Here are some facts about crocodiles: They are crazy bastards. That is an opinion based fact. The beasts can jump. A woman travelling Australia decided to take a canoe ride to do some bird watching and found herself being nudged by a large crocodile. In fear that he might tip over her small boat she grabbed onto some low hanging branches and pulled herself up into a tree. The croc then jumped up snatching her around the waist and pulled her back into the water. This woman actually survived the attack and did not blame the crocodile. She admitted that she was in his territory.
Crocodiles have survived on this planet for two hundred million years. They can grow upwards of twenty five feet in length, weigh over a tonne, and have no natural predators outside of human beings. They see just as well under water as they do outside of it making it all the more easy to catch and eat their victims. Thankfully, if you see a crocodile coming at you on land, you will almost certainly escape. They do not run fast or for very long. They are not prone to chase their prey; they prefer the element of surprise. It can live and drink either salt or fresh water and it only has to eat once a week. One of the most fascinating things I have recently read is that they are able to move the organs around in their body. Say they need to quickly sink to the bottom of a river; they just push all their internal organs to the lowest part of their bodies and descend. It can then remain underwater without breathing for an hour.
Female crocs lay about fifty eggs in the wet season and the weather actually determines what the babies’ sex will be. Warm weather is a guarantee that there will be enough food through the season so the eggs will hatch mostly males. When the weather is cold, there will need to be more breeding mothers and thus the ladies are born. If ever there is a sense of over population, the grown male crocodiles will eat the young ones to prevent it.
I plan to see a crocodile while I’m living here in Australia, from the safety of a large fence and some great distance. Another fact is that once they grab on, they tend not to let go. There are four muscles assisting in the opening of his mouth, and forty muscles that help it close. I imagine it’s not a gentle close.
Kangaroos are also tough animals. They break through wire fences as if they were paper towels. There is actually a wire fence that runs from Ceduna (Southern Australia) up to the Great Australian Bight, onto NSW (New South Wales) and finally through Queensland. It is called the Dingo Fence and it is two and a half times longer than the Great Wall of China. It costs three million dollars a year to maintain, can be seen from outer space and its purpose is to protect the country’s sheep from the country’s dingos. Kangaroos often break through this fence, hence the costly repairs.
Australians kill around five million kangaroos each year for their meat and fur, although it does not hurt their population. In the early 2000’s the kangaroo population reached near twenty five million. The breed grows strong. Where the average human needs ten litres of water a day in certain heat, the kangaroo needs only two litres in a week. And it can survive on saltwater if necessary. They’ve got us beat in the reproductive cycle as well. At just fifteen months of age, a kangaroo can become pregnant. Her gestation period is only thirty three days when the newborn crawls from the uterus into the pouch and begins to feed from a teat. The mother can then mate again keeping the new embryo in a stage of waiting until the first joey leaves the pouch after two hundred and thirty five days. After that time the mother activates the waiting embryo and twenty four hours later a new baby is born. Kangaroos live about twenty years.
And lastly, you need to know what I made myself for breakfast yesterday. In another life I believe I was a chef who came from meagre standings and ingenuity. First I started with mini-crostini that recently arrived to us from France. (Merci!) Already you are understanding the fancy bit, yes? Crostini are small slices of toasted bread. Like a big crouton. Atop those I spread Coleman’s spicy mustard, imported from England. Coleman’s mustard is something I cannot pass in the store, it simply must be purchased. Even when I already have some, I buy it anyway and give it as a gift. It’s a kitchen necessity. Then I cut a thin slice of creamy brie cheese to be placed delicately on the bread. Lastly I boiled a brown free range egg. I prefer brown eggs because I worked with and fell in love with brown chickens. The egg is also to be thinly sliced and gently laid across the beautiful concoction of deliciousness. For Daniel this meal is bite size. For me, this meal is two bite sized. Voila! I encourage you to try it and enjoy!
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