Cracking true stories from the Outback - Part 2: cassowaries, crocodiles & other animal incidents

David Allan
Aug 7, 2021
8 min read

Updated: Aug 8, 2024

Cracking true stories from the Outback is a series of journals about life in remote Australia and the characters who live there.

It's a place where adventure and discovery are constant companions.

The stories are not so much about an event but rather a time, an attitude, a way of life.

The 'Bush', refers to rural areas. The 'Outback', refers to locations more remote than rural areas and the 'Never Never' is a remote & mystical place that lies beyond the Outback.

Most of us love the rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, butterflies in the stomach and adrenaline dripping from the roof that happens during a hazardous experience.

It’s that element of fear that makes it a thrill. They say humans enjoy feeling scared, but safe. Thrills give us a sense of our mortality and makes us feel alive.

So if that’s true, where better to be awash with thrills than Outback Australia where there are more things that can kill you than anywhere else on the planet.

The rich and unembellished stories in this post all come from our time living in Cairns, Darwin and Elcho Island in Arnhem Land. You couldn't make this stuff up.

Why tell stories?:

Story telling is an essential human need that has been used, for ever, for entertainment, education and cultural preservation. Compelling story telling is the path to imagination and people are hungry for stories.

Memorable travel turns you into a story teller.

Story # 1- the croc & the barramundi:

On our third trip to Cape York, one of our buddies was an ex crocodile hunter from the 70's who was awash with rich stories from his croc hunting days.

My personal favourite story was the billabong incident where he chased a whopping big croc into a billabong where it took cover under the roots of a tree growing on the bank. Not content to let this one get away, he stood on the tree roots and prodded under the water with a long stick.

When he finally jabbed the big old croc it made him pretty cranky causing him to charge up onto the bank and with one wild thrash of his tail the croc washed up 10 Barramundi onto the bank. At this point his mates made a furious grab for the barramundi and left him to fight off the croc.

As it happened, we met a mutual friend when we got home to Cairns who said it was only 6 barramundi when they heard the story. I am going with 10.

Story # 2 - "wider than the tinnie":

On another occasion, my ex croc hunter buddie was out hunting crocs when they ran their tinnie up the bank where a big croc had just slid into the water and the croc was so big that they could see the crocs footprints on each side of the tinnie.

Story # 3 - the drunk Cassowary:

Some Cassowaries get drunk & disorientated after eating fermented bush fruit. A brood of such drunk birds found their way into the pool of a luxury retreat at Mission Beach. One bird was chased by a guest after it stole his wallet until the bird lost its footing, on the slick Mexican tiles, and skated hard into the lunch buffet. With the lunch buffet demolished, he then ran out into the car park, saw his reflection in a tourist bus then attacked the bus thinking it was another cassowary.

Story # 4 - held hostage by a Cassowary:

A busload of Japanese tourists in Mission Beach were held hostage by a hungry Cassowary as it head butted the vehicle repeatedly then it got stuck into 5 cars in the hotel car park karate chopping the doors and panels. Apparently, they see their reflection and think they are attacking another bird. Many locals with dark coloured cars will keep a cover over their car so any loitering Cassowaries wont see their reflection.

The Cassowary, aka the Murder bird, is the worlds most dangerous bird. They are wary of humans but if provoked can inflict fatal injuries with a lethal 125mm talon on each foot. If they start acting aggressively face them, back away and take cover behind trees. Never turn and run. They will out sprint you, jump 1.5m in the air, hit you like a freight train and unzip you like a laundry bag.

Story # 5 - wild animals at large:

If North Queensland wasn't dangerous enough, there was a dodgy zoo operator in Mareeba, Atherton Tablelands, in 2003, where the odd animal occasionally got loose. At the time we lived in Cairns, they had previously had a brown bear and a cheetah escape through it’s fence and cause blind panic amongst the tourists and locals.

Story # 6 - not recommended as toilet paper:

Contact with these trees can cause very serious injury, that can last for several weeks, and must be avoided. They say its like being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time.

In 1941 Cyril Bromley was stung near the Barron River. The pain was so bad they had to tie Cyril to his hospital bed for three weeks. In another case, an army officer used a stinging tree leaf as toilet paper and later shot himself because he could not stand the pain.

Story # 7 - woman finds crocodile in laundry:

This story was reported in the Sunday Territorian 5 June 2004: Kununurra Police got called out to a house where a woman had found a crocodile in her laundry. It was later found the croc was left there by her son who had caught it and on his way to delivering it to a croc farm and parked it there so he could go to the pub for a couple of beers. He thought his mum was away but she came home unexpectedly.

