temporary area until it was done.
When finished Billy will be able to be visited in his wonderful new home at an open to the public wildlife park in Victoria.
We have visited him once since at his temporary enclosure but are keen to see him in his new home, the plans of which look quite amazing.
Billy will likely outlive most of the people he has met so far. Saltwater crocodiles often live up to 80 and if well looked after could indeed be longer.
No matter how big you get I will always remember you as the cute little croc who ran around the house with his mouth taped up chasing the cat.
I will leave you guys with this picture of Billy when he was a bit smaller making an epic leap out of his pool for dinner.
Truly a killing machine.
