Fred arranged to take our team to visit a few local farms during our week in Tawau, including a crocodile / snake farm, a shrimp harvester and producer of mushrooms. These farms were not tourist attractions like at Busch Gardens in Florida, but friends of his who owned and operated businesses. It was great to have a ‘free pass’ to see these local farms, especially for someone like me who has only been exposed to dairy and chicken farms from back home.
The crocodile farm was on the outskirts of Tawau. It was a bit of a trek to get to the cages of crocodiles from the front gate -- through jungle vegetation, wading through a stream and passing a number of cobras laying in the sun -- but it was well worth the effort.
We learned a lot about crocodiles that day, including the fact that crocodiles are well-adapted as predators, with few natural enemies. Bony plates form a kind of armor in their thick skin that can easily slice and dice you. Their teeth, about 30 to 40 in each jaw, are set into sockets in the jawbones and interlock when the mouth is closed. Crocodile jaws are powerful enough when closing to crush the bones of small animals and humans, but so weak when open that they can be held together by human hands... or kept closed by duct tape as Trout (a member on our team whose official name is Jim) joked.
As witnessed at the crocodile farm, the crocodile floats almost completely submerged, its protruding nostrils and eyes and a portion of its back are the only parts visible as it stalks its prey.
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Honestly, it was a little disconcerting knowing these crocs were looking at you as their next meal... even if there was a fence between you and them. I guess it's a little too tempting for a crocodile to simply watch you walk by. Talk about a surprise attack, though, especially if the crocodile is submerged in water and you don't know it is watching you! Within seconds it can jump out of the water with mouth open ready to swallow you. Literally, there were dozens of broken crocodile teeth along the fences from failed attempts at mid-afternoon snacks. Trout kept joking that I should walk ahead of him but I asked him why these crocodiles would want a small appetizer when the real meal deal was walking right behind me? =)
So how does one feed a crocodile? With a farm employee walking into the crocodile pits to feed them their daily rations. Unbelievable. I now have a new least-liked job at the top of my list. Here I am with the guy who walks among crocodiles on a daily basis. He says he "has a way with them"... he must.
