Military helicopter noises contribute to Australian crocodile mating
Singapore’s Armed Forces, while conducting bilateral military training near a crocodile farm, used this crocodile farm as a geographic marking point. The noises made by these helicopters resulted in the large males roaring and bellowing at the sky. After the helicopters had flown off, the crocodiles mated like crazy.
From:
While the racy reptiles may usually tune in to classics like Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock” for mood-setting purposes, on select flight nights, under a waxing moon, it is these vibrations from the heavens that stir unencumbered desires for the semiaquatic beasts.
“All of the big males got up and roared and bellowed up at the sky, and then after the helicopters left they mated like mad,” John Lever, owner of the Koorana Crocodile Farm, told the Australian outlet following the incident.
“There’s something about the sonic waves that really gets them stirred up.”
Steamed up from rotary bladed aphrodisiacs, the farm’s 3,000-plus crocs are likely to yield a large crop of eggs this season, Lever added.
The Singapore Armed Forces regularly hold nearby bilateral military training operations and use the crocodile farm as a geographic marking point, the Australian outlet reported.
Despite the unique aerial influence, the incident is not the first time a reptile species was affected by a military aircraft cacophony. In this particular case, however, experts are still exploring the reasoning behind a breeding episode that would have made even Steve Irwin wince.
Some researchers told the Australian outlet that males may mistake the chopper sound for a scaly competitor looking to steal their crocodile crush. Others, meanwhile, suggested the crocs may be able to detect changes in barometric pressure, signaling the start of mating season.
Military Times provides additional information here.
Category: Society
If it weren’t for the news articles about this, I would have thought
it
was
a
croc aaaand don’t forget to tip your waitress
I had family down on the gulf coast of Florida. They lived along the canals and on their large lot there was a pond that was home to a gator. Every time they started up their 240D Mercedes, that rumbling diesel motor would get that big gator rumbling too.
I’ve yet to see a wild alligator down here that’s not roadkill. Saw plenty in Georgia.
About the closest I came to a swamp creature encounter in South Louisiana was doing a final check on a 4473 for Shelby Stanga. He was on the History Channel show Ax Men and is every bit the character in real life that he is on TV. Me and a coworker were stuck for about 45 minutes just listening to his stories. Seems pythons are moving from Florida down here now…
First time I went to the field at Ft Stewart as a 113 driver, we were going along a tank trail that had multiple small bridges in a really swampy area. I looked over the side and thought, those are some strange logs, then I realized it was three BIG ASS gators floating in the water. I swear every army base has something that will kill you in a incredibly violent way, or just poison you, or kill you with disease like the rats in Korea or the prairie dogs at Ft Carson
I was at a fishing hole in Florida where a big-ole gator was giving me the same look my hound gave a handful of beef jerky. I remembered kin folk telling me how fast gators moved; but, the fishing was too good to leave. I figured the gator thought anyone dumb enough to keep fishing when he showed up would probably give him gas. That is how this Yankee survived sharing a fishing hole with a gator.
I just carry a gun; in known gator country it’s something more substantial than my normal 9mm carry piece. One thing we human types usually fail to remember is that even the scariest of predators are often more afraid of us than we should be of them. Oh, and just in case, zig-zag…gators can run fast in a straight line but struggle a bit when it comes to pulling a Catera (“The Caddy That Zigs”).
In a sad way, it’s like being in a high-crime area. Come across as a victim and you’ll be one. Come across as a predator-in-waiting, and they’ll avoid you. This is why our illustrious “leaders” wish to disarm us. Defang the predator-in-waiting and we become the victim, fully reliant on “them” to ensure the protection of ourselves and our loved ones.
Driving the tank trails out to Camp Oliver, there were a number of ponds with some fairly large gators. Camp Oliver itself had a bunch of them, and walking on the little peninsula past the hangar was a fun time if you overthought things.
When I lived in Pembroke, in the little 100-year-old shotgun shack on the training area map (just a few hundred meters from the fence, and incidentally where my burglary occurred), there was a 4-5 foot gator that was like clockwork hanging out on a sandbank on a little creek off of GA-119. I’d pass by, allegedly tip my beer, and then drive the next ten miles to hit the dirt roads and get back home.
Fort Benning had signs posted, but I never saw any gators out there either. Come to think of it, when I went to Miami and the Keys a few months ago, I didn’t see any either. I think they just know who the baddest mamba jamba is…
Reduces the SWOL rate.
It works over government housing also.
By Crocky, I thought that this was a lot of croc untill I read the article..
Rescue Swimmer instructors swore the low freq vibes of a hovering helo always attracted sharks. Just to give us tadpoles something else to consider while paddling around, ya know.
They also called International Orange “Yum-Yum Yellow” so there’s that.
Totally understandable. The WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP of a Huey still turns me on to this day.
Same here. In the Viet of the Nam, that sound meant the Hueys were coming to pick up my rifle company and take us out of the bush.
I see you are a “glass is half full” type of guy. That sound also meant the Hueys were coming in to take us out to the bush. Or the “log bird” was bringing you your “morning milk and cookies” (as one pilot said) so you could spend another day or three in the bush.
Welp, we usually weren’t sitting around on an LZ waiting for them to take us to the bush. Whereas, we were when we were waiting to get extracted. What I hated was when they told us the birds weren’t coming after all because of weather or something else; and we were instructed to hump all the way to the firebase.
When I first got to that “airmobile” unit I actually believed (being young and stupid) we would do a lot of flying. I soon found out that all “airmobile” meant was that they would fly you waaay out into the boonies so you would have farther to walk back. Amazing how fast your boots wear out in an “airmobile” unit.
Infrasound.
Infrasound – Wikipedia
Might be watching the big air assault scene from Apocalypse Now tonight! Let’s see what happens…