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Crocodile Stories Thread

10K views 117 replies 38 participants last post by  Headsense 
#1 · (Edited)
ok so I was asked to tell my story of a rafting trip i did in crocodile country so I started this thread in case others want to contribute.

Mine is a long story but I will try and be brief. ...

There is going to be 4 chapters BEFORE, DAY 1, DAY 2 , and AFTER. I dont have a computer so doing this on my phone so patience grasshoppers.

BEFORE

After talking to my mate ian who was throwing the idea around about a boat trip from el questro station down the pentecost river to the gibb river road I got totally obsessed with the idea.My mate never actually went through with it but I was determined. I was sick of rock hopping my old gq into various parts of the River and sick of walking in 40 degree temps in search of big barra.
So the search for a suitable water craft began.first I looked at small flat bottom tinnies but they were ruled out due to possible difficulties going over rocks.
Second I looked at canoes but they were ruled out because they look like another crocodile and you know what crocodiles do to each other in the breading season.
So finally I decided on this(see below) as it didn't look like a croc and I thought I they would give us a wide berth. And it was cheap $50 odd bucks back then
So all I needed was someone to go with to make me feel better about my idea so I asked my mate Ben and unfortunately and surprisingly he said yeah why not so I was committed.
Next was when to go well after the wet was an obvious choice so early may was chosen as we new the river would still be up and the barra will be hungry and also the crocs unfortunately. ...

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#2 ·
Whoa, this sounds dodgy, though you obviously made it out alive. haha.

Looking forward to hearing this story mate.

So before you start, how far was it from elquestro to Gibb river Rd?

I've got a couple of stories myself which I'll share later
 
#8 ·
Alrighty, this one takes place on a tributary of the Norman river a few k's from Karumba.

A fella I met in town, Emile, and myself went out for a day of throwing lures for barra in my 12 foot V tinny.
We headed up river and worked the entries of all the little creeks which run into the Norman.
All we were getting were blue salmon a thready and catfish so we decided to motor up one of these small creeks.

Now to paint a picture, the country up there is barron with virtually no vegetation, it was mid tide and the creek we were trolling up was about 3 metres wide at maximum with steepish mud banks (about 45 degrees and 3 metres high) on each side.
As we motored along at about 5 knots there was crocs all over the mud banks getting disturbed by our presence an casually sliding into the water ahead of us.
Most of them were around the 2 metre mark, but I could see a monster up ahead that woulda been around 4 metres long and as we approached him he wasn't moving,, I was getting a bit worried coz all the other crocs, even the ones 50 metres past him were making for the water, but he wasn't budging.

So as we get in line with where he is on the bank he comes to life and comes tearing down the bank straight at us, holy sheep **** this ain't good.
I knew he wasn't attacking us and that he was just heading for the water, but the problem was that there was only about 700mm of water between the boat and the bank and he was gonna have to make it through that gap or end up in the tinny with us. Well he made it through the gap, just, but as he he did he side swiped us hard causing the boat to rock and the opposite gunwale to go under momentarily and the landing net to go in the drink.
Bloody hell I shat myself, it was a life flashing in front of my eyes moment that I'll never forget, he could have easily ended up in the boat with us, or us in the water with him.
 
#9 ·
Fishing shady camp at night (Mary River, NT) on the fresh side above the barrage in a 5.0m tinny casting lures amongst about 100 set of eyes, and oopps cast my favourite lure into the mangroves, and being my favourite I wanted it back. Used the electric motor to move closer wearing head lamps watching the eyes submerge, couple sets of eyes would not move so we thought we would stop and lock up the drag and yank, after several unsuccessful attempts and braid burn, I gave it a good heave ho and brought down top third of the man groves...right on top a set of eyes. These set of eyes belonged to about a 4.5m croc which launched vertically to about his back legs with his snout missing the out board by about 2 ft. Fishing was over for that night.
 
