Family finds baby freshwater croc at Alligator Creek, southeast of Townsville

SEE THE VIDEO: Alligator Creek has lived up to its reptile name after a family found a baby freshwater crocodile sitting at the bottom of their backyard pool.

ALLIGATOR Creek has lived up to its reptile name after a family found a baby freshwater crocodile sitting at the bottom of their backyard pool.

Rhys Brimeslow went to go for a morning swim to try and beat the heat yesterday.

But he dived in he was scooping up some leaves from the top of water when he spotted the unwelcomed guest at the bottom of the pool.

“I had to double take because initially it just looked like a strange lizard," he said.

“It was quite poised under the water but it looked liked it was ready to launch.

“I walked around the pool a couple of time and it was happily watching me.”

Sylvia Brimeslow with a freshwater crocodile found in her pool at their Alligator Creek home. Picture: Evan Morgan

Mr Brimeslow said the baby croc was only about 30cm long and was able to be scooped up and out of the pool.

“My wife got him out and he was a little bit skitty because he wasn’t too happy about being scooped,” he said,

“The kids were really excited, it was 6am, but we got them out of bed to have a look.

“We were actually swimming the night before because it was so hot but we didn’t see it, so it must have dropped in some time during the night.”

Sylvia Brimeslow with a freshwater crocodile found in her pool at their Alligator Creek home. Picture: Evan Morgan

Mr Brimeslow said the croc would have had to scale a 150m embankment from Alligator Creek behind their house, crawl underneath a fence and through a garden while dodging a lot of hungry hawks to get to the pool.

“He was obviously very determined,” he said.

“The creek in running at the moment due to recent rain so he might have been pushed upstream.

“We have seen little baby freshies in the creek before but that was about four years ago.”

Mr Brimeslow said he will now be thinking twice before sticking his hand in the filter box or diving in for a morning swim.

“My wife is always telling me not to put my hand in there because of snakes so now I will have to think twice in case of a croc,” he said.

The crocodile has been safely released back into the creek.

Rhys Brimeslow releases THE freshwater crocodile back into Alligator Creek after it was found in his pool. Picture: Evan Morgan

Originally published as Family finds baby freshwater croc at Alligator Creek, southeast of Townsville