Myths That Get People Killed

Misinformation kills in crocodile country, because a false belief feels exactly like a true one right up until the moment it fails. Before we get to the rules of behaviour, the myths that lead good, sensible people into fatal choices have to come down. The particular myths shift from one part of the region to the next. A traveller in the Top End, a fisherman in the Sundarbans and a farmer on a riverbank in Gujarat each carry their own. Different myths, same result. Every one of them is believed sincerely by someone every year, and every one of them is wrong.

“I’ll see it before it gets me.”

You will not. This is a lethal one, because it feels so reasonable. But the entire evolutionary design of the saltwater crocodile is built around being invisible until the instant of the strike. It floats with only nostrils and eyes above the surface, or fully submerged, in water too murky to see into. The attack comes from below and from the edge, explosively, at a range of a metre or two. By the time you could possibly see it, the decision has already been made for you. Vigilance is good, but it is not a substitute for staying out of the water.