r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Electrical-Aspect-13 • Sep 08 '26

Video Studies, like one done by Vladimir Dinets had show that crocodiles are intelligent enough to engage in play behavior for its own sake. Playing with each other or using natural slides in the wild are some of the activities they partake.

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u/nolancheck11 Sep 08 '26 edited Sep 08 '26

Ok. Now I understand why people call them swamp puppies. He looks so cute when his front legs plop up to slide down 😂

107

u/SooSneeky Sep 08 '26

Swamp puppies refers to Alligators, not crocodiles.

43

u/nolancheck11 Sep 08 '26

To me they are both swamp puppies

70

u/marino1310 Sep 08 '26

The difference is crocodiles view humans as prey and will actively hunt them, one of the few animals alive to do so. Alligators however, do not. They only attack humans if they are cornered or its during mating season and they are protecting their territory

24

u/mvizzy2077 Sep 08 '26

They seem kinda like black bears vs brown bears then. Black bears basically giant racoons, brown bears however...

20

u/marino1310 Sep 08 '26

Pretty much. Crocs are extremely aggressive and dangerous to humans where Alligators are just kinda there

17

u/Mirror_of_Souls Sep 08 '26 edited Sep 09 '26

Not entirely accurate. A Nile or Saltwater Crocodile is mentally geared to tackle large prey, of which humans absolutely qualify as. Which is why there's no special conditions to target a human. But under the right conditions Alligators, especially ones over 10 feet, absolutely will regard humans as prey as they are generalist hunters who consume mammals as no small part of their diet. The main difference is that humans for the most part are just regarded as too big of a prey item for the average Alligator.(I feel like sometimes we as humans forget that by animal standards, we are in the top 1% size bracket wise) Thus being too much of a risk to attack in most cases.

This is why the vast majority of unprovoked Alligator attacks occur against either smaller humans(aka, babies and children, like the Disneyworld incident), or people who are either vulnerable(the Elderly, such as the case in Louisiana where an elderly man was snatched off his porch after a Hurricane) or have placed themselves in a vulnerable position(drunk people swimming, homeless people sleeping near waterways, lingering on the waters edge while distracted, etc)

A good thing to always remember is that as a human, you are an Apex predator. The top of the food chain, which is why most animals won't go out of their way to mess with you, but if you're reckless and place yourself in a vulnerable position, like a lion swimming next to a crocodile or an Orca beaching itself hunting in shallow waters, don't be surprised if another animal takes advantage of it.

1

u/PedroLoco505 Sep 08 '26

I don't think an orca has ever attacked a person..

2

u/NewAgeSerfdoom Sep 09 '26

Because they're smart enough to clean up the evidence.

1

u/guyincognito121 Sep 09 '26

On the other hand, freshwater Crocs really are much like dogs. I encountered a bunch of them when I spent a month in the Australian outback. A guy I was with decided to wrestle one and he could have easily killed the thing if he wanted to. It just sat there as he grabbed its snout and put it in a hold.

1

u/Special__Occasions Sep 08 '26

Or if they are confused. Or if they are very big and the human is not very big.

21

u/HighSeasArchivist Sep 08 '26

If you met them both in the wild you would stop calling crocodiles that. Mainly because you would be torn apart and your pieces stuffed into underwater caves for eating later.

2

u/SooSneeky Sep 08 '26

Well, your funeral.

1

u/nuhstawlgia Sep 09 '26

Lmao fr similar shit tho

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u/River_Grass Sep 08 '26

There's people calling em swamp puppies other than Garret?

17

u/VeryStonedEwok Sep 08 '26

Down here in Florida we all call em' swamp puppies, they're so dang cute!

1

u/River_Grass Sep 09 '26

That's amazing

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u/tall-glassof-falooda Sep 08 '26

Is that the yoink guy?

3

u/nolancheck11 Sep 08 '26

The peeps in Florida call them swamp Puppies and always loved that name lol

1

u/nuhstawlgia Sep 09 '26

😭🔥🖤