It takes many men for ACES to relocate this huge crocodile
Chris is a superhero! Look at this crocodile! This is a 12ft. Big ol beautiful boy.
When rainy season is on, flooding of roads, yards and underneath homes is unavoidable for most living in low lying neighborhoods.
As crocs tend to become quite active in rainy season moving through these flooded areas, it’s not uncommon for them to find their way into peoples yards or to take up residence underneath homes, which through crocs eyes are like beautiful man made caves.
Whilst we are of course happy to respond to any and all calls in these scenarios, prevention by denying crocs access is a far better long term solution than having to trap and relocate an animal.
Barricading the side of your house will prevent crocs from being able to climb under, fencing or simple barricades between your property and the water will prevent them coming into your yard. Try to avoid discarding any food scraps around your home (or any trash for that matter) as this will attract pests which in turn attract crocs.
If you would like advice on measures to prevent access to coexist minimizing potential incidents, or would like help acquiring scrap wood/pallets etc to create barricades, contact us through Facebook here or on 623 7920.
Belizean Lagoons have various crocodilian residents. They generally like to bask in the morning, and hunt fish, raccoon and iguana about every 3 weeks
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Overall, the communities of Belizean lagoons have been co-existing with our lagoon crocs, and here are a few reminders to ensure we minimize negative human-crocodile interaction:
- DO NOT FEED! Feeding crocs does not tame them or make them your friends. It habituates them, lessening their fear of people. The majority of crocodile attacks in the Central American region can be attributed to feeding (directly and indirectly) the crocs. (Check out the CrocBite database for stats).
- Crocs tend to hide in the mangrove during the day to get away from the heat, so their feeding activity increases during late afternoon until early morning (4pm to 8am). During this time, it would be best not to swim in the lagoon, as well as let your pets near or swimming in the lagoon during this time.
- During the peak croc hours, always supervise your pets and keep them close; to crocs they are another 4 legged-small mammal that live in close proximity to humans similar to raccoon, coati, agouti, etc., which are prey for larger crocodiles.
- DO NOT HARASS! Harassing a crocodile may not scare it away, but make it more aggressive as it defends itself against its predator (aka, a human). Imagine if someone or a group of people starting poking or throwing rocks at you? You would likely defend yourself as well!
The above are some easy and general CrocWise rules to further coexistence with crocs (and other wildlife!), and the CRC is more than happy to discuss with any property owners to further coexistence between the lagoon's wildlife and residents. Additionally, it is ILLEGAL to have crocodiles (and any wildlife) as pets, which is another way of habituating them to humans. CRC is aware many keep the baby crocodiles as pets and then release them in the wild. This not only endangers your community, but you are now also putting the animal you love in danger as they are at a higher risk of being illegally hunted given their habitation to people.
Photographs courtesy ACES / American Crocodile Education Sanctuary
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