Nhulunbuy man ‘nearly sh*t himself’ after finding saltwater crocodile in laundry

A cheeky juvenile crocodile who decided to make a Northern Territory couple’s laundry home has been relocated ­– with the owners believing he’d been hidden under the dryer for weeks.

A cheeky juvenile crocodile who decided to make a Nhulunbuy couple’s laundry home has been relocated ­– with the owners believing he’d been hidden under the dryer for weeks.

Vince Nathan and his partner Raylene woke up at 1.30am on December 10 to the sound of their dogs “going off” in the laundry.

When he went to investigate, he thought he’d find a possum – but was shocked to find a one metre long saltie hiding under the dryer.

When it “flared up” and ran at him, Mr Nathan said he nearly “s —t myself”.

A crocodile was found in the laundry of Vince's home.

“At first I thought it was a frilly lizard, but it’s a lot bigger than a lizard,” Mr Nathan said.

“You don’t just find a croc in your laundry every night.”

He ran back inside and told his partner, but she didn’t believe him.

“It wasn’t until she came out and she said ‘Holy c —p’, and then it (the crocodile) ran for her and she had to run back inside and close the doors,” he said.

The feisty crocodile returned to the dryer and refused to be moved.

“Because of where he was we couldn’t move him. He would have bitten us,” Mr Nathan said.

The scaly visitor was a surprise in more ways than one, with the ocean more than five kilometres away from the house.

Vince estimated the crocodile to be about a metre long.

Even the Nhulunbuy Corporation, which Mr Nathan called to remove the croc, was stunned at the discovery.

“The guy on the phone was like ‘No way, you’re kidding’,” Mr Nathan said.

“I said, ‘Nah mate, it’s in the laundry. I need you to come grab it’.”

A ranger removed the croc using a lasso, but not before putting on a show, Mr Nathan said.

“The croc was wild when we pulled him out, he was rolling around and carrying on,” he said.

“He was going for us.”

“Once he had tape around his mouth he was alright.”

Mr Nathan believes the noises he had been hearing for weeks was the croc all along.

“You can see on his back all that dust and fluff off the tumble dryer … he was probably there for three weeks sitting under the dryer,” he said.

“We’ve had barbeques, kids have been swimming around there, and nobody’s even known he’s under there.”

On the bright side for Mr Nathan, he now has an answer to his lawn troubles.

“I was complaining yesterday to my real estate agent about the lawn that’s dying and that something’s pissing on it,” he said.

“Must have been the croc.”