Michael Maffei sent me some giant crocodile pictures that have begun doing the rounds. They're accompanied by this caption:
Now this is a Crocodile !
This crocodile was found in New Orleans swimming down the street. 21 FT long, 4,500 lbs, around 80 years old minimum. Specialists said that he was looking to eat humans because he was too old to catch animals. This crocodile was killed by the army last Sunday at 3:00 pm, currently he is in the freezer at the Azur hotel. The contents of it's stomach will be analyzed this Friday at 2:30pm.
The pictures are real enough, but they're weren't taken in New Orleans. These are pictures of the
Monster Crocodile of Pointe-Noire (in the Republic of the Congo). They've been circulating for over two years. David Emery notes that the crocodile was really estimated to be 16 feet long and weighed about 1874 lbs. That's still a lot bigger than I'd ever care to encounter.
Comments
The only crocs native to the Americas are the cayman in South America.
A croc was reported missing from the Audubon Zoo after the storm though. Haven't heard if they found it yet.
When one of those monsters pokes his head up a few feet away and looks you over through the plexiglass you know what the lobsters in the supermarket feel like.
The real red flag was that this story was not picked up by any news organizations.
And if you don't have cable watch PBS..
LOL Imagine the wildlife necessary for such an animal to reach such dimensions. Last I check I haven't seen any Wildabeast crossing the rough Mississipi for greener pastures (GEEEZ). LOL
Even if it is a hoax, the poor gator still had to die. =\
Another way to tell that it's a hoax is that the length and weight of the animal don't add up. Last year, PBS had an one hour special on a killer Nile Crocodile in Africa. They estimated the Crocodile to be at least 20 feet long and weighs a ton (2000lbs). It's very unlikely that a 21 footer will weigh more than twice as much as a 20 footer.
But... an excellent photo of a croc; many lack a good perspective shot so one can appreciate size, but this demonstrate how large and how frightening the nile croc and the saltwater croc of Australia can be.
I've spent time in south Louisiana; trust me, this dead animal won't go to waste... it's skeleton will end up in a museum and the meat (which can be fried up quite nicely) will end up in persons' bellies....
important points of difference between alligators
and crocodiles? Also, can I find one of these in
Iceland? (to eat of course) I am sick of eating
these damn seals round the year!
As far as the poor animal having to die. I guess I should have respect for those that believe in the rights of animals. I personally have no problem with the thing being dead if they had no way to capture it safely. It did however need to be away from where humans were.
Some guy also said crocs don't exist in the states - research before you post buddy. There are crocs in south Florida - although they don't generally get as large as crocs in other parts of the world. Florida might be the only place that crocs and alligators coexist - notice I said "might be" though.