Crazy Woman VS crocodile, Cahills crossing NT.

[bob10]

Kakadu crocodile rangers say people taking too many risks (http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/nt/2016/10/02/crocodile-thong-kakadu/?utm_source=Responsys&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20161003_TND)

[Bearman]

Watched it on TV - stupid is the word I would use. All that big crocodilli had to do was flick his tail and he would have had her. The yap yap dog wouldn't have even been a mouthfull.

[justinc]

Complacency kills too. Saw a car load of locals swimming at a tidal creek yesterday on the way back into Cairns. Signs everywhere, no idea!
Some years back there was a young girl taken from a storm water /open gutter virtually in a suburb... late night swim in Chinaman creek. She survived.
You only get 1 chance usually

Jc

[bob10]

Many years ago, a race horse was attacked in a creek in the middle of Darwin. I think it was race course creek. Interesting to see the Rangers said the croc population is back to preEuropean times.

[Ean Austral]

A weekly occurrence at Cahills crossing, only a matter of time before someone gets taken , then everyone will jump up and down and want them culled.

They are not something to take lightly , believe me I know, I survived a croc attack. They are the masters of stealth, I almost jumped into its mouth and still never seen it till it bit me.

Cheers Ean

[Bytemrk]

Ean, that's an experience I will happily go through life without.....

That's one plus for Victoria... no bitey lizards!

[Ean Austral]

Ean, that's an experience I will happily go through life without.....

That's one plus for Victoria... no bitey lizards!

Not something I want to go thru again , only alive because a friend was brave enough to help. Not a phone call a 8 month pregnant wife likes to receive . She hasn't let me forget it either.:p

Cheers Ean

[squizzyhunter]

Not something I want to go thru again , only alive because a friend was brave enough to help. Not a phone call a 8 month pregnant wife likes to receive . She hasn't let me forget it either.:p

Cheers Ean

Dam Ean that is scary stuff mate! Glad you made it out. That's not something I would wish on anyone.
It's crazy what some people do especially the local fellas, have a mate that grew up in injinoo and he goes spear fishing at the mouth of the Jardine river........
Every evening at Seisia jetty there are over 100 kids jumping off and swimming, have been doing for years but it's only a matter of time till a tragedy. I was fishing there the other arvo and a tiger shark swam through, they all went to one side of the jetty and watched it, 10 seconds later they are all jumping off the end of the jetty again.
Anyway very glad you are still with us Ean.

[Ean Austral]

Dam Ean that is scary stuff mate! Glad you made it out. That's not something I would wish on anyone.
It's crazy what some people do especially the local fellas, have a mate that grew up in injinoo and he goes spear fishing at the mouth of the Jardine river........
Every evening at Seisia jetty there are over 100 kids jumping off and swimming, have been doing for years but it's only a matter of time till a tragedy. I was fishing there the other arvo and a tiger shark swam through, they all went to one side of the jetty and watched it, 10 seconds later they are all jumping off the end of the jetty again.
Anyway very glad you are still with us Ean.

Thanks Squizzyhunter, I'm pretty glad I'm still here too believe me. My attack happened in 1994 and we were 40 miles out to sea, there was a couple of islands about 10 miles away. We were mad keen spearfisherman in those days. It was the end of the prawn season and we were heading back to Darwin and decided to stop and do some spear fishing at 1 of our favourite spots.
Rangers tell me that they think the croc must have been moving to a new area to be where it was. Sadly there seems to be a belief in slot of humans that because someone gets attacked we should automatically start to cull whatever animal it was that attacked a human.

You see things like that story at Cahills crossing, and every year some idiot or idiots up here decide to swim into baited croc traps for a hero pic and I just shake my head and think so called adults should know better. kids atleast have the excuse of being kids.

22 years after my attack and I still have the odd nightmare , not as many as I used to but it's still as clear in my head as if it happened yesterday.

