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Posted by Bill Moss on April 28, 2003 at 21:37:39:
In Reply to: Cold tolerant crocodiles? posted by gatorh3 on April 28, 2003 at 16:33:52:
Aussie Croc Researcher Makes Rare Find In Minnesota
Saint Paul, Mn, USA, Feb 10,2001
A previously reported but unsubstantiated crocodilian was caught Saturday in rural Minnesota by Aussie crocodile researcher Dr. Adam Britton.
Dr. Britton, who was in town for a speaking engagement, said he had heard anecdotal reports of the cold-tolerant croc but admitted to being skeptical of the validity of the sightings. The species of crocodilian, previously thought to have long since vanished from the USA, had only recently been spotted near Winnipeg, Canada.
Dr. Britton contacted Bill Moss, President of the Minnesota Herpetological Society and fellow croc enthusiast, about guiding him to the area of the last reported sighting of the rare crocodilian. Moss took him to an isolated area in northern Minnesota and they began to hunt for the creature. After nearly three hours of trudging through knee deep snow and braving the –18 degree C temperatures, Britton and Moss were crossing frozen Lake Como and were about to call it quits. That’s when Britton saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. According to Moss, Britton broke from the 'high-walk' into a gallop and covered the 25 yard distance like a freshie running from a saltie. “Adam launched himself at that croc from about 8 feet away, and caught it just as it was about to disappear into a crack in the ice. It was a spectacular catch!”
Britton, obviously not yet acclimated to this cold climate after being in tropical Darwin, AU only 2 days earlier said “C-c-c-c-catching t-t-t-this c-c-c-c-croc is v-v-v-v-v-ery s-s-s-s-satisfying and m-m-m-m-makes the l-l-l-long t-t-t-t-trip w-w-w-w-worthwhile”
The preliminary identification of the croc is Crocodylus manisitcoldus
:I thought I printed out an article in this forum from a long time ago that included Bill Moss in it about a crocodile they titled the cold tolerant crocodile and they found it in Minnesota, I was just wondering whatever became of that subject.
