There's a croc in my pool!
2007-01-31 09:20
Nelspruit - When a resident from Sonheuwel went up to his swimming pool after noticing something resembling a large palm leaf, he was shocked to see a 1.5m crocodile in the pool.
Pastor Wernich Swart from the Oasis Revival Centre said he was checking on the pool's pump at about 08:30 last Wednesday morning when he noticed the object.
When he realised it was not a palm leaf, he thought it might be "one of those large lizards".
When Swart walked around the pool to have a closer look he encountered the crocodile.
"I was so surprised, I was speechless," he said on Tuesday. "I immediately called the Mpumalanga Tourism and Park Agency (MTPA)."
Burglars got a huge fright
Jimmy Masombuka, a spokesperson for the MTPA, said this crocodile was one of
11 young crocodiles that had to be taken from an MTPA facility to Loskop Dam on Saturday. They had to be moved to make room for an adult crocodile that recently caused the death of a woman.
The woman was fishing on the farm Mara on the way to Komatipoort when the crocodile killed her.
The young crocodiles were caught and put in a van.
The driver of the van slept at a house in the same street as the Swarts. The crocodiles would have been taken to the dam the next morning.
During the night somebody apparently tried to steal goods from the panel van where the crocodiles were sleeping.
"The crocodiles must have frightened him as he ran away. In the process one of the crocodiles must have escaped," he said.
This crocodile found his way to the Swarts' house and made himself at home in their swimming pool. He was caught on the same day and taken to Loskop Dam.