iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Croc or gater?

Started by Sawyerfortyish, October 02, 2005, 07:44:01 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Sawyerfortyish

Just got an email about a 4500lb crocodile thats 21' long in NO. I thought that we only had alligators in this country. OK FDH straighten me out on this :-\.
 

Tom

There is an American Crocodile, Crocodylus acutus.

I'm only aware of it living in the Everglades in Florida.

Four thousand five hundred pounds sounds like an exaggeration to me.

Sawyerfortyish

Thats what it says 21' 4500lbs 80yrs old

farmerdoug

lIf that is a croc and is 4500 lbs, I think it is time to go croc hunting.  We could make boots for alot of people. ::)  Jeff,  We could have FF boots for the members. 8)

Farmerdoug
Doug
Truck Farmer/Greenhouse grower
2001 LT40HDD42 Super with Command Control and AccuSet, 42 hp Kubota diesel
Fargo, MI

beenthere

Did some searching, and one thing found was reference to the bite force measured in some large crocs being 4500 pounds.

Also, found this
Monster Crocodile in New Orleans
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.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

ellmoe

My daughter came home from school with the same "gator" story. Her teacher got the story off the internet, but in their version, the gator had consumed a few New Orleans residents. When I told her that the size was impossible, she seemed to believe her teacher more than me! What do I know, I'm just her Dad! :D You'd think she give me some credit as a wildlife biologist from Florida, but nooooo! :)
Mark

P.S. If it is a croc, my bet is that it will be a captive  (or rather,was a  captive) Pacific Salt Water/Ozzie Croc. Even then I'd bet it is a tiny bit smaller than described.
Thirty plus years in the sawmill/millwork business. A sore back and arthritic fingers to prove it!

beenthere

Here's another ( I will copy this over so not to get a bad link like happened once before) story on the 'loose' about trained killer dolphins that 'escaped' into the Gulf.
September 28, 2005
Killer Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico?
There has been a buzz in recent days surrounding an article in the Observer, a British newspaper, claiming that armed dolphins "trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater" escaped their compound during Hurricane Katrina and may be on the loose in the Gulf of Mexico. If you think this sounds far-fetched, you're not alone. 

"The Observer's story relies entirely upon one source, a 'respected accident investigator' named Leo Sheridan," writes Alex Boese of the Museum of Hoaxes. "But as the Register points out, Mr. Sheridan has been the source for many dubious conspiracy-style claims in the past."

Boese rates the story "highly doubtful." I concur.

A U.S. Navy Web page detailing the military use of dolphins confirms they're trained for mine hunting, sentry duty, and object recovery but makes no mention of deploying armed dolphins in combat. In fact, according to the Navy Marine Mammal FAQ, the Navy "does not now train, nor has it ever trained, its marine mammals to harm or injure humans in any fashion or to carry weapons to destroy ships."

A dolphin expert interviewed on MSNBC's "Countdown" labeled the scenario "science fiction."


south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

DanG

That's the biggest croc I ever heard. ;D :D :D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

crtreedude

Biggest Caiman I have heard about down here was 17 feet. Still plenty big. It was a man eater too and I don't think it was because it was too slow.
So, how did I end up here anyway?

farmerdoug

I do not think a big one would be to slow.   ;DAfter all they had to eat alot to get that size.   All they have to do is lay there and some stupid human will come up to get a closer look or see if it is dead and then lunch is served. ::)

Farmerdoug
Doug
Truck Farmer/Greenhouse grower
2001 LT40HDD42 Super with Command Control and AccuSet, 42 hp Kubota diesel
Fargo, MI

CHARLIE

Tom, Louisiana has both crocodiles and gators.

One way to tell the difference between a gator and a crock. Their jaw muscles are reversed. A gator can crush dang near anything with a ton of pressure, so you'd have a hard time holding his mouth open, but you can hold his mouth shut with one hand.  Now with a crocodile, you can not keep him from opening his jaws, but you can keep him from shutting them by holding them open.  Of course they all have to lay still while you do this. If they wiggle and squirm and you lose your grip, you are supper.  Now I've heard that gators and crocs like their tummy rubbed and will actually go to sleep as you rub it. ;D  Calms 'em down.
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

Ernie_Edwards

Charlie,

Just want to be sure to not be rubbing from the inside.

Ernie Edwards

Faron

One way to tell the difference between a gator and a crock. Their jaw muscles are reversed                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Charlie, I'm pretty sure I'm  not getting close enough to tell the difference, then. ;) :D
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

crtreedude

I can see it now... Oops, I thought it was a gator...  :o
So, how did I end up here anyway?

DonE911

There are Croc's living in the St Lucie River in South FL.... North of the Glades by a good bit.

The biggest Croc I ever saw was about 7 FT.. and have been told of 14 footers, but I can't say for certain the person can tell the difference between croc's and gators  Now there are gators in the same river in the 18 foot range and thats very big for that river due to size of prey available.   A fishing guide I used to talk with alot says he saw a big gator kill a young manatee....  I bet Jimmy Buffet would be out gator hunting if he knew that.

Why would you kill a big one like that just because its swimming flooded streets?  It will go back to the river when the water is pumped out.  Big ones like that wont get caught away from water... they are to heavy to make the long walks to water....  a small 6 footer or so will walk miles overland to a new water hole.

Tom

I used to swim in the North Fork of the St. Lucie, frequently, as a youngster.

If I saw a world record animal like that in town, I would hope it would end up in a local zoo.  Can you imagine the money a city zoo could make off of that kind of attraction? :D

Still,  this and  most of these kinds of email oriented fantastic claims are just lies.  Believe me, if there was a 4500 pound gator or croc caught, you wouldn't find out about it by email.

