When traveling in Australia, Israeli Novon Mashiah quickly found out why crocodiles should never be teased. While Mashiah was leaning over the back of the boat trying to snap an up close and personal shot of the crocodile, the animal jumped out of the water and towards his paparazzi. The lesson to be learned? Crocodiles are not photo friendly. But just in case you do find yourself in a similar situation, better find out how to survive close encounters in the wild.
Swimming side by side with sharks
The first time I saw one of these in Australia, I found it very strange. People swim in the ocean, yet separated by a wall of concrete or at least a net. Children are covered head to toe in nylon suits, and most adults don’t even go into the water. What’s going on here?
One sunny day, I asked the lifeguard why nobody was at the beach. “We have seen a couple of crocs here last night. It’s hatching season,” he said. Yeah, that pretty much satisfied me as a good enough reason. The following week nobody was at the beach because “there were too many poisonous jelly fish”. A week later, “shark sightings.” Clearly, with all their picturesque beaches, Australia is not a country for your typical beach lover.
Needless to say, I grew to appreciate their “pools inside the ocean.” No chlorine, and a safe distance from the crocs, jellyfish and sharks. The New York Times travel section has a piece about them today.
Next They’ll Be Banning Snakes On Planes
European low-cost airline Ryanair has a pretty good reputation for being friendly and laidback, but the inflight latitude doesn’t stretch to allowing a metre-long fluffy (and inanimate) crocodile to sit beside the emergency exit door. A passenger on a recent flight from Rome to Milan was asked to leave the flight when her plush reptilian pal became the subject of a heated debate between her and the flight crew.
In other crocodile-related world news, a crocodile which escaped from a circus in the Ukraine was finally captured after six months on the run.
There’s no truth to the rumour he was on his way to the Ryanair counter at Kiev airport.
Thanks to KnifeJuggler on Flickr for the pic.
* Actual crocodile may differ from one shown.
Like Father, Like Daughter
No, this is not, to my knowledge, the child of Steve Irwin that he, the Croc hunter, dangled over the gaping, toothed, gnashing maw of a live crocodile. This is the one he fed to the sharks. Just kidding. That’s irreverent. Even if he was a bit kooky and put himself in danger with perhaps predictable results, we loved Steve Irwin. The Aussies sure have a way of exporting interesting characters, even if their stars fade quickly. Or they die. And it looks like we may have another Aussie star on our hands, and this one from the loins of the croc man himself.
Yes, Bindi Irwin, the eight-year-old daughter of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, is set to star in her own series on the Discovery Kids Network, beginning early next year. You read that correctly. Eight years old. The new show is to be called “Bindi, The Jungle Girl”, and was originally supposed to star both father and daughter. In fact, the Discovery Kids Network had begun filming episodes before Irwin’s September 4 death by stingray stab. In a creepy turn of events that I am not sure the producers have really considered how creepy this is, and which if I were she would cause me all sorts of awful emotional problems, Irwin will continue to play a role in the series posthumously, appearing in scenes filmed together with his daughter before his death.