Everyone was frightened when they saw a few crocodiles tearing up a baby camel in a short period of time. Seeing that Bifang was less than three meters away from the Blackwater River, they all quickly advised him to stay away.
If a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, the distance of three meters is like walking on a knife, and the cold light is biting.
"Don't worry, it's not that dangerous."
Bi Fang smiled and pointed at the Nile crocodile in the distance that was still tearing pieces of meat from the camel. Although this scene was extremely bloody and cruel, everyone could even see the twitching camel legs on the Blackwater River, but in the
Surrounding this tragedy, several adult camels still stood silently.
When they saw this scene, not only did they not take it seriously, but they continued to stand in the river, lowering their heads to drink water, as if the people dying beside them were not their kind at all.
[This, what is going on??]
【Are you so indifferent?】
[The crocodile won’t bite the big camel]
"See? Even if these big camels are standing in the water, Nile crocodiles will not attack them, because they know in their hearts that these big guys are not something they can afford to offend. The relationship between crocodiles and camels here
, like the relationship between a crocodile and a hippopotamus.”
After hearing Bi Fang's analogy between crocodiles and hippopotamuses, the audience in front of the screen suddenly understood.
I have never eaten pork but I have also seen pigs running away. These two species are frequent visitors to the animal world.
"Although hippos always stay in the water, they can swim and dive. They are usually quiet. Once they lose their temper, they often fight, each using their sharp teeth to stab each other's thick skin. Sometimes in the river
When it gets angry, it dares to overturn the boat and bite it into two pieces."
"The crocodile's skin is rough and thick, but it is not as good as a small boat. An adult hippo can bite a large crocodile in half in one bite, but the crocodile's teeth cannot deal with the hippopotamus; the hippopotamus is faster than the crocodile in the water and on the shore.
"The strength and size are much better than those of crocodiles."
"So crocodiles will stay away from the waters where hippos are. However, it is a bit inaccurate to say that crocodiles will not attack hippos, because if the target is a small hippo, then it will not be polite."
【The camels here are hippopotamuses!】
"Yes, the adult camels in the canyon are equivalent to the hippos on the African savanna. Although they do not have the terrifying bite force of hippos, their attack power cannot be underestimated. If you go down with a hoof, it is very likely to directly crush the crocodile's head.
.”
"Besides, have you noticed that the crocodiles here are generally smaller?"
A crocodile was basking in the sun on the shore. It had a big mouth. Bifang got off the camel and walked in. The audience was frightened. But when they compared the two, they found that the crocodile seemed to be less than two meters tall?
Compared with Alpha next to it, it is even smaller and looks vulnerable.
Such a big crocodile can only eat a small camel.
"Although I always call them Nile crocodiles, in fact, their names should be West African Nile crocodiles, or desert crocodiles, or West African crocodiles."
"The West African crocodile, also known as the West African Nile crocodile and the desert crocodile, was once considered a subspecies of the Nile crocodile. However, a 2011 study showed that DNA molecular evidence testing showed that there is a link between the skulls of the Nile crocodile and the West African crocodile.
The differences make the West African crocodile a separate species."
"It's just that, as I said before, the naming of many species has long been taken for granted. Even if the essence is recognized and the scientific name is changed, the usual name will not be changed, and the wrong name will continue like this."
After comparing the size of the West African crocodile, Bi Fang got back on the Alpha and continued walking along the Blackwater River.
"Since there are two species, the body shapes cannot be generalized."
"The Nile crocodile is the largest crocodile and the largest reptile in Africa. Its body length is 2-6 meters. The average length of the largest subspecies is 3.7 meters. There is also a famous monster here. I wonder if you have any
People have heard it called 'Gustav'."
[Gustav, it sounds so familiar]
[I think I’ve heard of it]
【No impression at all】
【Careless】
Seeing that everyone is interested, Bi Fang wouldn't mind introducing me.
"It is said that the largest crocodile in the world is a Nile crocodile named Gustav. Its body is more than ten meters long. According to Burundian official statistics, it killed 100,000 people in the ten years from 1992 to 2002.
Nearly 300 people died.”
