Ride 'em cowboy Children in Burkina Faso playing with their friend.

Anyone for chase? Crocodile jumping for chicken

Leopard v Crocodile It seems there's a lack of easy prey in the Kruger National Park. Croc tastes quite good, though.

That picture comes from this story, which is in my opinion perhaps the greatest ever crocodile story. Possibly I'll now stop posting about crocodiles because I can't foresee this being surpassed.

Why these intermittent crocodile posts? Well, one of the first things I ever read about Fiji was the fact that it used to have crocodiles. Skeletons of some have been found at the Sigatoka Sand Dunes (a world heritage site). They weren't terribly big and the arrival of man some 3,500 years or so ago did for them. They probably tasted quite nice, as crocodile still does, if you've ever tried it. Fiji's quite proud of the number of animals that have gone extinct during man's tenure of the place, as this set of stamps would attest, one of which is the lost crocodile. I've also swum with crocodiles, albeit the relatively safe freshwater variety of northern Australia.

In other recent crocodile news, there has been a displacement of crocs in PNG and one or two deaths have resulted from this, on both sides. Latest score, as far as I remember, is: crocodiles 2, humans 2. Read a little more.

Also a woman has been thrown off a plane (before it took off) for having a crocodile bag. A mock fashion story from my friend's site can be found about that here. Check out the rather elegant handbags (or purses, possibly, to some).

A crocodile has been arrested and placed in a police cell overnight. That'll teach it to be a lengthy reptile with sharp teeth. Don't believe me? Then read the story.

The above photograph is absolutely genuine. A veterinarian had got a little too close to this crocodile and lost his forearm for a while. Happily the forearm was retrieved and sewn back on successfully.

Gustave the crocodile, a name to inspire dread in the natives of the borderland of southeast Burundi. Recently I bought a pirate DVD of the film Primeval, apparently inspired by this amphibian. It was part of a three-in-one from a Burmese pirate outfit that has buyers in Fiji who sell on to willing consumers such as myself. Why pay ten times as much when one can see this garbage for as little as a pound I justify to myself, as probably do many others buying these pirated movies.

( Crocodilius Vulgaris )

OK, so that's just one crocodile. If, like David George, 53 of Queensland, Australia you happen to be out in a crocodile inhabited part of the world (in his case on a horse) and fall off said horse then stumble into a crocodile nest this is what you should do:

(i) Make sure you have two meat sandwiches with you.

(ii) Get up a handy tree and stay there, particularly during the night.

(iii) Come down from the tree at opportune moments to stock up on water to drink.

(iv) Hope that someone realises you are missing and comes to the rescue.

Mr. George I salute you.

Click here for the BBC's website coverage, including a video.