The police picked up the crocodile, photographed it and then, believing it to be a freshwater crocodile, took the reptile to nearby Lily Creek Lagoon and released it. This is a popular spot for boating, walking and bird-watching, with a caravan park and other accommodation located on its shores.

A few days later CALM staff saw the photos and identified the reptile as a salt water crocodile! Although it was under two metres when released by police it had the potential to grow in to six metres, big enough to eat people. Traps were set in the following days but with the lake being home to thousands of freshwater crocodiles (that are harmless to people) the job of catching one saltwater crocodile was like finding a needle in a haystack. It took a couple of weeks and plenty of man hours but they finally managed to catch the saltie and relocate it.

Story # 8 - speed hump or Croc?:

This story & photo was reported in NT News 2/5/2004: Two Top End fishos were driving in the pelting rain across the Adelaide River Bridge when they saw this croc pretending to be a troll. Mike "Mud" Campbell, said his mate saw the big fella at the last minute and managed to swerve around it. "We were upon it before we could stop. Had he clipped it we would have rolled for sure," Mr Campbell said.

After 20 years fishing in the Territory Mr Campbell has seen plenty of crocodiles but he said seeing the 4m croc was "special". "I have never seen one that big on the bridge before, he was a big fatty," Mr Campbell said. "It glared at me for annoying him and for a moment turned around and confronted us. He raised his head and opened his mouth. Then he worked out the size differentials between our troopie and him and he waddled off."

A similar thing happened in Cairns, in 2003, when a taxi ran over a croc on the road into the airpot who initially just thought is was a speed hump. I also remember one Saturday morning a croc crawling out the Bunnings car park stormwater drain causing complete chaos amongst the Saturday morning shoppers.

Story # 9 - Croc attacks fisherman in boat:

This story was reported in NT News 28/4/2004: Kevin Eccles, 59, was admitted to Darwin hospital after being savaged by a crocodile in early April. Mr Eccles arrived with a mauled shoulder, arm and hand. He was attacked by a 2.5m croc which jumped out of the water and latched on to his shoulder while he was sitting in his 4.5m boat. Mr Eccles had to poke the creature in the eye to make it let go. Despite having survived this freak croc attack, Kevin was in good spirits despite his gruelling seven-hour journey from South Alligator River to Darwin.

Story # 10 - Nimby Week in Darwin (not in my backyard):

This story & photo was reported in the Territorian 5 June 2004: Nimby Week in Darwin is from 6 to 12 June which is aimed at removing cane toads that moved into metropolitan Darwin during the wet season. Toad busting, barrier fences & trap lines are used to control the pest. If caught alive residents can take them to a 'Cane Toad Detention Centre' where they can live until ‘FrogWatch’ clears them & disposes of them. I know everything is big in NT but have a go at this whopper.

Story # 11 - " there were red eyes all around us":

"It was as dark, the boat had sunk, we were surrounded by mangroves in waist deep water and there were red eyes all around".

My colleague, Martin, had come from Sydney to spend a few months working in our Mackay office and this particular week he had gone up to our branch in Weipa, Cape York to assist the team on a new building project.

Fishing up in these parts is considered some of the best in the country and one never returns from a fishing trip disappointed. Night fishing, in particular, was very popular and of course Martin was invited on a night fishing trip soon after his arrival in Weipa.

To this day, no one knows what the boat hit in the dark to make it sink. A more terrifying thought you could not imagine. The two fishermen were then swimming in one of the most croc infested waterways in North Queensland. They were surrounded by mangroves and in the dark they could not even distinguish between a channel and an island.

They soon got themselves to waist deep water but were unable to extract themselves from the never ending mangroves. They resigned themselves to the fact that there was no way onto dry land. They then sat back to back, with interlocked arms in the waist deep water, all night with red croc eyes all around them. There only thoughts were "what would become of us?"

It was much later after sunrise that a search party came out and rescued the terrified couple. The news of this amazing tale soon spread around the company and is still being told today.

Story # 12 - The amazing Golden Orb spider:

This spider wont kill you but its an amazing spider worthy of mention in this post.

It has a leg span of up to 300mm and an abdomen of 30mm. It can make webs spanning up to 2m and it can choose the colour of the web. The web is so strong it can last for years and will often ensnare birds.

The web of a Golden Orb spider is 100 times stronger than any man made fibre. Scientists say that if it were possible to weave a line of silk from the spider, to the thickness of a pencil, it would be possible to withstand the thrust of a 747 jumbo jet at maximum thrust.

In fact, the ranger at Undara Lava Tubes told us a story around a campfire about running into a Golden Orb web on his motor bike and he was pulled off the bike.