It is the Australian nightmare. Never mind the floods and the poisonous snakes and crocodiles swimming through the town centres. Pubs in some of Queensland’s inundated towns are down to their last few kegs of beer. In the rain-lashed state, much of which has been declared a disaster zone, the army has been sent in to help with a recovery effort after more than a dozen rivers burst their banks, flooding towns and carrying some of the world’s deadliest animals into inhabited areas.
The local Parks and Wildlife Service has also issued a warning: “Be wary of crocodiles and other reptiles turning up.” Some locals, however, have other worries. “We can put up with a lot of drama, no fruit and veggies but no one wants a pub with no beer,” Donna Smith, the landlady at the Albion Hotel in the town of Normanton told local reporters.
Others emphasise that it was the wildlife that was largely on the receiving end of floods. This week a man driving on the road alongside Townsville’s Ross River, drove over what he thought was a speed-hump. But after closer inspection he discovered it was a 1.6m (5.3 ft) freshwater crocodile. “The croc probably thought it was still in the river,” Neil Mattocks, a wildlife officer with Queensland Parks and Wildlife told The Times.
“They instinctively all move in these conditions, so he had just wandered on to the road by accident.” Mr Mattocks is now caring for the crocodile, which lost a few teeth, had a sore eye and suffered gravel rash and other minor injuries in the accident.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article5660317.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
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