I’ve done some pretty stupid things in my life. But it’s pretty hard to imagine doing anything more foolish than encouraging crocodiles to jump in an open, shallow-bellied boat.
To understand how silly that is, you have to appreciate that these are not farm crocs but the wily, territorial predators of one of the world’s toughest environments – the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory. There are enough crocodiles in this 200km watercourse to distribute one every 25 metres.
And they aren’t real loveable either. Saltwater monsters in this river average 4 metres and even if they reach 5.5 metres (like this monster) they still aren’t “Top Dog” in this part of Australia.
This is not my favourite (or best) shot from the day but it certainly evidences my point – it was not very bright of me to board an unprotected vessel to go tease 500kg reptiles that preceded the dinosaurs.
Two things are very clear in my mind: (1) If you fell into this fast-flowing river, you wouldn’t have to worry about your mistake for very long; and (2) If I had the opportunity to do it again, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
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