Large crocodile found in Ohio creek while children played nearby

UPI ^ | By Ben Hooper

[Red Badger]

ug. 16 (UPI) -- A 7-foot crocodile was found swimming in an Ohio creek while about 16 kids from a local church group were playing in the water nearby.

Rick Turnbull, an instructor with Hilltop Equestrian Center, said the children, first- through sixth-graders, were playing in Bantas Fork Creek when one of the adults supervising the group spotted a shadow in the water.

The adults quickly got the children out of the water and the adults then got a clear look at the crocodile lurking 20 feet away. Turnbull said the crocodile swam right up to the bridge where the group gathered to look at it.

"He wasn't afraid of us. He swam under it, popped his head up and looked at us," Turnbull told CNN.

Wildlife Officer Brad Turner was summoned to the scene. He said the crocodile was killed out of concern for public safety.

State wildlife officials said the crocodile was likely a pet that escaped or was released into the wild when it became too large to keep. They said an investigation into the reptile's origins is underway.

[Red Badger]

First it was Gator in Chicago, now it's Croc in Ohio!..........

VIDEO AT LINK.........................

[Blueflag]

Large ...

7 foot.

Pffffft. Piker.

[quadrant]

A croc in Ohio! Now that is something. A croc in GA, that I could understand; but a croc in Ohio.

[Red Badger]

Well, it’s a Yankee Croc........................

[cuban leaf]

NOthing in the article about global warming? They’re blowing it. :)

[Red Badger]

7 Feet could do some serious damage to and adult, much less a child.

Since it was not scared off by all the noise and stuff, it must have been used to humans nearby.

Was probably thinking they would feed it..................

[Vigilanteman]

. . . the crocodile was killed out of concern for public safety.

He needed killin' But I do hope they harvested the leather and the meat. I've never had it, but my daughter said it tastes like chicken.

[Red Badger]

I don’t know why they killed it.
It was unnecessary....................

[Red Badger]

It was totally unnecessary for them to kill it...................

[Red Badger]

I wouldn’t eat crocodile. Gator, yes, and I have.

I have read that crocodile meat has some chemical or enzyme that can cause sterility in males if they consume too much...........

[hanamizu]

I don’t know why they killed it.
It was unnecessary....................

---

I would imagine the number of qualified crocodile wranglers in Ohio is pretty limited...

[riverrunner]

It is not like there is a shortage of the things in the world.

Easier and cheaper to kill it then to try and capture it alive.

Then of course in a couple of months it would have just froze to death.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

If it is swimming up to people they had to either kill it or put it in a zoo.

Not many slots for anything but exotics in zoos.

[Red Badger]

They could have called Turtle Man from KY........................

[Texas resident]

They can call the governor of Louisiana. He can put the word out and in no time, there will be a dozen Cajuns heading up that way.

[EinNYC]

Why couldn’t they have put it into a zoo?

[Red Badger]

Seems like they just took the easy way out.

It’s not like they are difficult to catch.................

[quadrant]

7 feet could kill a child - and especially any dogs who happened to get too close.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

Found in one of the Ohio bayous. 😉

[Gay State Conservative]

Climate change