Crocodile is King in Madagascar

Details: Written by Fr. Jack Nuelle, M.S.

A giant Nile Crocodile

A fearsome predator in the bush country of Madagascar is the crocodile. Known as the Nile crocodile, its origins are in Africa where it is the largest reptile south of the Sahara. It can weigh as much as 2,100 lbs, thus growing to become about 4,000 times heavier than the 2 inch egg from which it was hatched. And from that 2 inch egg, it can grow to a length of 20 ft. Although its regular habitat is in fresh water, some regularly swim the Mozambique Channel from mainland Africa to Madagascar – some 400 miles. They need water to survive – be it in a river, a waterhole, a lake, a reservoir or a ditch – and can remain completely submerged for extended periods. During the dry season or a prolonged drought, they will travel over land as much as 15 miles to find water.

Unlike mammals and birds, a croc cannot regulate its body temperature. Crocs love the morning sun and, as if they were sunbathing, are often seen basking on the sandy banks of the rivers

A small nest of crocodile eggs

or on small islands – often with their mouth open. This is to keep their bodies as cool as possible, allowing excessive heat to escape through the open mouth. And when it gets too hot out in the sun they slip off into a stretch of cool water.

Mating season is in the dry part of the year. After mating, the female digs a shallow hole near the water’s edge and deposit between 25 and 100 eggs. These hatch in about three months, usually just as the rainy season begins. As they emerge from their shells these little creatures are fully equipped predators. But they are small and vulnerable and the viciously protective mother croc guards over them for about a month. Then they are on their own.

The map of central Madagascar indicates
the Tsiribihina River in blue.

Despite its great adult size, a crocodile can move at surprising speed when pursuing its prey. Its massive tail propels and steers it through the water. That same whip-like tail acts as a weapon to overpower its prey on land. I heard many stories of how it attacks fully-grown oxen and, with one swat of its tail, breaks the oxen’s legs, rendering them defenseless. With massive jaws, it will eat just about anything unlucky enough to cross its path, whether in water or on land. But it can’t chew, having no teeth that will cut or grind, so it rips off and swallows large chunks of meat. It is said that each year it also swallows a rock – from golf ball to baseball size – and these, swooshing around in its stomach, help digest its food. After killing a prey larger than what it can eat at one time, the remains are stored underwater by wedging it beneath the rocks or under a log or entwining it in the roots of reeds along the banks.

Fr. Lueckenotto, wears a
stole celebrating La Salette’s
100 years of ministry

Several years ago the cook was killed by a crocodile at the mission farm school in Betomba, run at that time by Fr. Art Lueckenotto, MS. Everyday the cook would come across a small tributary to the Tsiribihina (Impassable) River to prepare the noonday meal and then return home. One day he didn’t return. When his wife came looking for him she found his clothes folded by the water’s edge, as he often did before taking a bath in the river. She feared the worst and called people to help search the banks. Up and down they went, making all kinds of noises, but they saw neither croc nor body. Later that day witchdoctors were called in. One said go upstream and he would be found; the other said go downstream. No luck!

Locals preparing to hop on the pirogue
(wooden dugout canoe)

The next day a crocodile hunter was called. In two hours he found the dead body, submerged along the bank in a few feet of water. Then he made a trap – a thick noose-like cord set in a narrow passage where traces showed that a croc often passed. He said this crocodile was probable a female, guarding its young in the shallow water. The trap worked and snared the croc. For hours she thrashed, pulled and swat with her tail until eventually she broke the thick wooden pole anchoring the trap. Freed at last, she headed for the river where she stopped to rest on the cool river bottom. But the wooden pole – still attached to the croc by the cord – floated on the surface. This gave away her resting place. The hunter called about a dozen men who helped entice the croc to land where they finally killed her.

Children swimming in
the Tsiribihina River

She was approximately 18 ft. long from snout to tail. The first thing he did was to cut open the stomach to see if there was any human flesh or bone. He found none, although they found other animal and fish bones. Therefore this one had not killed the cook. That meant that there was another somewhere in the neighborhood – not a very pleasant thought!

There was, however, another reason for cutting open the stomach. If this croc had eaten other humans there might just be some bracelets or other jewelry inside. This would have paid for the hunter’s time and trouble. But he found none. What he did fine in the stomach were 49 stones of various sizes. So this croc was assumed to be at least 50 years old. And the hunter struck out in another way. This croc’s hide was too tough to sell or be of any use.

Some months later we had a diocesan youth meeting in Betomba. I spent two days floating down that same Tsiribihina River with 70 young people in a narrow barge usually used to haul merchandise. We could not sleep in the barge because it took on too much water. So we had to sleep two nights – one going and one returning – on the banks of the river. We gathered as much firewood as we could. We built fires all around our sleeping area, taking turns to fuel the fires during the night. Thus surrounded and protected, we got some sleep. But I can tell you they were not nights of restful sleep. You should have heard the stories told afterwards about the dreams those young people had!