rick stoehrer Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 bad day on the riverhttp://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/africa/view/20101209kayaker_presumed_dead_after_congo_crocodile_attack/srvc=home&position=recenthttp://greatwhiteexplorer.blogspot.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brambor Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 Looks like the croc did not want to experiment with food and went for the local specialty bad day on the river http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/africa/view/20101209kayaker_presumed_dead_after_congo_crocodile_attack/srvc=home&position=recent http://greatwhiteexplorer.blogspot.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pintail Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 My prediction: the body will not be found! The modus operandi of crocodiles is to stash their food away in some subaqueous larder (among tree roots, for example) and eat at their leisure. Nothing will be left. Shame for his family, but I reckon he was asking for trouble. It is one thing to go WW kayaking in some Rocky Mountain torrent or even South African river; but in croc-infested waters in Congo or Uganda? Not I...(Interestingly, once these reptilians have eaten their fill, they may go for months without another meal!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted December 9, 2010 Author Share Posted December 9, 2010 My prediction: the body will not be found! The modus operandi of crocodiles is to stash their food away in some subaqueous larder (among tree roots, for example) and eat at their leisure. Nothing will be left. Shame for his family, but I reckon he was asking for trouble. It is one thing to go WW kayaking in some Rocky Mountain torrent or even South African river; but in croc-infested waters in Congo or Uganda? Not I... (Interestingly, once these reptilians have eaten their fill, they may go for months without another meal!) paddling where there are giant, farting, angry hippo's (imagine a 3,000 pound pissed off pit bull?) or dinosaurs...not high on my list of things to do. ...one way or the other, none of us get out of this alive. have fun in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brambor Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 I recommend a book by Mark Jenkins - To Timbuktu paddling where there are giant, farting, angry hippo's (imagine a 3,000 pound pissed off pit bull?) or dinosaurs...not high on my list of things to do. ...one way or the other, none of us get out of this alive. have fun in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pintail Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 Rick, did you go backwards in his blog? Go to older posts to see a few pix and there is a beautiful one of Murchison Falls, which made me feel quite nostalgic. I am devastated to learn that they have found oil (apparently) in the National Park there -- potentially bad news for the wildlife that already had to suffer under the army of Idi Amin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted December 9, 2010 Author Share Posted December 9, 2010 Rick, did you go backwards in his blog? Go to older posts to see a few pix and there is a beautiful one of Murchison Falls, which made me feel quite nostalgic. I am devastated to learn that they have found oil (apparently) in the National Park there -- potentially bad news for the wildlife that already had to suffer under the army of Idi Amin! ...idi amin...now THERE was bat sh&t crazy! i did look back in his blog...i thought the post titled "death of logic" was ironic....dude....CROCODILES. personally i would consider "reasonable" as being AWOL but to each their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcasey Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 one can traverse those waters in safety, I understand. you need to speak "crocadileze", and memorize the phrase: "my colleague over there is plumper and tastier". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyson Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 It didn't work out too well for him, but I wonder if he would be willing to live a different, "safer" life if he knew his was going to be short: Often there is no clear right or wrong option, only the safest one. And if safe was all I wanted, I would have stayed home in Jinja. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEL Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 I wonder if he would be willing to live a different, "safer" life if he knew his was going to be short: I doubt it. People who do hard alpine climbs and, I assume, hard WW know they have a very high probability of dying or at least being seriously injured while doing it. Its just the price they pay for living the way they do and if they didn't; then they would not be living. They would just be alive. Ed Lawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcasey Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 Ed says: <snip> "...People who do hard alpine climbs and, I assume, hard WW know they have a very high probability of dying or at least being seriously injured while doing it...."Although I don't disagree with Ed's philosophy on living vs being alive, I wonder about the above statement. I think a lot of these folks truly believe that it will never happen to them, that they happen to be better than the chumps who had bad luck and that they can beat the statistics. Properly calibrated risk assessment is something that humans are demonstrably poor at doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rylevine Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 Ed says: <snip> "...People who do hard alpine climbs and, I assume, hard WW know they have a very high probability of dying or at least being seriously injured while doing it...." Although I don't disagree with Ed's philosophy on living vs being alive, I wonder about the above statement. I think a lot of these folks truly believe that it will never happen to them, that they happen to be better than the chumps who had bad luck and that they can beat the statistics. Properly calibrated risk assessment is something that humans are demonstrably poor at doing. How do you calculate the risk of being taken by a crocodile? I think WW kayakers learn to read rivers; and the most skilled are best at that, and can expect to live long exciting lives. It seems like this poor individual was in that category, but was just very unlucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spuglisi Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 How do you calculate the risk of being taken by a crocodile? I think WW kayakers learn to read rivers; and the most skilled are best at that, and can expect to live long exciting lives. It seems like this poor individual was in that category, but was just very unlucky. Good point Bob...I've never bothered to properly prepare for confrontations with crocodiles either . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEL Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 I think a lot of these folks truly believe that it will never happen to them, Notice the caption to the picture here. http://www.marktwight.com/ I think this sums it up and resonates with me. http://www.marktwight.com/discourse.php?id=33 Ed Lawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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