【Holy shit, how is that possible!】
【What a joke】
【Is it so outrageous? 】
【real or fake】
【I do not believe】
"Honestly, I wouldn't believe it even if I didn't see it with my own eyes, but this crocodile is indeed famous, and many records are from local officials."
Bi Fang smiled bitterly.
The Nile crocodile is the overlord in the water. When it reaches the shallows, it can also snatch the prey from the mouth of the lion, the king of the prairie. The Nile crocodile in a group is a complete amphibious overlord.
Generally speaking, most Nile crocodiles will never exceed 5 meters in length and weigh 600 kilograms in their lifetime, but there are some naturally selected crocodiles who outperform "crocodiles" starting from their crocodile eggs.
After breaking out of the shell, it grows rapidly. If it grows to adulthood successfully, its size will be about 6 meters. When other crocodiles see it, they will bow their heads. It is enough to dominate the entire river.
Gustave is the chosen crocodile. He was born in Burundi between Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is hidden in Lake Tanganyiko, the largest lake in the country. People named him "Gustave".
Its name comes from the Swedish emperor Gustav II who once conquered half of Europe. He was domineering and majestic.
Many local residents claim to have seen this giant beast.
According to people's descriptions, this giant crocodile is so huge that it can easily overturn fishermen's boats. Gustav will silently lurk in the water, waiting for prey to approach, and then quickly attack.
In 2004, a war broke out within Burundi. After the war ended, people suddenly remembered that they had not heard from Gustave for a long time.
In 2007, an eyewitness claimed to have seen Gustav again, but it had a row of bullet marks on its body, which may have been left by machine gun fire during the civil war.
【A bit outrageous.】
[I don’t really believe it]
[I think it might be true, after all, it’s natural, no one can say for sure]
[Indeed, nature is so big, there are always some freaks]
【Does Fang Shen believe it? 】
"Me?" Bi Fang pondered for a moment, then shook his head and gave an ambiguous answer, "I don't know whether to believe it or not. Maybe it really exists."
The power of nature is endless, and there are always some elite individuals.
We are all human beings, but there are people who can punch through a sandbag with one punch at 100 meters and ten seconds.
If possible, he really hoped that this crocodile named Gustav existed and then went to see it himself.
"Compared with the Nile crocodile, the West African crocodile is a bit insignificant. The smallest adult crocodile is only 1 meter long, with an average of 1.5-2 meters. The largest male West African crocodile is 243.5cm long. If you include a little bit of the tail,
Then the total length is 250cm. The largest female West African crocodile is 209cm long."
I had just heard about the legend of Gustav, and the audience was amazed by the power of the Nile crocodile, but now when I heard about the size of the West African crocodile, I suddenly felt a lot stretched out.
"The West African crocodile mainly eats fish, birds and small creatures such as frogs and insects. This also explains why the West African crocodile lacks the ability to prey on livestock and how indigenous people and crocodiles coexist peacefully."
"The West African crocodile lacks the ability to hunt large prey in the Sahara, which is the key to its survival in the desert and the fundamental reason for its small size."
"So, West African crocodiles can't eat camels at all, they can only eat lone camels. As for why the camels around them are so indifferent, it is also a normal state in nature. Except for their parents, generally no camels will treat those who have been preyed on.
The camel reached out to help, perhaps because its parents were not nearby."
I see.
Everyone finally understood.
"So we don't have to be afraid of them at all, and crocodiles are actually not as fast as you think."
Most crocodiles are very ferocious and are the most patient hunters. The moment they hunt for prey, they can be ejected from the water like arrows, which looks very impactful.
But this is only a short-term behavior and cannot be maintained for a long time.
There are three running postures of crocodiles, either like a snake, like a horse, or like a rabbit.
Like a snake, it crawls forward. When in swamps and muddy river banks, it drags its belly while pushing forward with its feet. This is also the most common posture.
The second is the high gait: This gait is very effective for clearing rocks and branches, and requires the most energy because it needs to lift a huge body off the ground.
The third is running: similar to a rabbit's hopping, the crocodile kicks on the ground with its hind legs at the same time, and then touches the ground with its front legs, making it look like it is jumping.
The audience imagined a scene of crocodiles and rabbits jumping around in their minds, and for a moment they didn't know what to say.
It seems very happy?
"But the latter two are usually only seen in small crocodiles. Large crocodiles are basically a few people, just like pythons."
