Crocodiles Revisited

Michael - Thursday

Nile crocodile

Caro’s post last week about her encounter with a Scottish crocodile made me think about what successful animals the crocodiles and alligators are. They’ve been around a long time.  The fossil record shows that they've been around in a form pretty similar to the modern day version since the time of the dinosaurs.  The Nile crocodile covers most of Africa outside the deserts.  Other species are found in many parts of Asia, the Americas, and Australia. Obviously they are doing something right.

Chinese alligator. Look no teeth. Visible. 

They are pretty adaptable too. Australia boasts a small (and so rather endearing) fresh water variety, but also a ferocious salt water version, which is found all the way around the tropical coast. The US, of course, has very impressive alligators. If you're wondering about the difference between alligators and crocodiles, the answer is mainly the shape of the snout, and the setting of the teeth. The upper and lower jaws of a crocodile are the same width, and the teeth in the lower jaw fall along the edge or outside the upper jaw when the mouth is closed, so all teeth are visible. On the other hand, an alligator has small depressions in the upper jaw, into which the lower teeth fit, so you don’t see them when the mouth is closed. This interesting fact about the teeth will make little difference if it happens to have your arm between its jaws.

This is a fake, of course. I hope...

From the deck overlooking the river of our bungalow in the Olifants River Game Reserve, one can usually spot a number of crocodiles engaged in their daily and nightly activities.  Sometimes they are impressively out of the water sunning themselves and showing off up to fifteen feet from toothful mouth to powerful tail.  Sometimes all you see is a ripple as the croc moves smoothly under the water going about its business.  

Crocodiles have what you might call a bit part in our second Detective Kubu novel, so I have a soft spot for them.  Cute isn’t usually a word applied to crocodiles, but the babies are only a few inches in length and look almost cuddly.  However, they come ready fitted with tiny but needle teeth.  More to the point, the mother may be nearby.  She quite often keeps an eye on them for a while.  Probably she has other crocodiles in mind – cannibalism is no problem for them - but I don’t recommend reaching into the water to pick up one of the babies.

People seem to be fascinated by the crocodile the way we are simultaneously attracted and repelled by all the large predators i.e. anything that might (and sometimes does) eat humans.  There are all the standard trivia questions along the lines of “what animal is responsible for the most human deaths in Africa?”  (The answer, of course, is usually followed by an argument about whether it's fair to call a mosquito an animal; if not the hippo wins hands down.)  Anyway, there’s no doubt that large crocodiles are merciless predators and that they have no qualms about eating humans.  The manager of our game reserve believes he lost one of his dogs to a croc and nearly lost the other.  He was resting in the bush one day when he noticed the dog was not with him.  Something made him nervous and, looking around, he discovered that the dog was drinking at the river.  At the same time he noticed ripples moving towards the bank.  Crocodiles are reputed to be attracted to animal lapping sounds transmitted through the water.  He yelled but the dog went on drinking.  He ran down the bank and grabbed the animal in time, and the ripples subsided.

Then, of course, there’s the story of crocodile tears.  Going back to tales from the fourteenth century, it was ‘well known’ that crocodiles wept while they viciously devoured their prey.  So it became a saying for an insincere show of emotion.  Later this ‘fact’ was debunked on the basis that crocodiles can’t produce tears.  But that’s wrong, too.  They have tear ducts, as we do, to lubricate their eyes.  They don’t cry though.  What they feel in the way of emotions is another matter altogether. I wouldn’t put any money on pity being one of them.

No swimming in the Olifants river, no matter how hot it gets in summer. 

____________________________________________

Murder Is Everywhere Author Recognitions and Events

CARA BLACK

Murder in Saint Germain, Aimée Leduc’s next investigation, launched June 6.

SUSAN SPANN

              My next Hiro Hattori mystery, Betrayal at Iga, releases on July 11 from Seventh Street Books. 

MICHAEL STANLEY

         

          The next Detective Kubu my stery, Dying to Live, releases in the UK on July 12 from Orenda books.