Cheers Ean

[bob10]

Had an old mate , ex crocodile hunter. He used to say that with the ban on shooting it was just a matter of time before the numbers grew again.[ he had a knack for saying the obvious]. He was concerned about overfishing. He said Barra boats were netting everywhere, back then. Reduce the crocs natural food, the big ones eat the little ones, they all eat the two legged pig. The big males that dominate an area push the little males out, sooner or later places that have not had crocs have a resident male.

Most of his hunting was done at night. Shine a torch around, the light reflects off their eyes. He used to shoot them, then tie them off on the side of his 14 ft timber boat. He was telling me, once he quietly paddled into a huge billabong, shone the torch around, saw the reflected light from dozens of eyes, some a long way apart. big crocs. Took a shot, shone the torch around, no reflected light. He went back the next day .

I found an old 1940's film, interesting. Old mate would never had placed the croc in the boat.

Top End crocodile hunters of the 1940s depicted in unearthed Government film - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-11/crocodile-hunters-from-1940s-in-unearthed-video/7315516)

[Ean Austral]

I used to work with a old bloke in the 80s , he was an ex croc shooter and said they got to know the sound of approaching boats and would disappear. He said towards the end there were some guys who would shoot the croc and then dive into the water to rope the croc.

He found a croc that for the young age he thought it was, he was surprised how big it was so got permission to keep it , built a pen for it on his block and it never grew any bigger.

He was one of the pioneers of the early barges that serviced the aboriginal communities , could listen to his stories for ages .

Cheers Ean

[squizzyhunter]

Thanks Squizzyhunter, I'm pretty glad I'm still here too believe me. My attack happened in 1994 and we were 40 miles out to sea, there was a couple of islands about 10 miles away. We were mad keen spearfisherman in those days. It was the end of the prawn season and we were heading back to Darwin and decided to stop and do some spear fishing at 1 of our favourite spots.
Rangers tell me that they think the croc must have been moving to a new area to be where it was. Sadly there seems to be a belief in slot of humans that because someone gets attacked we should automatically start to cull whatever animal it was that attacked a human.

You see things like that story at Cahills crossing, and every year some idiot or idiots up here decide to swim into baited croc traps for a hero pic and I just shake my head and think so called adults should know better. kids atleast have the excuse of being kids.

22 years after my attack and I still have the odd nightmare , not as many as I used to but it's still as clear in my head as if it happened yesterday.

Cheers Ean

Dam! I can only imagine mate they scare the crap out of me, that much power and just sees anything under horse size as mobile meat.
I grew up Spearfishing down south and have always loved it. Since being in Qld I thought id j

[squizzyhunter]

... Thought I'd get into blue water stuff but after doing it I found that I prefer the idea of doing it rather than being out there with the big fellas.

Thanks for sharing some of the story mate. I'm a new comer to croc territory's so tend to be over cautious

[workingonit]

Now speaking of horses...

Don't recall where I heard the story (and don't tell me its fiction out of a movie if you know it)! Every day Aboriginal man goes to top of sand dune to watch horses come out of bush and drink fresh water that flows over beach to ocean. And every day there is the same croc just off shore. But every day the croc is moving in just that bit closer to beach. Horses keep an eye on croc. One day the horses come out of scrub to drink, but no sign of the croc. Next moment the croc busts out of the bush behind them and drags one horse into the surf. Skillful hunters.

Rangers doing turtle count at night on island off Kakadu. Each ranger in position quite some distance apart. All lights out so as not so spook turtles coming ashore. Screams come from a ranger across the beach. Everyone runs over to see rangers thongs at waters edge and croc slithering into the surf. But casting light around finds ranger still up the beach OK, but for some puncture wounds to abdomen. I asked, did you evacuate him. Nah, just some betadine on the wound and back to work! Shot the croc next morning, emaciated and desperate for a feed.

