Crocodiles in the Kimberley

[chala]

Originally Posted by haiqu

*smirk*

This is a made up picture. A real one, the hand would be holding a painter or a fishing rod.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by chala

This is a made up picture. A real one, the hand would be holding a painter or a fishing rod.

Or, more likely a Nikon.

[sparau]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Funny??


Just what sort of sense humour do you have..

Bludi scary if you ask me .

Ah, perhaps post survival humour, like when we were camping in an old tent without integrated floor and a little hopping marsupial mouse ran through the tent high speed.

We both started to point to go "cool" when the 6ft brown snake followed it in at high speed… We still laugh about it now

Or perhaps that it is only the 21st most deadly snake in the world, there could have been one of these:

Snake Species LD50* Distribution
1. Inland taipan 0.025 Australia
2. Eastern brown snake 0.053 Australia
3. Coastal taipan 0.099 Australia
4. Tiger snake 0.118 Australia
5. Black tiger snake 0.131 Australia
6. Beaked sea snake 0.164 Australia
7. Black tiger snake (Chappell Island ssp.) 0.194 - 0.338 Australia
8. Death adder 0.400 Australia
9. Gwardar 0.473 Australia
10. Spotted brown snake 0.360 (in bovine serum albumin) Australia
11. Australian copperhead 0.560 Australia
12. Cobra 0.565 Asia
13. Dugite 0.660 Australia
14. Papuan black snake 1.09 New Guinea
15. Stephens' banded snake 1.36 Australia
16. Rough scaled snake 1.36 Australia
17. King cobra 1.80 Asia
18. Blue-bellied black snake 2.13 Australia
19. Collett's snake 2.38 Australia
20. Mulga snake 2.38 Australia

[Capt Rottnest]

Bugger the bears, what about Drop Crocs?
There's a Kimberley phenomenon where a croc is sometimes found on a rocky ledge 20 to 30' above sea level at low tide. They have an instinct, or appear to, to drop on hearing an O/B. I friend of mine had a close shave in Wary Bay (Bigge Island), go explore the rock formations by dinghy the guide book says... He was trolling around some rocks and a croc came falling from the heavens just missing him. We met up with him a few days after and he was still shaken up over it.

[SV.Louna]

A couple of crocodiles in Australia
A guy with a fusion 40 had one climb up is Transam last year in the Kimberleys. If you've got a big crocodile hanging around your boat Time to pull up anchor and move to another location The local people call inflatables Teething ring crocodile ,,, so tired hard up against your boat and from underneath it looks too big for them to eat😉 all in all you have a great time
L&N


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[SimonV]

[ATTACH]94945

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[SV.Louna]

Female crocodile is the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory he said them girls can't jump

[Capt Phil]

My wife grew up in the Kimberlies on a cattle property and is very familiar with the salties and their predisposition to attacking anything that can provide a meal, particularly humans or cattle. She told me about a chap with whom she was good friends years ago in Wyndam, I believe. We met over coffee in Perth several years ago and he was a former bank manager in Wyndam and related the following tale.
After he was transferred to Perth, he was recalled to his old job in Wyndam to take over from his replacement who was evidently a very nice young Indian fellow not wise to the ways of the Aussie bush. This young man evidently had been trying to impress a young woman and jumped off the dock of the meat works in Wyndam to demonstrate his swimming skills. He was immediately taken by a big salty much to the distress of the woman he was attempting to impress. I believe she returned to India never to set foot on the Australian continent again. Another true story from the 'Top End'. Phil

[GILow]

Even the professionals get it wrong from time to time...


Croc handler Ian Jenkins blames himself for attack at reptile park, admits he's lucky to be alive - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)


Matt

[Winf]

Bit of a thread resurrection here but we made it through the Kimberley mostly unscathed. Saw lots of crocs as expected and had a couple of notable encounters.

First was a croc sitting under the back of the dinghy when we came back from a walk to some falls. Not a big guy, maybe 2m and a rock was enough to chase him away for us to get aboard.

