crocks

It seems some angry crocodiles still hanging in the area. Story below: Aggressive 4.2m croc trapped in north Qld An aggressive 4.2-meter-long crocodile has been trapped at a popular fishing spot in north Queensland. Rangers have trapped a 4.2-meter crocodile spotted chasing another croc at a popular fishing spot in north Queensland. The huge reptile was one of two male crocodiles seen chasing a female crocodile near a boat ramp on a river south of Townsville. Rangers laid floating traps in the Haughton River last week and managed to catch the big croc on Tuesday. It will be relocated to a farm or zoo. State Environment Minister Andrew Powell urged boaties to take extreme caution or avoid the area until the other crocs have been trapped. "These are very large crocodiles and they are showing very aggressive behavior," he told reporters on Wednesday. Recently a Port Douglas canoe club, north of Cairns, relocated its headquarters from a croc-infested waterway to a nearby beach. The reptiles considered a threat to people in Townsville, Hinchinbrook, along the Cassowary Coast, and in the Cairns region are relocated. Under the state government's croc removal scheme 56 crocs have been trapped and relocated since early 2013. One of the biggest was a 4.5m croc caught in the Herbert River near Ingham in August last year. Concerns have been raised that the scheme doesn't work because other crocs may take over an area once one is removed. Source: www.sbs.com.au/news/article/aggressive-4-2m-croc-trapped-...

On June 22, 1905, rumours a crocodile had been living in the Logan River, south of Brisbane, were confirmed when local storekeeper Alf Hinds spotted something “floating on the surface of the water, under a willow tree”. Hinds, with the assistance of his brother Jack and publican Charles Rumpf, towed the dead crocodile “down to the ferry landing, and pulled it up onto the bank”. According to the Brisbane Courier newspaper, the 3.83m crocodile had been shot at a few days prior, but not for the first time. Earlier in the year it was reported that William Hammel, an aerated water manufacturer, had sighted “a large alligator” on the bank of the river. He shot at the creature with his rifle, supposedly wounding it, before it “took to the water and disappeared”. The final, fatal shot is generally attributed to one Charlie Goetsch. The discovery of the dead crocodile caused great excitement in Logan Village. Locals posed behind their new trophy and schoolchildren were given an opportunity to inspect this “curiosity”. The Brisbane Courier published a photograph showing a small schoolboy’s head next to the open jaws of the croc, which was later skinned and its stomach revealed to contain corn, several ducks and small turtles. During the crocodile scare some were skeptical. A few weeks prior to the discovery of the dead crocodile a cheeky journalist from the Beaudesert Despatch newspaper attributed sightings to "the bad grog dispensed by the Waterford publicans". The Beaudesert Herald hit back by publishing a letter to the editor saying, "For the benefit of your readers it may not be out of place to mention that the writer of the paragraph referred to was not afraid to sample the "bad grog" on the occasion of the opening of the Waterford Dip. Drinks were free. Nuff sed" The question remained: how did a crocodile end up so far south? Rumour had it that nine years earlier, two well-known Brisbane residents were given a crocodile as a Christmas gift, but the contents of the package mysteriously went missing. If true, it lends credence to the admonition that pets aren’t just for Christmas – they’re for life. Myles Sinnamon - Project Coordinator, State Library of Queensland www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/crocodile-found-logan-river-1905#....

Crocodiles have long been hunted by Aboriginal people for their meat, but the danger associated with the hunt meant that human beings did not have an impact on crocodile population numbers before the late 1940s. In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, European settlers in the north killed crocodiles, but no systematic hunting occurred. Hunting was opportunistic and individual crocodiles were killed by locals fearful for their safety, by visitors in search of novelty, and by rural workers when an opportunity offered itself. The crocodile population as a whole was not affected. Australian commercial crocodile hunting dates from the 1930s but at this stage it generally involved the employment of Aboriginal people to supply crocodile skins using traditional hunting methods. A range of different types of crocodile hunting developed during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s in Queensland. Commercial hunters killed crocodiles and efficiently retrieved their skins which were sold to dealers in Cairns. In the wake of the war, there were many men (and some women) familiar with firearms, eager for adventure, and unwilling to settle down into suburban life. Crocodile hunting was a dangerous business, but this group of hunters was effective and caused a significant decline in crocodile numbers across northern Australia. Cairns became a center for skin dealers who acted as middlemen between the hunters and overseas buyers. The lure of adventure brought less commercially-focused hunters north as well. Melbourne hairdresser Rene Henri founded the Australian Crocodile Shooters’ Club in 1950. The Club aimed to help tourists, particularly from New South Wales and Victoria, experience crocodile hunting in North Queensland. At first, the Club promoted safari cruises along with Cape York in the Tropic Seas (a boat captained by Vince Vlasoff) but in 1952 the Club expanded its operations by establishing a permanent base at Karumba in the Gulf of Carpentaria which is named the Gulf Country Club. Australian Crocodile Shooters’ Club members traveled to North Queensland to experience a luxurious hunting experience rather than to kill crocodiles in commercial quantities. The third group of hunters also came north. This group styled themselves professional hunters but were really on a type of working holiday. They sought adventure without the cost of a complete safari experience, attempted to pay their way by killing and skinning crocodiles, and generally did no better than break even financially. They killed many crocodiles but did not always manage to secure commercially valuable skins. Source: www.qhatlas.com.au/crocodile-hunting