One of my son's friends father. Was tour operator. Said he should have known better than to go back to the same place for fresh water. Croc got him by the hand. Collecting the water by reaching through the fork of a substantial tree was what gave him the counter leverage and saved him. Hand muscle torn to shreds so only partial use now. Kids told him he needed a safer occupation so he took to collecting croc eggs for the farms, sometimes by air. Crawling out to a nest the mother got him by the waist. But this time his side arm saved him - not out of the holster to shoot, but rather while in its holster it jammed in the crocs jaw hinge so it couldn't close properly.

My bro in law, ex Kakadu ranger is one of those likely to get a Darwin award. We have seasonal river through our property. Bro is telling me he and his mate drove previous night to a crossing much further up river to watch the fresh water crocs on the causeway catching fish washed over. And there were a couple of small salties there as well. How small is small I ask. Oh, about 2 metres each. Knowing my bro in law, I asked how did you get home last night after watching the crocs. Oh, just jumped in and floated down river several kms till I got to our place and pulled myself out. Aye yai yai!! You loco!

[bob10]

Now speaking of horses...

Don't recall where I heard the story (and don't tell me its fiction out of a movie if you know it)! Every day Aboriginal man goes to top of sand dune to watch horses come out of bush and drink fresh water that flows over beach to ocean. And every day there is the same croc just off shore. But every day the croc is moving in just that bit closer to beach. Horses keep an eye on croc. One day the horses come out of scrub to drink, but no sign of the croc. Next moment the croc busts out of the bush behind them and drags one horse into the surf. Skillful hunters.

Rangers doing turtle count at night on island off Kakadu. Each ranger in position quite some distance apart. All lights out so as not so spook turtles coming ashore. Screams come from a ranger across the beach. Everyone runs over to see rangers thongs at waters edge and croc slithering into the surf. But casting light around finds ranger still up the beach OK, but for some puncture wounds to abdomen. I asked, did you evacuate him. Nah, just some betadine on the wound and back to work! Shot the croc next morning, emaciated and desperate for a feed.

One of my son's friends father. Was tour operator. Said he should have known better than to go back to the same place for fresh water. Croc got him by the hand. Collecting the water by reaching through the fork of a substantial tree was what gave him the counter leverage and saved him. Hand muscle torn to shreds so only partial use now. Kids told him he needed a safer occupation so he took to collecting croc eggs for the farms, sometimes by air. Crawling out to a nest the mother got him by the waist. But this time his side arm saved him - not out of the holster to shoot, but rather while in its holster it jammed in the crocs jaw hinge so it couldn't close properly.

My bro in law, ex Kakadu ranger is one of those likely to get a Darwin award. We have seasonal river through our property. Bro is telling me he and his mate drove previous night to a crossing much further up river to watch the fresh water crocs on the causeway catching fish washed over. And there were a couple of small salties there as well. How small is small I ask. Oh, about 2 metres each. Knowing my bro in law, I asked how did you get home last night after watching the crocs. Oh, just jumped in and floated down river several kms till I got to our place and pulled myself out. Aye yai yai!! You loco!

I met one of the National park Rangers who captured Sweetheart. Mate of my B.O.L.. Lovely Aboriginal man. Trapped him, & put him to sleep
, but he was drowned by water down the throat. The Rangers lured Sweet heart to the boat by motoring up & down where he was known to be. Sweetheart used to delight in grabbing the outboard motor by the leg.
the story here.
Stateline Northern Territory (http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nt/content/2003/s1150733.htm)

[bob10]

How Sweetheart was stuffed.Some good photos of him.

How Sweetheart got stuffed - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-04/the-darwin-sweetheart-crocodile-taxidermy-story/7587666)

[Boxhead63]

A weekly occurrence at Cahills crossing, only a matter of time before someone gets taken , then everyone will jump up and down and want them culled.

They are not something to take lightly , believe me I know, I survived a croc attack. They are the masters of stealth, I almost jumped into its mouth and still never seen it till it bit me.

Cheers Ean

My wife would kill me if i survived the croc attack.

Boxhead