A crocodile in a suburban backyard pool and another wandering around a Top End caravan park were among the hundreds of crocs that have been trapped by the Northern Territory Crocodile Management Unit this year.
A total of 273 saltwater crocodiles, which are known for being the more aggressive than their freshwater counterparts, were captured and removed from Top End waterways this year, according to the NT Parks and Wildlife department.
This includes a 4.11-metre saltwater crocodile, which was caught in West Arm in the Darwin Harbour earlier this month, but rangers also caught a 5.1m croc in the Finniss River, south of Darwin, earlier this year.
The total is not as high as last year's 313 crocs, but higher than the totals of 246 and 245 caught in 2020 and 2019 respectively.
However, this year saw 25 crocs caught outside of the "management zone", where there are designated survey and trapping programs, the highest number in the last three years.
The management zone spreads across the Darwin Harbour, Darwin rural areas, parks and reserves and around the towns of Katherine and Borroloola.
Crocodile Management Unit ranger Jaylen Marshall said one new management area on Gunn Point Road, which is a popular recreation area, had been a particular hotspot for crocs.
"We've been putting a trap there for the past three years. And the first time we put a trap in, it was within four weeks, we pulled six crocs out. And the biggest out of those six was 3.6 [metres long]," he said.
'They're always lurking'
Mr Marshall said rangers were called out to a number of unexpected locations to remove crocs this year.
"Pulling a freshwater crocodile out of a house in [the Palmerston suburb of] Rosebery. Not a house, in their pool, actually," he said.
"So yeah, that was a weird one. It was a bit far away from the water."
They were also called to remove a saltwater croc from a caravan park in Dundee Beach in August.
"Someone woke up to some banging on their door. And just as they were going to open the door, someone screamed out, 'don't open it!'", Mr Marshall said.
"They poke their head out the window and saw a two and a half metre croc sitting at their door."
He said the unusual sightings served as a good reminder that crocs can turn up anywhere.
"Especially this time of year — the monsoon's kicking in, the heat's kicking up, the crocs are going to be a lot more active and a lot more cheeky as well.
"So you've got to be wary, especially whenever you are near water."
He also said despite hundreds of crocs being captured, there were still over 100,000 out in the wild.
"With that, I like to say those are the ones that you see, the ones you don't see are the ones you've got to worry about," Mr Marshall said.
"They're always lurking.
