It’s as long as a pickup truck and half as heavy. It strikes like lightning, killing with its powerful jaws or dragging its victim into the depths to drown. And it’s not picky about what it eats -- anything from a turtle to a human being suits it just fine.
It probably won’t surprise you that this big beast is found along the coast of Australia, which is home to lots of scary critters. But it might surprise you to find out that it’s not a shark. Instead, it’s a saltwater crocodile -- the largest reptile on Earth.
An adult male typically reaches 15 feet and weighs more than half a ton. But they can grow to more than 20 feet and a ton and a half.
“Salties,” as they’re known in Australia, spend the rainy season in freshwater rivers and swamps. But during the dry season, they move to the coast. They live in bays and estuaries, and sometimes hunt in the open ocean. Young males who’ve been chased off by the older guys swim far along the coastline in search of a spot to claim as their own.
The crocs will eat just about anything -- fish, birds, snakes, monkeys, wild boar, and domesticated cattle. They’ve even been seen taking down sharks. And the dominant males sometimes eat juveniles to thin out the number of challengers.
Salties are most common in Australia, where they sometimes run afoul of people. The crocs kill or injure several people each year. So the locals quickly learn that if you come across a crocodile that’s as big as a truck, it’s best to steer a wide path around it.
