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| Down Under |
| Nature gets Greenie on Second Attempt |
| 2008-03-04 |
| A WOMAN who survived an extraordinary crocodile attack has been killed by a snake. Respected ecologist, feminist and author Val Plumwood - who described her death roll with the giant saltie as "terror, terror, terror" - was found dead on her wilderness property. The species of snake responsible for her death was still unknown last night. Dr Plumwood, who was 67 when she died, was attacked by a crocodile while birdwatching from a canoe in Kakadu in 1985. A territorial male charged the canoe, probably mistaking it for a rival. Dr Plumwood shouted "go away" at the croc, lent up and clambered on to an overhanging tree branch. The croc jumped up and wrenched her out of the tree. The university academic said she thought she was going to die as the saltie went into a death roll with her clamped in its jaws. But, for an unknown reason, the crocodile let go and Dr Plumwood found the water was shallow enough for her to stand up in. She pulled herself back into the tree - but the croc again exploded out of the water and grabbed her. And again it let her go. Dr Plumwood sttaggered out of the water and crawled up a 2m mud bank, blood pouring from hideous wounds to her upper legs and pelvis. She slithered down the bank twice before reaching the top. Dr Plumwood dragged herself through the bush for a couple of hours. It was dark before she was found by a rescue party. "I was alive," she said. "Against all expectation, I was alive." Even as Dr Plumwood was being driven to Royal Darwin Hospital, she begged her rescuers not to hunt down and kill the crocodile that nearly killed her. She said the animal was only doing what it was genetically primed to do. "As I began my 13-hour journey to Darwin, my rescuers discussed going upriver the next day to shoot a crocodile," she said. I spoke strongly against this plan. I was the intruder - and no good purpose could be served by random revenge." |
| Posted by:Phil_B |
| #11 "Respected ecologist, feminist" Those words don't all belong in the same sentence. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-03-04 21:06 |
| #10 I hear ya Deacon, more than a few times hog hunting in the Savannah NWR, with gators, snakes, and pissed off hogs makes the old ticker thump. Death is easy life is the scary part. |
| Posted by: Slease Speaking for Boskone666 aka Broadhead6 2008-03-04 21:03 |
| #9 wonder if she will still vote in November???? Was she from Chicago? And was she a Democrat? Those are good indicators for LIFETIME membership! |
| Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 2008-03-04 20:09 |
| #8 I have to agree with CP1618. There are places where people go that are dangerous. I did a lot of hunting, fishing, and hiking growing up in South Alabama where there are lot of poisonous snakes ans alligators. You don't have to be aggravating an animal to get into trouble. Reminds me of a joke. A man in a restaurant says, "I'd like the Alligator Soup. And make it snappy". |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-03-04 15:37 |
| #7 she was doing what she loved. Sounds like her time was up and she got a slight extension. |
| Posted by: Crease Poodle1618 2008-03-04 14:47 |
| #6 Could have been worse; she could have been commemorating an aniversary of a loved one's death on train tracks and mowed down by the Orange Blossom Special. (see posted article above). wonder if she will still vote in November???? |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-03-04 14:41 |
| #5 Escaped the crocodile, killed by the snake. A lot of 67 year olds would be happy hanging out at a snake-free, croc-free starbucks. |
| Posted by: flash91 2008-03-04 13:18 |
| #4 It doesn't sound like she was one of those dim-bulbs who go up to the crocodile/grizzly/jaguar/Burmese tiger/panther/bull elephant/(insert favorite dangerous animal here) and try to hug it because it's cool to be One With Nature and they drive a Prius and their positive karma will protect them, y'know? She got into the croc's defensive zone and it did what crocs do. That's a far cry from Darwin Award territory. |
| Posted by: Mike 2008-03-04 13:09 |
| #3 She said the animal was only doing what it was genetically primed to do. Too bad you weren't, honey. Ya might still be alive... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-03-04 11:49 |
| #2 Croc took a taste and spit her out. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2008-03-04 11:31 |
| #1 I was the intruder - and no good purpose could be served by random revenge. Removing a danger for other people. |
| Posted by: JFM 2008-03-04 10:30 |