Who says crocs can’t climb? Fisho spots 3m saltie up a tree on Corroboree Billabong

AS if crocs weren’t frightening enough, it turns out they can also climb.

AS if crocs weren’t frightening enough, it turns out they can also climb.

Keen Darwin fisho Jim Churchley snapped this big saltie, which he estimated to be at least 3m long, up a tree trunk on Corroboree Billabong during a fishing trip on Monday.

“I’m on the water all the time and see crocs all the time, but this was just unusual. I’ve never seen one up a tree like that,” he said.

“I’ve seen them on logs that have fallen into the water, but this one has obviously taken the effort to come out of the water and climb up a tree.”

The crocodile spotted up a tree at the Corroboree Billabong. Picture: Jim Churchley

He said the croc didn’t move from the tree in the about five minutes he was in the area, and seemed perfectly relaxed the whole time.

“It was just sitting there, and didn’t seem fussed about me being there,” he said.

“As I got closer to get photos, I was expecting it to launch into the water, but it didn’t move. “It was very calm.”

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Crocodile expert and Crocodylus Park owner Grahame Webb said the croc had probably climbed the tree trunk to bask in the sun, especially as the billabong would be colder than usual after the Top End’s recent rainy weather.

However, he said while salties could climb very short distances to bask, there was no need to worry about them scampering up trees or scaling, walls or fences any time soon.

“Salties aren’t really agile climbers. Some other species of crocs are really good climbers, like the New Guinea freshwater crocodile … but salties don’t seem to have that agility,” he said.

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“People rarely sight crocs up a tree a fair distance. They’ll usually just crawl out on a log or something. So you don’t have to worry about them dropping out of a tree.”