#11 ·
A friend of the family had a contract to remove problem crocs from popular simming holes, fishing areas in Darwin & the rural areas. I went on a croc run with him one day. First port of call was to recover a croc that was trapped in a croc trap just down stream from the 3rd swimming hole of a popular swimming hole. We kept him in the tinny for the whole day.

The rest of the day we replaced chickens in traps & reset the traps. It was quite scary to be honest as we had to stand on the side of the traps with the fresh chicken in hand. The family friend had a pistol, which in reality he would not have been able to use quick enough should a croc decide to fly out & take one of us.

We have also swum in a few water holes/rivers in Litchfield Park, Arnhem Land, Katherine etc with fresh warer crocodiles. Most notably swimming between JimJim &Twin Falls. You could see the freshies at the bottom of the river between the falls.

Cheers,
 
#13 ·
Just spotted this thread.
In the early 90's I was sent to Broome on a quick 5 day job, finished a day early so decided to do the tourist thing. Got told of a croc park on the outskirts of town so shuffled out there.
Bus load of asian tourists arrived at the same time. There was a huge concrete statue of a croc at the entrance. Ended up part of the guided tour with this lot and got to say, very impressed with the sizes of animals in the pens.
After about half an hour I was becoming a little bored and I have to admit, this lot would have an orgasm every time they saw a bloody fly. By now we were near the back of the park and I was bringing up the rear when I spotted a gate with a no entry sign sitting amongst over grown bush. So, as one does, I slipped away, opened the gate and disappeared. Found myself on an overgrown path and a quiet and eerie feeling being surrounded by all this close bush. Can remember a boggy stench that pervaded the air. Ended up tripping over what appeared to be old rusty No8 wire, probably a fence in days gone by.
Came upon a humugous concrete croc like the one at the entrance, must have been a good 5-6 ft across it's girth. Whilst poking the bloody thing it's head, in a flash, swung round at me.
All I can remember to this day were it's eyes and it's breath as it snapped within a foot or two.
Amazing how quickly you move in such a situation. Got out of there quick smart, smelly mud all over me.
I didn't care what the staff or the other tourists thought, I just kept running to the car, got back to the motel showered then must have sat on the bed for a couple of hours just staring at the wall....lol.

Still get the shakes now and then.


Cheers....Lionel.
 
#14 ·
I remember very many years ago I went to visit a mate in Domadgee ( Aboriginal town near Burketown ), and the mate and I decided to go fishing and crabbing and take my two boys with us, so tinnie on the back we head up old Domadgee road towards the gulf, telling my boys to keep their eyes out for an old Brumbie we would knock over for some crab bait, so the boys are all excited and bouncing around the back seat eyes wide open, and we're telling to keep an eye out for a brumbie, "no worries dad", and after about 40 mins my youngest says "Dad whats a Brumbie " we nearly fell out of the pajero laughing.

Anyhow later on we put the pots in and went down the mouth of the river near the mangroves casting around for Barra or Salmon, not a nibble, boys in hand lines not a nibble either. But there is a Toyota LCR on the sand on the other bank at the mouth of the river and about 8 indigenous persons sitting around on the sand looking at us and occasionally laughing and pointing. After an hour of so of this we headed back upstream, not a bloody muddie to be seen either , put the boat back on the trailer and back to Domadgee. About 2 hours later an old tribal elder comes down to the house and says to the mate 'Hey Sarge, Just letting you know someones been down old Domadgee and knocked over one or our Brumbies." Just a polite way of saying we know it was you, don't do it again...

Later next day mate tells me we were the side show and the other mob on the bank were waiting for us all to be knocked out of the tinnie by the 15 odd foot saltie that has been hanging around the mouth of the river the last few days....Bastards....No wonder there was no fish biting or crabs.......
 
#16 ·
that'll teach him to bark and piss everywhere. Was probably a nice dog....Why did you put him out as bait??

No offence meant. Was probably a sad time...bloody things will go anywhere for a feed.
 
