THE HERALD (Panjim-Goa, India) 28 August 06 Crocodile trapped at Chandor
Margao: Displaying presence of mind in trying circumstances, Mr Martin Travasso from Bindimoll, Chandor, managed to coax a nearly three-metre long crocodile out of his balcony.
At around 2 am today, Mr Travasso who was sleeping on a bed in his balcony woke to a cacophony of dogs barking furiously and noticed some movement in the corner along with the rustling of palm leaves stored there.
On a closer examination, he noticed the awesome tail of an animal and reacting instinctively hit the animal on the head with a stick.
“I immediately switched on the lights and was stunned by the sight of a massive crocodile,” Travasso told this reporter.
Through it all he managed to put a rope around the neck of the crocodile.
By that time, the crocodile recovered its composure and came to attack Mr Travasso who woke up the other occupants of the house and managed to tie the reptile to a coconut tree outside their house.
In the morning the neighbours informed the Chandor police outpost about the incident who immediately got in touch with the Forest Department. Forest Department officials from Khotigao arrived at Chandor at noon to take charge of the crocodile.
A slight altercation took place between the forest official, Amol and the locals when he (Amol) shouted at Travasso for hitting the reptile and suggested that he should have locked the crocodile in the house and called the officials.
The locals gathered outside Travasso’s house ridiculed the forest official’s suggestion by pointing out that the mind does not really work at 2 am when a person is deep in sleep and sought to know how the crocodile which was in the balcony trying to attack Mr Travasso, could be lured into the house to be locked there.
The villagers informed the forest officials of the presence of at least two crocodiles in the nearby Oilem Tollem lake and asked them to come to trap them.
However, the forest officials declared their inability to do so due to lack of equipment and disclosed that they could trap the crocodiles only if all the water from the lake was drained off.
Incidentally, locals had spotted a crocodile in the nearby creek last year when they were fishing.
It is believed that the crocodile, which has since grown, crept out of the creek and entered Mr Travasso’s house.
It would be pertinent to note that around three years back a baby crocodile was trapped in a net in the neighbouring Guirdolim village when the locals were fishing in the creek.
Both these creeks are connected to the Kushawati river over which the Selaulim Dam has been constructed, raising questions over whether the crocodiles from the Selaulim catchment area have slipped into the river.
Crocodile trapped at Chandor