EXPLORING NATURE: CROCODILES

rocodiles

I recently spotted two young raccoons standing in my backyard birdbath, with most of the water either lapped up or splashed out. They were cute little rascals and I was quite surprised to see them and hoped they enjoyed a good cool-down.

Seeing the raccoons led me to recall other surprising wildlife sightings I have experienced. One of the weirdest was probably on a trip to central Africa when we camped near the swift-flowing Zambezi River.

One evening something very singular floated down that river — a very dead and bloated hippopotamus surrounded on all sides by crocodiles which chowed down on its rotting flesh. A floating buffet.

Not exactly a pretty sight, but certainly memorable.

Our guide told us crocodiles kill about a thousand people a year in Africa.

The only large reptile with a true voice, the crocodile can emit a loud roar, like distant thunder or the roll of a big drum. Crocs live about 50 to 60 years in captivity and are very swift swimmers, zipping along at up to 22 miles per hour.

The crocodile’s dental setup is very unusual; if it loses a tooth, it quickly grows another to take its place and this replacement arrangement continues throughout its lifespan.

Crocodiles can eat almost anything because their digestive juices contain hydrochloric acid. They have digested, within a few months, such items as steel hooks and iron spearheads. However, they do not eat very much. Captive crocodiles thrive on less than a pound of meat a day.

This animal is one of the few in the world that regularly and deliberately attacks human beings. If their natural wildlife prey is not available, they gladly turn to human flesh and most victims are women, washing clothes or drawing water, and children who splash in the shallows.

Crocodiles get awfully big. Mature male crocs reach about 16 feet in length and weigh some 1,300 pounds. The largest Nile species recorded was just over 21 feet long and weighed 2,400 pounds.

None of them would fit in my birdbath.