rawsons

Posed image of a recently killed crocodile on the banks of the Pioneer River in the 1870s

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  I am not sure if the following story is related to the photo, yet it seems interesting: A tale about a monster crocodile, that would be the biggest in history is true, claims a pensioner whose late father told him stories of seeing the beast. Doubt has long surrounded claims a 9.7-metre croc - a world record - was shot dead as it lay on the banks of a river at Mackay, in north Queensland, in the 1880s. But Greg Ellul claims his late father Joe told him stories of paying sixpence to go with his grandfather to see the dead croc's skin hanging in a pub in the 1920s or 1930s. According to reports, the reptile was shot with a high-powered rifle from the balcony of the Leichardt Hotel, which overlooked the Pioneer River. Mr Ellul, who is now 70, says his father would often recall going to view the massive skin stretched across the pub. 'Grandad took Pop to see it one day and it cost them a sixpence,' Mr Elull told Daily Mail Australia. 'He said it was 33ft and when they went into the pub the skin was right across a wall and the tail stretched onto another wall. 'His father took him to go and see it and he used to tell me it was shot in the Pioneer River on a sandbar at low tide from the Leichardt Hotel.' A black and white photo of a massive beast lying dead on the banks of the river with rope around its mouth resurfaced earlier this year. Source: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5173771/Monster-crocodil...