Southern Africa (and London)-2104: 60. Day 20 (Sep 4)

(Note: The photos in this posting, as shown by the title, were all taken on the 20^th day of the trip on the Chobe River. There is also a photo, taken in Manyeleti, with a crocodile along with other animals that will be shown in a later post.)

In his poem about a crocodile, Roald Dahl notes:

No animal is half as vile

As Crocky-Wock, the crocodile.

On Saturdays he likes to crunch

Six juicy children for his lunch.

And as we’ll learn in a bit, crunch is easy for Crocky-Wock.

We have the term “crocodile tears” meaning insincere expressions of emotions supposedly coming from the belief that crocodiles shed tears when eating their prey. Well, while crocodile do have tear ducts which help moisten their eyes when they’re out of water for an extended period, there is some evidence that tears can be triggered by eating as well. What the crocodile actually is thinking (if it is capable of that at all) when eating its prey is, of course, unknown.

The species of crocodile (the word comes from the ancient Greek meaning lizard) seen in southern Africa is the Nile Crocodile. And they are among the most biologically complex species, more closely related to birds and dinosaurs than other reptiles.

In this photo of the Chobe River in Bostwana, note the island in the middle of the river, then look about mid way down the island and you’ll see the crocodile in its favorite position – waiting for prey.

Crocodile from Afar

Crocodiles are what are known as ambush predators. They wait for their prey to come close and then rush out to attack.

This crocodile has just come out of the river.

Crocodile Coming Out of River

While this one seems to be just resting – perhaps waiting for some delicious prey to come wandering by.

Crocodile Waiting for Prey - 1

And another crocodile that appears to also be waiting for prey.

Crocodile Waiting for Prey - 2

They really are quite fearsome looking creatures.

Fearsome Crocodile

efore we look at the next three photos of crocodiles, let’s talk about their teeth. A crocodile has 80 teeth and during their 35-75 year life span their teeth can be replaced up to 50 times. The bite is very powerful – reputed to be the strongest bite by far of any animal. We did not test this but those who have (measuring on a Nile crocodile like one seen here) report that the bite is nearly 15 times stronger than that of a Rottweiler, 7 times stronger than a great white shark, 6 times stronger than a hyena, and twice as strong as an American alligator.