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Unlike other places, in India, the region where I stay and trek, we don't have warning boards stating the crocodile threats/warnings.

I have been wandering in the region for almost a decade now and after such a long I have just come across there once, very recently.

What precautions I should take if don't want to come across one again?

I am referring to fresh water crocodile.

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  • 8
    Stop wearing steak around your ankles ;) Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 17:12
  • @RussellSteen that would work indeed, I would say the OP should wear thick leather boots hahaha and watch for crocodiles but the problem is, you might tread on one by mistake because they look just like stones, just carry a steak and throw it at them if you see one, a gun also would work, but you live in India, I don't know the gun laws there
    – Kyle
    Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 17:48
  • @Aravona: Thanks for pointing that out. I really don't know much about them at all. But, that place is nowhere directly connected to sea, so I am guessing that those are fresh water crocodile.
    – WedaPashi
    Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 18:24
  • Can you tell us where it is? You do not have to provide the exact location, but the general area would already be helpful.
    – flawr
    Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 18:41
  • 1
    Whatever you do, don't fill your canteen at the water hole.
    – ShemSeger
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 3:56

1 Answer 1

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Crocodiles like water so if you stay away from water you will avoid them entirely. However that also rules out many wonderful destinations to hike.

If you are around waters with crocs

  • Avoid backwaters and inlets as they like to hang out in those.
  • Don't go swimming in waters unless you know they are safe.
  • Stay at least 16ft(5m) from the waters edge.
  • Don't habitually follow the same path. If you walk past the same spot at 5am every day, the crocs can learn to just wait there.
  • Don't lean out over the water.
  • Don't camp near water. Maintain at least 154ft (50m) from the bank.

Crocs are generally more active at night and typically go for smaller prey. So as long as you do not make yourself too tempting, they are not likely to waste time on you.

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  • "Crocs are generally more active at night." "[camp] at least 154 feet from the bank." If one plots number of crocs-trips that do not go more than D distance from the bank vs distance from the bank, where does 154 feet fall? I hope it is far, far, far, far out on the tail of the statistical distribution. A hammock sounds like a good idea. Unless they can balance on their tails. (+1 earlier)
    – ab2
    Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 23:47
  • @ab2 I'd be curious if they can jump, even just a little could grab a hammocker Commented Apr 11, 2016 at 17:17

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