"The West African crocodile is much smaller than the Nile crocodile, but it is average in the crocodile family. It is better than the upper ones and more than the lower ones. It can be attacked in a short period of time, so we left the river bank for three days.
Rice is enough."
Bi Fang casually threw down a piece of ostrich meat, but the crocodile beside him did not move at all. It was not until Bi Fang left that everyone saw the West African crocodile slowly coming forward and swallowing it.
“In ancient Egypt, people even considered it a very honorable thing to be eaten by a crocodile. The crocodile god Sobek engraved on the Sonic Temple is believed to be based on the Nile crocodile.”
"However, myths always change with history. Since the 9th century AD, Nile crocodiles have been hunted by humans."
"The ancient Egyptians worshiped Sobek and the crocodile god associated with Pharaoh's fertility and protection, but later Egyptians would also hunt crocodiles, seeing them as a source of protection and power for the Pharaohs."
"This may be one of the proofs of social change."
Anyone who has studied archeology knows that people worship people. In ancient times, the most common sculptures excavated were women with wide bodies and fat bodies.
Because such a body type is more fertile and the early mortality rate was high, humans naturally worshiped them. However, after entering feudal society, human productivity developed rapidly, they armed themselves, the mortality rate dropped greatly, and the primitive worship of life and evil began to disappear.
The powerful image of the crocodile naturally changed from a symbol of fertility to a symbol of powerful power.
"The West African crocodile is more docile than the Nile crocodile and was chosen by the ancient Egyptians for their spiritual rituals and included mummification."
"Historically, West African crocodiles and Nile crocodiles inhabited Egypt in the lower reaches of the Nile River. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus was the first person to record and study crocodiles. Herodotus wrote that crocodiles were harvested as food in ancient Egypt.
Priestly Selective.”
"Priests are aware of the differences between the two species, with the West African crocodile being smaller, more docile, and easier to capture and tame."
"Herodotus also noted that some Egyptians kept crocodiles as pampered pets. At the Temple of Arsinoe at Sobek, a crocodile was kept in the temple, where it was fed, covered in jewels, and worshiped in the pond."
"When the crocodile dies, it is embalmed, mummified, placed in a sarcophagus, and then buried in a sacred tomb. Many mummified specimens and even crocodile eggs have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs."
"Recent DNA analysis has shown that crocodile mummies in caves in Thebes, Samoun Cave and those in Upper Egypt all belong to this species."
【Another day to gain knowledge】
[If you learn nothing, you will learn nothing]
Bi Fang rode a camel through most of the Blackwater River, and there were many camels. He also saw a large number of pottery pot fragments on the ground.
[What are these fragments? Are they garbage?]
[There are so many human traces here]
[There are murals and pottery pots. This place must have been prosperous before, right?]
Bi Fang was noncommittal.
"Around 1840, the religious Berbers and Bedouins had moved south from the north, replacing the original indigenous Tubu people and giving the oasis its current name."
"The entry of outsiders made business prosperous again. The first European to discover this place, Rolfs, entered Dutch along the Sahara trade route that was formed."
"However, the local residents at that time were very hostile to the foreign Europeans. Rolfs' expedition team was besieged by the locals and almost lost his life."
"In the end, the expedition team fled all the way north, all the way to Benghazi. Of course Chad couldn't go, but the discovery of Dutch was enough to raise his reputation to a higher level."
[No wonder circumcision is required to disguise it, hahaha]
【I feel so miserable】
[This is too dangerous, primitive people?]
【It’s not much different.】
The prosperity of commerce made this oasis a good place to store water, and the most useful tools, clay pots, naturally increased in number.
However, after 2000, all the slightly complete jars were either taken away or smashed into pieces. When Bi Fang visited this place in person, he only saw many scattered fragments, and none of them was complete.
[Ah, hasn’t the local government protected them? They are all antiques]
"This is a common misunderstanding. In fact, not all antiques are valuable. Only antiques with cultural and historical value can be sold at a good price. These pottery pots are not too old and have ordinary shapes. They are mainly practical."
"There is no historical value, cultural value, or artistic value. They are no different from scraps. They may be better than scraps, but they are not worth spending a lot of money to protect."