I hate how calculating they are, I hate how they watch you, I hate how they always let you do something once so you get a false sense of security, I hate that they're implacable and cold and don't even begin to understand the concept of pity, but mostly I hate how they think of me simply as "food chain".
The ONLY good crocodile! No, mostly I hate how, in Australia, you aren't allowed to fight back.
Yup, in Australia, crocodiles are protected by law and you are fined $250,000.00 if you kill one! And only slightly less if you injure one or even if you attempt to kill one! Yup! That's the law!
Let me tell you the story of Australian crocodiles, just so you know how WRONG it is that folks in the cities make the rules that folk in the country have to live by.
Back in about 1966, endemic local crocodiles - Freshwater, South Johnstone, and Saltwater varieties - were nearly extinct, so city politicians made it illegal to hunt and kill them. It's now over 40 years later, and there are more crocodiles around today than there ever were and they are getting real size on them; like they're now seriously, seriously huge. And they have no fear of humans so, these days, people are simply seen as part of their food chain and so get killed all the time ... but it is still illegal to kill crocodiles, except when, you know, an identified one actually kills someone, but then, mostly, you can only hunt them in order to remove them from that particular spot ...
Removing crocodiles! Not my photos! ... and release them into specially designed tourist-y habitats ...
... or onto lakes in Aboriginal Reserves - but, since they're territorial, it's usually only a matter of days until they find their way back again, but usually not until after they've killed a batch of aboriginal children on the reserve.I hate it. I hate how, on the very stretch of path next to Chinaman's Creek in Cairns where, back in the late 80s, I taught my nephew Jamie how to ride his bike, these days regularly has crocodiles coming up to snatch little kiddies off their trikes or off the swings and seesaws in the playground! Well, not so much these days since no one ever goes there any more.
Yup, crocodiles are everywhere and they are huge and they are dangerous, but still it's illegal to kill them!
One story: a few years ago, around here, at Suicide Creek, a camper wakes up to find he's been dragged in his sleeping bag out of his tent and into the water by a massive 20 foot crocodile. He screams madly, as you do, and someone in another tent comes out with a bow and arrow and shoots the bugger through the head! Police investigate and the kindly shooter is fined A$250,000.00. It made everyone in North Queensland very, very cross, because, really, if you're being dragged by the leg by a giant crocodile, don't you too hope there's somebody standing nearby with a bow and arrow or, even better, a semi-automatic machine gun?
So, very shortly afterwards, on the very path along South Johnstone River where my sister used to walk her dog every morning, they found a dead crocodile - one rifle shot through the head - with half a little silky terrier in its mouth. The dog, dead naturally, was still wearing its lead. And the collar still had its tag so the police took it so they could identify the dog's owner in order to fine them the obligatory A$250,000.00 ... except, oops!, the old policeman accidentally dropped the tag into the river and that instantly put a stop to the investigation!
On that occasion, sanity prevailed ... but that simply doesn't happen here very often.
These days they're even eating tourists and since North Queensland relies on tourism this is killing off more than just people. Even beautiful Port Douglas has to place up warning signs not to get too close to the side of boats because they leap out of the water to grab you off ... and isn't being on the side of boats the whole point of going to The Great Barrier Reef?
Locals up North plead and beg with politicians in the cities to allow them to shoot the dangerous ones, but they all say "You just have to be more careful, don't you!" and so this insanity continues!
Talei has just said "How come the politicians in Canberra are forever ordering the culling kangaroos because they're chomping on the grass at Canberra golf courses, yet we're not allowed to cull the crocodiles that are chomping on US?!" She may be young, but she makes a very good point, doesn't she!
Tonight we're going on a boat cruise up the South Johnstone River. Hopefully, I'll be able to get photos so you can see how bad it is, so you can learn to hate them too.
SOUTH JOHNSTON RIVER
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