Godadmits, <s>stop</s> talking about the insects: that's <s>not</s> all there is! :mad:

Bit of tautology there am i rite

Aussie chainsaw croc runs amok

A crocodile in northern Australia has chased a storm-clearance worker up a tree and made off with his chainsaw.

The 4.4m (14.5ft) saltwater crocodile called Brutus apparently took exception to the noise of the saw.

The worker was clearing a tree that fell on the crocodile enclosure at the Corroboree Park Tavern, 80km (50 miles) east of the northern city of Darwin.

Brutus chewed on the chainsaw for 90 minutes, reducing it to pieces. Neither man nor beast was injured.

Northern Australia has an estimated 100,000 saltwater crocodiles.

Et chew Brutus

Worker Freddy Buckland was cutting a tree that had fallen as a result of a recent tropical cyclone.

Peter Shappert, the tavern's owner, said the crocodile jumped from the water and sped 20ft to the tree.

"It must have been the noise... I don't think he was actually trying to grab Freddy, but I'm not sure. He had a fair go at him... I think he just grabbed the first thing he could and it happened to be the chainsaw."

Tavern co-owner Linda Francis said: "Fred virtually gave him the chainsaw, shoved it at him.

"It was still going and he took the chainsaw onto the ground and proceeded to smash it and it stalled. The crocodile didn't cut himself, just broke a few teeth."

Mr Shappert said the saw was destroyed.

"He chewed on the chainsaw for about an hour-and-a-half, then we finally got it out."

Saltwater crocodiles are known to attack small boats, apparently disturbed by the sound of outboard motors.

Planes packed with 800,000 Britons make the journey Down Under each year to take in Australia's famed natural beauty. But amid headlines of shark and crocodile attacks, are there a few hazards that visitors should be aware of?
...
"The temperature and conditions, even in the winter months, it's still hotter than an English summer," says Australian Lynette Eyb, editor of backpacker magazine TNT. :cool:
...
But as the death of a British man this week - probably killed by a four-metre crocodile off the northern coast - illustrates, in the most extreme circumstances, that it can be a very hostile place.

If confirmed, it will be the second such fatal attack within weeks in northern Australia, and record numbers of saltwater crocodiles have caused the closure of some sites in the Northern Territory's Kakadu National Park.

The death happened on the same day an Australian surfer fought off a great white shark with his bare hands off the coast near Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
...
But there is plenty more to occupy the mind of a British visitor than they are used to in the flora and fauna at home.

There are venomous snakes, spiders and fish, not to mention poisonous jellyfish, sharks and crocodiles. And the natural dangers of an intense sun and strong currents.
...
A far bigger killer to tourists is dehydration and heat exhaustion, says Mr Cooper. Two have died in Western Australia so far this year.

"The big thing that gets to lots of tourists coming to work or visit is the vast distances between places and the heat. A lot of people suffer from no understanding that the Outback areas are remote.
...
It can take the emergency services three or four days to find stricken tourists, he says, and bodies have been known to lie for 10 days before anyone finds them.