DonE911

I did too Tom... probably still would if I was there. I bet when you used to swim there you could still see the bottom....  it's so messed up now you can't see waist deep from the causway north.

I have seen croc's ( real croc's ) as far north as midway road.... but mostly down around Stuart. There are some in the Savanna's south of walton road also ... I bet they could get pretty big in there....  lots of wild hogs to eat.

Do you remember about 4 years ago the pic of the 20 plus footer that was suposed to have come out of the NY sewers?? The photo made it around the net pretty good. NOT!!!

Tom

My sons and I had an experience with a, in my minds eye, sixteen foot alligator in the creek behind the house.  They grow real big, real fast when the relationship is more intimate than you would like.

We were paddling two canoes.  A son and I in one and a son and his friend in another.  the canoes are both 16 feet long each.

The tide was falling which left a three foot tall mud wall as a creek bank.  On top of this bank is three or four foot tall marsh grass.  The creek was about 40 feet wide at that point and we were down in a hole. 

The day was pleasant and we were enjoying the sunshine and wild roses.  All of a sudden this big gator, as long as my canoe, came flying off of the top of the bank and belly flopped about 30 feet in font of us and disappeared.  In a moment it came up about 50 feet in front of us and began swimming the same direction as we were paddling, looking back over its shoulder.  Then it spun, violently, on the top of the water throwing water everywhere, went under and then came up again about 50 feet in front.   We had kept paddling, not knowing what else to do and she was keeping the same distance in front of us.  This spinning and throwing water took place several times until, finally, she went under and didn't come up again.  I guess she went back to where we first met her.   I figure she had a nest on top of that bank and was trying to get us away from it.

No-o  Problemo !!    I didn't want to be there any more than she wanted us there.  Yep, it would be real easy for that 20 foot gator to be 25 feet by the time we got to the dock.  By supper time 28 feet would have been stretched to 30 and I'll bet the neighbors would never believe the 40 footer that scared us to death.  .......would you believe 38?  :D

crtreedude

True enough - meeting something like that upclose and personal life tends to make them a lot bigger. Except for the boa of course, we found evidence on her in a track. The worker is now a believer, probably thinks it is 30 feet at least now.  :D
So, how did I end up here anyway?

CHARLIE

Don and Tom, my memories of St. Lucie River include looking down into the yellow tannin stained water and seeing the sand.  I remember it as a beautiful river and I hope it is still that way.  When I was in 5th or 6th grade, mom took my cousin and I to the park by the St. Lucie River in White City and showed us how to paint that big old Oak Tree.  I have the picture hanging up in my house today.

Tom, you said you kept paddling the same way?  Towards a big gator thrashing about 50 feet in front of you 'cause you couldn't think of anything else to do?  DanG man!  After the first thrash I'd be heading the other way as fast as I could paddle.  Of course Tom, you know that gators swim with their mouth shut, so all you had to do was reach down and grab him by the lips and hold his mouth shut. He couldn't have bit you then.......unless it was a croc instead.

I've seen many a gator, but the biggest one I saw was....I'm guessing.....about 12 feet long 'cause he was a little longer than one lane is wide. My Granddaddy and I were on the Turnpike headed for Fort Pierce from the Orlando area in 1959. In front of us was a gator crossing the southbound lanes and Granddaddy had to slow down.  The gator was up on all fours walking and just the tip of his tail was touching the ground. It was the first time I'd ever seen a gator up walking and believe me it made me realize what a powerful and strong animal they are. 
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

ellmoe

Tom,
   That big gator would have been a he, females are rarely over 9'. Maybe your were looking kinda attractive in that canoe. :D Do gator's have Budweiser glasses at closing time?
Mark
Thirty plus years in the sawmill/millwork business. A sore back and arthritic fingers to prove it!

DonE911

Charlie....

don't go back to White City Park..... hold onto those memories....  the park is still nice... those old live oaks took the hurricanes without much damage. The water is another story.

honestly you can not see the bottom... there is at least 2 inches of muck on the bottom all the way to the St Lucie Inlet in Stuart.  The is a group of activist trying to for SFWM to do something about it, but so far big citrus is still dumping silt and chemicals into the river.

crtreedude

There is a place between Quepos and Dominical where a river goes under a long bridge. There are a lot of crocs (or camians) there. They are really big - many are bigger than 10 feet.

Mean looking things. A few years ago an Italian tourist, probably drunk, decided to jump from the bridge. He didn't last long. The camian are trained to accept food fromt he bridge. No one has figured out if he was trying to commit suicide or just stupid.  :o

Costa Rica is very much at your own risk. You have to keep your eyes open. It concerns me more than a little with all the promotion of Costa Rica by the land developers that a lot of people just don't know what they are getting themselves into. Embracing nature here can have some very bad results. You really don't want to be a tree hugger down here - the ants will eat you alive. There is an ant here called "bala / bullet" because if it bites you, you will feel like someone shot you.  :( Anytime we have guest, we watch them like a hawk and tell them first off - DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING WITHOUT ASKING.

We love being here but it sure isn't for those who like a coddled existance.

So, how did I end up here anyway?

Bro. Noble

Well now,  I don't know a DanG thing about Crocks or alligators and don't really need to here in the Ozarks,  but I'll tell you what I heard.  This may or may not be true,  and I was a little dubious about it myself untill I heard that there are indeed both species in our southland.  According to my source of information,  the alligators and crocks crossbreed and the offspring is the meanest animal in existance.  It has a alligator head on one end and a crock head on the other :o :o

It doesn't have the parts necessary to relieve it's self  :-\------that's what makes it so mean  ::)
milking and logging and sawing and milking

Sawyerfortyish

Would that be a crocagater or allidile :-\ :D

Thank You Sponsors!