We live near a park with alligators in an exhibit, they are well fed and lounge on the banks of a little pond, with some turtles, sunning themselves - so I always let my kids lean over the railing, not touch them or anything but I didn’t worry about it since they were fed & lazy.
Until one day, we saw one of them lunge at a turtle and grab it, moving so fast! Crunch crunch gulp. Which disabused me of two wrong ideas. One, that these alligators did not care to have a snack, and two, that nothing but eagles could eat turtles. Someone had told me that no animal could bite through a turtle shell, but that eagles would drop them from a great height to crack them open, and since I’d never seen another animal eat a turtle, I bought it.
Always always always always always always always always always always always be wary of all crocodilians. ALWAYS. Pseudosuchians have been around for 250 million years, and it’s not because of their personality or good looks.
We live near a park with alligators in an exhibit, they are well fed and lounge on the banks of a little pond, with some turtles, sunning themselves - so I always let my kids lean over the railing, not touch them or anything but I didn’t worry about it since they were fed & lazy.
Until one day, we saw one of them lunge at a turtle and grab it, moving so fast! Crunch crunch gulp. Which disabused me of two wrong ideas. One, that these alligators did not care to have a snack, and two, that nothing but eagles could eat turtles. Someone had told me that no animal could bite through a turtle shell, but that eagles would drop them from a great height to crack them open, and since I’d never seen another animal eat a turtle, I bought it.
So after that, no more leaning over.
Always always always always always always always always always always always be wary of all crocodilians. ALWAYS. Pseudosuchians have been around for 250 million years, and it’s not because of their personality or good looks.