Second, we were up a little inlet in the dinghy to drop in a crab pot. We stopped and I was unwinding the float line when my wife screamed. There was a croc headed straight for us just a couple of meters away. Again not a big croc, 2m or so, but it just kept coming at the dinghy. As it came near the stern end of the starboard inflatable tube it opens its mouth ready to take a bite. I still had the outboard going and was able to put it into gear and move away before it got a mouthful. This croc was very aggressive though and just kept coming at us with mouth open so we decided to forget the crab pot and headed off.

We went up another inlet, probably more than half a mile away and sure enough, when we were coming out, it had followed us and started chasing the dinghy again. It ended up following us all the way back to the boat and kept hanging around. Later after dark, it grabbed onto either the anchor chain or snubber line and gave it a good shake. It obviously did not like us being there. We wondered if it was maybe a female with a nest.

Lastly, in the Berkeley River we had not seen a single croc over about 4 days. I had done some repairs to the front hatches and said to the wife we would leave the dinghy down just this one night to make sure the hatch work could completely dry/cure. When I went on deck after dark, there was a genuine big croc right beside the boat. This one was a good 4.5-5m long and a very impressive animal.

Needless to say the dinghy came up soon after that! Amazing, the only time we decided to leave the dinghy down and we see the biggest croc of the trip. Mostly we saw ones in the 2m range and you would give yourself some chance of being able to fight them off. With a creature this size, you would have no chance. Massive and powerful looking with a huge set of choppers. This one was well behaved though but it watched us for several hours.

Just thought I'd share the experience.

Winf

[Duncanson40]

Hi,
Just read your post, and would like to reply. I've lived and worked in the Kimberley, Arnhemland and other parts of NT for the past 9 years as a professional fishing guide.
My advice is to get an aluminium tinny if possible because they will be curious enough to swim over and take a bite. I've retrieved plenty of crab pot floats well and truly chewed up. Secondly, during daylight hours they can appear shy or dormant, BUT that changes under the shadow of nightfall.
Breeding season, males and females can be much more aggressive.
Clean all fish well away from the boat, before bringing them back to eat. Think carefully about scrapes and rubbish, but particularly how and where you get in and out of your tender. Don't go off on some sunset cruise in it... NOT UP THERE!
Secure your tender tight alongside, any gap is a potential for and ambushed attack. I've seen it happen and its scary as hell.
Crocs study everything and can pick up on your behavioural patterns, I don't mean when you board and disembark, I mean what side of the yacht.
I don't swim up there unless up above a series of stepped waterfall, that I've checked out. Even then with big floods that are massive, crocs can end up in these places.... SO BE CAREFUL.
I keep well clear of crocs but have had them come to my boat and hassle me, so I leave. They are swift and powerful and deserve respect as you well know.
You'll be and feel safer in a tender that is bigger and safer (i.e. doesn't deflate).
There's big tides and currents, storms etc so you really want to minimise any risk of capsize, puncture, stranding or attack.
It's a beautlful and remote place where help can be a long time coming. So just use common sense and consider every risk and scenario cause it can happen. One trip up there I came along side some folk if they wanted to jump in my tinny and tow their's as I'd watched a 15' croc follow them for 600 m. Their outboard pushed them along at top speed of 2 maybe 3 knots in a 2.4m inflatable soft floor, and that croc was gaining on them with no effort at all. They told me to piss off???!!! as though they had some secret fishing hole.
One last thing, crocs like to sit under trees and in the shade of bushes so when ashore really check out the foreshore as I've seen them 100m back from the water, resting or waiting for a roo or wallaby.
Wish you all the best
Duncanson40

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by Duncanson40

Crocs study everything and can pick up on your behavioural patterns, I don't mean when you board and disembark, I mean what side of the yacht.

Sounds like they are evolving. I don't think I want an animal like that around too close. Sounds like they are too smart. You let your guard down and ...

[chala]

Originally Posted by Winf

Winf

So you got something for your money.
A wife is definitely an invaluable asset. Lucky you that the crocs were not inclined to jump.