Monster Crocodile in New Orleans
Michael Maffei sent me some giant crocodile pictures that have begun doing the rounds. They're accompanied by this caption:Now this is a Crocodile ! This crocodile was found in New Orleans swimming down the street. 21 FT long, 4,500 lbs, around 80 years old minimum. Specialists said that he was looking to eat humans because he was too old to catch animals. This crocodile was killed by the army last Sunday at 3:00 pm, currently he is in the freezer at the Azur hotel. The contents of it's stomach will be analyzed this Friday at 2:30pm.
The pictures are real enough, but they're weren't taken in New Orleans. These are pictures of the Monster Crocodile of Pointe-Noire (in the Republic of the Congo). They've been circulating for over two years. David Emery notes that the crocodile was really estimated to be 16 feet long and weighed about 1874 lbs. That's still a lot bigger than I'd ever care to encounter.
 |
 |
 |
Posted By: Alex | Date: Fri Sep 16, 2005 | Permalink |
Total Comments: 130
Category: Animals, Photos/Videos
Category: Animals, Photos/Videos
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
Page 1 of 7 pages 1 2 3 > Last »
What gets me is whoever tried to pass this off as happening in NOLA seriously needs to be sent back to school and learn where crocs live and where alligators live.
Posted by Jorge on Sat Sep 17, 2005 at 02:46 AM
Good one, Jorge. I didn't even catch that...
Posted by Snowy in aeternum on Sat Sep 17, 2005 at 07:56 AM
Looks like a decent sized Croc. These are not what you want to see when you are in a small boat. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I thought you guys over there did not have Crocs at all? I knew you had alligators but I did not think you had crocs.
Posted by David W in Australia on Sun Sep 18, 2005 at 03:38 PM
^^^
The only crocs native to the Americas are the cayman in South America.
Posted by Jorge on Mon Sep 19, 2005 at 04:58 AM
The only crocs native to the Americas are the cayman in South America.
There is the American Crocodile, but it only lives in Florida.
A croc was reported missing from the Audubon Zoo after the storm though. Haven't heard if they found it yet.
Posted by Frederick J. Barnett in Sorrento, LA on Mon Sep 19, 2005 at 07:24 AM
A croc was reported missing from the Audubon Zoo after the storm though. Haven't heard if they found it yet.
Actually, we have alligators up here, so they've gone beyond Florida. They are rare, however, but one or another gator periodically comes up to this or that road on Redstone Arsenal and dies, causing a brief media frenzy. But no crocs. I figured this was a hoax.
Posted by The Mikado in Huntsville, AL on Mon Sep 19, 2005 at 07:49 AM
It is messed up that someone is saying that crocodile came out of New Orleans! However, there ARE crocodiles in the US; they are called American Crocodiles, are endangered, and live in southern Florida, the Caribbean, southern Mexico, and along the Central American coast south to Venezuela.
Posted by Lani in NY on Mon Sep 19, 2005 at 08:13 AM
For a real thrill try taking the Jumping Crocodile tour on the Adelaide River in Australia's Northern Territory (http://www.jumpingcrocodile.com.au/).
When one of those monsters pokes his head up a few feet away and looks you over through the plexiglass you know what the lobsters in the supermarket feel like.
Posted by Blondin on Mon Sep 19, 2005 at 09:59 AM
When one of those monsters pokes his head up a few feet away and looks you over through the plexiglass you know what the lobsters in the supermarket feel like.
The American Crocodile has been reported (anecdotally) at 21+ feet and is indigenous to "the southern United States.", which can be verified quite simply online. This lays a reality base, however tenuous, for the hoax claim.
The real red flag was that this story was not picked up by any news organizations.
Posted by Bob Maurus on Mon Sep 19, 2005 at 06:38 PM
The real red flag was that this story was not picked up by any news organizations.
we are just a couple of ole country asses here and we knew it was a hoax. Crocs don't live in N.O. they don't like mardi grau beads.
Posted by phil and mike in nashville, tn on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 01:26 AM
And no one noticed the truck had no N.O plates on it?
Posted by VP in NJ on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 07:47 AM
The real identifier of a hoax is that those people in the photo do not resemble US army officials at all! and why would they keep it in a hotel freezer!
Posted by Larry in Fullerton CA on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 08:22 AM
Crocs don't live in NO, there was no electricity after the hurricane to keep a hotel freezer going, and there is no Hotel Azur in New Orleans. I figured this out, but then found your website.
Posted by Bonnie in Fort Worth, TX on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 08:51 AM
Only in south Florida do crocodiles and alligators co-exist in all the world. In other parts of the USA, alligators are found, including New Orleans. Gators have rounded jaws and tend to be black.
Posted by Gaye Thomas in Franklin, Tennessee, USA on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 10:25 AM
Got this forwarded to me at WORK of all places, and I knew it couldn't be real--we don't have crocs in the States and I hadn't heard about it from any major newswire. Sheesh, some folks will believe anything they get in their email. *sigh*
Posted by KW in KC, Missouri on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 11:52 AM
Boy Oh Boy... People will believe anything that presents itself as a periodical.. Anyone who has the smallest bit of commone sense would realize that that is a BEAST from the continent. I mean all it takes is bit of exposure to the Discovery Channel for goodness sakes...
And if you don't have cable watch PBS..
LOL Imagine the wildlife necessary for such an animal to reach such dimensions. Last I check I haven't seen any Wildabeast crossing the rough Mississipi for greener pastures (GEEEZ). LOL
Posted by Huricardo on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 12:13 PM
And if you don't have cable watch PBS..
LOL Imagine the wildlife necessary for such an animal to reach such dimensions. Last I check I haven't seen any Wildabeast crossing the rough Mississipi for greener pastures (GEEEZ). LOL
There are other clues besides the unlikely occurrence of a large croc swimming around in New Orleans--unless it escaped from a zoo or other wildlife attraction. No license plate on the truck, as has been mentioned and non-standard lettering on the back of the truck. But check out the black guys standing around. They are all reasonably well groomed and well barbered. Not a pair of baggy pants among them, and no sideways baseball caps and no dreadlocks.
Posted by WRITER in CENTRAL LOUISIANA on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 02:32 PM
A normal person is not going to be that close and calm next to something that big. You can tell that its not real. The people are to calm and the rope looks to weak
Posted by kelly on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 02:49 PM
It's sad people have to kill these things. It's been living all these years, and it got so big, yet they still had to kill it. Just rehabilitate it, it's not that big a deal.
Even if it is a hoax, the poor gator still had to die. =\
Posted by Sakano in Ohio on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 03:35 PM
Even if it is a hoax, the poor gator still had to die. =\
I knew this picture was a email was a fake. The license plate on the truck is not American, Then I read that the stomach of the crocodile was in the Azur Hotel. So i went to yahoo, search and looked up Azur Hotel New Orleans and nothing came up but this website which proved me right. Also you can see that the font, and color has been changed in the email. Booyah!!!
Posted by Free in Mildenhall, Eng on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 08:00 AM
Page 1 of 7 pages 1 2 3 > Last »