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Top end crocs feast on 'dumb' cows
I thought we needed a good animal story to brighten our day.``DUMB'' cows from ``down south'' are being snapped up by cunning Top End crocodiles, according to the locals. Cattle from southern areas used to grazing on the good stuff next to Top End rivers are considered easy prey for hungry salt water crocodiles, who can stuff a half-ton beast in their mouths in a fraction of a second. Darwin angler Annette Lear came accross a 5m-plus saltie dining out on a beef burger at Hardies Lagoon off the Arnhem Highway. ``I thought the cow was a 44-gallon drum when I first saw it,'' she said. Then I got closer and realised it was a cow. Our tinnie was 16-foot long and the croc was at least a couple of feet bigger.'' One Top End station manager said cattle from southern areas were most vulnerable to attack. Another local cattleman agreed, saying: ``Yeah, they (the cattle) can be a bit dumb when they first arrive.'' Top End-bred beasts familiar with crocodiles prefer higher ground and rely on instinct to steer clear of becoming lunch. Up to 10 head of cattle a week can disappear from some Top End stations, particularly those around the Reynolds River in Litchfield National Park. Cattlemen's Association executive director Stuart Kenny said losses to crocodiles was part of being a pastoralist in the Top End. ``Cattle graze on the floodplain and it's a reality that a percentage will be lost to crocodiles,'' he said. Describing their close encounter with the saltie versus cow, Ms Lear said: ``We went up and tried to spook it (the croc) with the boat to let the cow go but it just hung on and didn't care about us. ``I've been fishing around there all my life and have seen buffalo get taken before and I've heard about cows being eaten by crocs but that was the first time I've seen it,'' she said. Speaking to the Northern Territory News yesterday, the station manager said: ``The crocs target cattle fresh off the truck. ``We bring up the brahmans from our breeding property down south and they're not used to dealing with crocs. ``Once they've been here for a bit they get spooked and are a lot more wary of crocodiles but crocs can travel through a few inches of water so we do have a few deaths. ``The cattle drink and graze on the edge of the waterhole and you do sometimes come across a mob of cattle that have had close encounters with crocs. ``They usually go at the cattle's hocks and the crocs can be quite cheeky because they don't have any natural predators. ``The cattle soon learn to stay away from the edge as much as possible. ``Crocs are meat eaters and some of them are getting very cheeky - they have built up the habit of taking cattle as well as wild pigs and wallabies that venture too close to the water's edge.'' Posted by: phil_b 2006-02-10 |
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