#19 ·
One time when I was drunk with a mate and few chicks at Kakadu nation park.
It was hot night so me and a chick went swimming in river that you cross to get to twin falls.
There were sign for crocs, we were drunk and stupid.

Other people at camping area heard us in the water , so they just watched and filmed us lol.
 
#21 ·
One time when I was drunk with a mate and few chicks at Kakadu nation park.
It was hot night so me and a chick went swimming in river that you cross to get to twin falls.
There were sign for crocs, we were drunk and stupid.

Other people at camping area heard us in the water , so they just watched and filmed us lol.
OH nice of them. Did you end up on U tube or that Fools program hosted by Mr T.
 
#22 ·
They were hoping to see nature at work, croc feeding.


OH nice of them. Did you end up on U tube or that Fools program hosted by Mr T.
This was around 1999 or 2000, don't think u tube existed then. No crocs visited us so they would have deleted the footage.
 
#23 ·
Croc stories you say?
Well I work in and around crocs everyday when I'm on shift.
We have a crocs as small as 2m to one that's near on 5m called the black knight.
The black knight isn't the worry because he is very slow-some in his old age but given half the chance he would swallow us whole.

I work in the king sound of the Kimberley 12hour boat steam nor-east of Broome WA. We have plenty of bait for them as the boat I work on service a Barramundi farm. So they tend to hang around. As we are running around cages or laying belly flat on the collar you are sure to keep a keen lookout.

P.s Turtles scare the F*** out of ya when they surface 2m away the Bast*rds haha
I have a fair few teeth and some more stories that are best told around the campfire over a beer.

SAW Troll
Scotty
 
#29 ·
Croc stories you say?
Well I work in and around crocs everyday when I'm on shift.
We have a crocs as small as 2m to one that's near on 5m called the black knight.
The black knight isn't the worry because he is very slow-some in his old age but given half the chance he would swallow us whole.

I work in the king sound of the Kimberley 12hour boat steam nor-east of Broome WA. We have plenty of bait for them as the boat I work on service a Barramundi farm. So they tend to hang around. As we are running around cages or laying belly flat on the collar you are sure to keep a keen lookout.

P.s Turtles scare the F*** out of ya when they surface 2m away the Bast*rds haha
I have a fair few teeth and some more stories that are best told around the campfire over a beer.

SAW Troll
Scotty
Cool,
love that part of the world. quite a few years ago, I did some work in Cone Bay for Maxima Pearls before they were taken over by Paspaley. Fantastic bit of coastline up there and through wirlpool passage to Yampi Sound and ****atoo Is.

There was an old bloke who came over to the Island at Cone bay for a few supplies and told us how a crock had grabbed his dog (an old blue heeler) he jumped in the water and poked a stick or something in the crocks eye till it let go of his dog. Crazy old bloke had a lot of courage.

I will dig out a few old photos if I can find them.
 
#28 ·
DAY 1. Part 1 haha

First we needed to drop my old GQ ute at the gibb river Road crossing well hidden just upstream. Took a bit of rock hopping and wheel spin to get to our chosen spot.
Then we jumped in my mate Bens 75 series cruiser ute and headed for the station. We were quietly confident we would see my car again.
So we had access to el questro station before it opened for the season due to a
Mate working there. The old key under the rock.
We arrived at the crossing that goes to the elgee cliffs just above where the chamberlain river becomes the pentecost river those who have been there will know the one.
The river was in good form pumping across the crossing looking a bit errie.
Is that a word.

We unpacked the gear.
Fly rod x2 . Flies . 2 minute noodles. Matches:banghead: 30 30 rifle. Bottle of scotch. Topographic map. and the boat.

Now to be perfectly honest I had taken the boat out of the box previously and thought all was well but when I took it out this time I looked at Ben thinking I hope he says shi t I ain't going in that.
But he was like . Where's the pump lets get going.

