View from a Rhino House: don’t look up!

Let’s be honest, when you think about crocodiles & alligators (if you think about them at al), you think of them lumbering around on the ground or lying in wait in the water – not climbing trees. However a University of Tennessee study has found that the beasties can climb trees

The team observed checked on species on 3 continents, Africa, Australia, & North America, & examined earlier studies & anecdotal evidence. They found that there are four species that regularly climb trees, & how close they got to heaven depended on their size. The smaller animals were able to climb higher than the larger ones & some species were observed climbing as far as four metres high in a tree & five metres along a branch.

“Climbing a steep hill or steep branch is mechanically similar, assuming the branch is wide enough to walk on,” the study reported. “Still, the ability to climb vertically is a measure of crocodiles’ spectacular agility on land.”

The beasties seen climbing trees, both at night & during the day, were nervous at being approached, jumping into the water when an approaching observer was no more than10 metres away. (They can jump?)

“The most frequent observations of tree-basking were in areas where there were few places to bask on the ground, implying that the individuals needed alternatives for regulating their body temperature,” the authors wrote. “Likewise, their wary nature suggests that climbing leads to improved site surveillance of potential threats & prey.”

So I guess it’s back to hiding under the bed with a broom handle for protection (they can’t jump on you under the bed, & there’s no point in trying to climb a tree to get away).

Good thing I wore a hat..... — Good thing I wore a hat…..

People with issues #212

With advancing years Jake & Chloe had found that the garden had really got beyond them Chloe was still a dab hand, though, at cleaning out the alligator pond. — With advancing years Jake & Chloe had found that the garden had really got beyond them. Chloe was still a dab hand, though, at cleaning out the crocodile pond.

View from a Rhino House: make it snappy

Over 15,000 crocodiles have escaped from a farm in South Africa during heavy rains & flooding.

The owner was forced to open the crocodile farm’s gates in the early hours of Sunday morning to prevent a storm surge in the artificial lagoons where the crocodiles live.

Some of the crocodiles have been recaptured, but more than half are still on the loose.

The crocodiles escaped from the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, a tourist site about 15km from the small town of Pontdrif, which borders Botswana.

Zane Langman, the son-in-law of the farm’s owner, told reporters that many of the crocodiles had escaped into dense bush & the Limpopo River, the second biggest in South Africa.

“There used to be only a few crocodiles in the Limpopo River. Now there are a lot, mainly from our farm. We go to recapture them as soon as farmers or fishermen call us,” said Mr Langman.

“I heard there were crocodiles even in Musina (about 120km away) on the school’s rugby field.”

Mr Langman said he went to rescue friends in a flooded house in the area by boat on Sunday evening.

“When we reached the house they were on the roof, the crocodiles were swimming around them.” he said.

The South African Air Force is being used to rescue people affected by the flooding in remote settlements, some of which are cut off from the outside world.

It wasn’t like this in “Free Willy”