Tikiri Animal Knowledge Series
This weeks animal in the limelight is the snappy crocodile!
Most people think of scary and sneaky water beasts with massive mouths full of sharp teeth when imagining a crocodile - and they are right to be scared.....they have the strongest bite of any animal in the world which is 10 times stronger than the bite of a great white shark!
With that in mind perhaps we should learn more about these powerful creatures in case we ever stumble across one in the wild.
Crocodile Fun Facts
1. Crocodiles can be found in many different countries - in fact, you can find them in 5 of the 7 major continents. The only continents they are not native to is Antartica and Europe.
2. Although a crocodile has an amazingly powerful bite down it has surprisingly weak opening muscles - so much so their jaw can usually be held shut by a rubber band or bare hands.
3. How can you tell apart a crocodile from an alligator? A crocodile has all it's teeth exposed when it's jaw is shut whereas an alligators are hidden. Crocodiles also have a v shaped snout where as an alligators is more u shaped.
4. The biggest crocodile that was every found alive measured 6.17m and weighed 1075kg. Crocodiles are generally larger and stronger than alligators.
5. To keep cool crocodiles keep their mouthes open which is similar to dogs panting. They do not sweat like humans. They often sleep with their mouths open too so don't be alarmed if you see one like this - it may not be showing aggression, it may just be having a snooze!
6. Crocodiles can stay underwater for up to 1 hour being semi-amphibious animals. And although people often think they can run quickly they are actually much faster swimmers.
7. Crocodiles swimming speeds can reach up to 22mph. They use their tails to propel themselves and their feet act like rudders for steering.
8. Ever heard of the term crocodile tears? Well it's true - crocodiles do cry when eating but it's nothing to do with emotion - it's to do with the noises they make when they eat.
9. Crocodiles are excellent hunters and generally stalk their prey before an ambush. They are capable of killing and eating much larger animals than themselves including elephants, hippos, zebra, sharks and big cats.
10. Bigger crocodiles can last a year between meals if they have to. They can store their food and lengthen it out having an amazing metabolism.
We hope you enjoyed our 10 crocodile facts – keep an eye out for our next animal in the limelight in the next few weeks.
If your child would like their own miniature crocodile of their own you can buy our crocodile comforter/teether or our crocodile bath toy/rattle.