TBC


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#46 ·
day 1. Part 1 haha

first we needed to drop my old gq ute at the gibb river road crossing well hidden just upstream. Took a bit of rock hopping and wheel spin to get to our chosen spot.
Then we jumped in my mate bens 75 series cruiser ute and headed for the station. We were quietly confident we would see my car again.
So we had access to el questro station before it opened for the season due to a
mate working there. The old key under the rock.
We arrived at the crossing that goes to the elgee cliffs just above where the chamberlain river becomes the pentecost river those who have been there will know the one.
The river was in good form pumping across the crossing looking a bit errie.
Is that a word.

We unpacked the gear.
Fly rod x2 . Flies . 2 minute noodles. Matches:banghead: 30 30 rifle. Bottle of scotch. Topographic map. And the boat.

Now to be perfectly honest i had taken the boat out of the box previously and thought all was well but when i took it out this time i looked at ben thinking i hope he says shi t i ain't going in that.
But he was like . Where's the pump lets get going.

Tbc


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and then????????
 
#39 ·
Back when I were lad (8 or 9 years old) we were mustering on my granddads station, this was in the Kimberley and not long after the end of the wet.

I was told by granddad to go with Stevie, the overseer, to pull a mallee bull out of the top 550 section we were working (as he was starting to build a bit of a harem), an area notorious for its thick scrub including several varieties of Acacia type thorn bushes, blind water holes and the occasional croc. It can be murder to ride through.

So, there we are and we have the bull cornered (relatively) between an escarpment and two water holes. Stevie tells me that he is going to ride around to the left water hole to stop him breaking towards the escarpment and drive him into the open where we could deal with him.

My job was to ride into the scrub making a much noise as I could. In I go and not long after I have the bull in my sights and start driving him toward Stevie.

Well, the bull knows something is up and makes a break with me hot on its heels getting lashed, sliced and diced by every thorn I came near (it seemed so to me anyway). I’m doing well, I think, as I am keeping up with the bull (no small feat in that scrub).

All of a sudden the bull breaks hard right (bet he could smell Stevie) and is off into virgin scrub at twice the speed of light with me after it at full lather.

Suddenly I break out into a small clearing that contains a water hole and the next thing I know is that damn nag has locked its fore legs up, squatted down on it haunches and is skidding to a stop, at the same time I am sailing over its head (still holding the reigns) and land with a splash in the water hole.

So, there I am sitting there in water up to my waist and I am dazed and a little winded, and still trying to hold onto the reigns as the nag wants to be gone.

Stevie rides up, hooks one boot over the knee pad of the saddle and starts rolling a cig. He looks down at me and says “ya let the bugger get away didn’t ya” and shakes his head. I give him stick about being in the wrong place / not knowing which way the bull would break etc etc and about how poor of an overseer he was in general.

He just laughed and said “you know, your granddad and I saw a good 12ft croc in this water hole last week, your horse obviously knows this and that is why it threw you and is now trying desperately to back away from the water and is just about to break your hand in the process because of how you’re holding onto the reigns”.

“And yet, there you are sitting in the same water as this croc and all you care about is your horse getting away from you, and you are calling my intelligence into question?”

Well, all I can say it that it is not only Jesus who can walk on water. Within seconds both the horse and I had placed Stevie and his horse between us and the water hole.

I can remember nothing between sitting in the water and then hiding behind Stevie. It was him who said that I appeared to “just run across the water” in my efforts to get out of there.
 
#40 ·
Crocks

Can remember back in the mid to late 90s was driving tour coaches for a living.
Had a full load of Germans on board out at Kakadu and doing the Yellow waters cruise.
The guide nudge the boat upto a bank so every one could see the big croc a 5-6 mt salty and as you can imagine every stands up and heads to the front of the boat to take photos and as the guide is down the back she couldn't see what's happening. After a few minutes she backs the boat away to hear yelling and screaming, I shoot to the front of the boat to see half a dozen people on the bank getting close to the crock taking photos. After some yelling and screaming igot them back to the boat and on our way again.
I ask them what the hell they were doing and the answer I got was, it didn't move and they thought it was a stuffed animal to take photos off
Dohh

Andy
 
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