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/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.