A dad from Darwin used his guitar as a weapon to scare away a crocodile that entered his family’s lounge.
The plump, smooth-skinned saltwater crocodile is believed to have escaped from a nearby establishment, the Darwin Crocodile Farm.
This croc made its way into the Bees Creek Road residence during the early hours of Saturday morning.
According to neighbors, around 15 crocodiles that likely escaped from the Darwin Crocodile Farm have appeared on their properties over the last five years.
At about 5:30 on Saturday morning, Micko Srbinovska, 42, was awakened by his wife Jo Dodd, who discovered the 1.7-meter saltie lurking in the lounge, just 3 meters from their bedroom.
“Our dog was barking loudly outside the bedroom door,” Ms. Dodd, 42, recounted.
“When I opened the sliding door, I saw the crocodile right in front of me.
“It’s quite shocking to have a crocodile in your lounge room—it nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Mr. Srbinovska quickly put on some trousers, seized the nearest item for defense—his guitar—and cautiously made his way across the lounge toward the phone.
He promptly contacted the Crocodile Management Unit.
Dani Best, a female crocodile catcher, arrived and managed to subdue the crocodile.
Ms. Dodd noted that the crocodile emitted unsettling sounds while struggling against Ms. Best.
“It was like something out of prehistory. The hissing reminded me of a vampire. Then it executed its death rolls—the strength of that creature was astonishing,” Ms. Dodd explained.
She described Ms. Best as “incredible.”
“She simply jumped on it, secured its snout with tape, and held its back and front legs down.”
Once the crocodile was secured, they observed that several of the ridges on its back—known as scoots—had been cut off.
Farmed crocodiles undergo this process to remove certain scoots, which helps in their identification.
Ms. Best confirmed to the NT News that the crocodile was promptly returned to its farm.
Having relocated to Bees Creek from Ludmilla in September, Ms. Dodd mentioned that the issue of croc escapees has become a common joke among locals.
by Mike Hansom
