Crocs and more crocs

It's been too long since I wrote about crocs, so let's start with some news.

Cahills Crossing is a legendary river crossing in Kakadu National Park. The road crosses the East Alligator River (which was obviously named by some foolish colonial official) in a causeway across the water. When the river is very high, vehicles get stranded in the middle of the river. It's always an adventure because the crocodiles (not alligators) gather at the crossing in large numbers, primarily to catch the big fish as they travel up and down river.

Here we are at Cahills Crossing in Kakadu, in 2014. These photos are taken in November, before the Wet, so the river is very low. No problem for cars to travel across the causeway.

Anyway, the NT News published a great story this week about some fishos at Cahills Crossing. The barramundi that they landed was chomped by a croc — but even worse, when the fish got away, the croc chomped their beer.

Everything about this story is pure Territory: going fishing after work, the clothes and work, the laconic sense of humour — and the terrible NT News puns. For non-Aus speakers, a 'tinny' is a small aluminium boat used for fishing and yes, often attacked by crocs. And ex-chew-sive, groan.

A bit closer to home, opposite my office, is Crocosaurus Cove, the tourist attraction in the centre of the Darwin CBD where families can entertain small children on a rainy day and time-poor tourists can see saltwater crocs. I've had no reason to visit it (and pay my $36) until one rainy Sunday when I decided to do my duty as Darwin tour guide and check it out. It's pretty cool actually. You can see the crocs from three levels, including from below. There are about six or seven big crocs in the Cove, each about 4 to 5 metres long.

You can go into their tanks with the big crocs, if you like. I bet the pubs across the road do good business before and after the swim.

The rangers say that crocs are well suited to life in captivity because they do very little and are quite lazy. They rely on catching their prey by ambush and surprise, rather than by speed. You'll be glad to know that a reasonably fit adult can run faster than a crocodile.

The salties in the Cove all have names, including William and Kate. Here are the royal pair from above the water ...

... as well as a few more big crocs, including Wendell who was named after a rugby league player known for his, um, unpredictable behaviour.

The museum in the Cove displays stuffed crocs, alligators and garials from all over the world. Information boards throughout the park are jolly interesting, too. Did you know that salties have pressure sensors on the top of their head? They don't need to see their prey — they can feel the pressure changes in the water.

I'm not too keen on snakes so I avoided the reptile house, but I do like turtles. The turtle pond is home to pink-cheeked turtles, yellow-faced turtles, pig-nosed turtles, snapping turtles and long-necked turtles, which have heads like snakes. I asked the young ranger doing the turtle display why she was interested in turtles and she said they were her totem animal. 'So I can't eat them,' she told me earnestly. The turtles in her charge are probably pleased to know that.

I really enjoyed touching / stroking / prodding a baby crocodile called Freddy. Its skin is very soft and pliable. Under its arms, the skin is like human skin. When Freddy gets fed up with being patted by tourists (2.30 to 3 pm), he's replaced by his sister Phoebe.

Here's a baby croc hanging out in the baby croc tank.

The tank with the baby crocodiles must have a very strong current — this little dude isn't moving his limbs at all but he's drifting quite quickly downstream. I was hoping for a crocodile fracas when he/she bumped into the other croclet. But no, they were like ships passing in the night. No argy-bargy at all.

And finally, here's a sneak peek of the branding for a new reading challenge for primary school children in the Territory. It's one of my projects. I'll tell you more about it once the Chief Minister has officially launched it in March. Well, it's a crocodile, isn't it?