Is there a crocodile in your garden?

A West Midlands man was today recovering in his front room after being startled by a large crocodile, which emerged from his pond, it was revealed.  Mr Arnold Splode of Kidderminster had just gone out to put the waste in to one of his three wheelie bins when the reptile crept out of the pond.  'I thought I was seeing things', said Mr splode, 59.

A team of experts from the nearby Dudley Zoo failed to locate the animal despite searching nearby gardens.  Herpetologist Marianne Van Winkle said, 'such sightings of crocodiles in the wild in the UK are very rare'.  'They are normally confined to Africa and Australia', she continued.

Bounty - Chocolate news,
Nottingham.

[smurfboy]

Arnold Splode? This has to be a joke...

[oldspice]

Herpetologist Marianne Van Winkle said, 'such sightings of crocodiles in the wild in the UK are very rare'. 'They are normally confined to Africa and Australia', she continued.

 

 

Marianne Van Winkle? UK sightings rare? I don't believe it!

Who else thinks this story is made up?  

[loulou]

  

[Scarlet Passion]

Me too.

 

But it's a giggle. I love it.

Mr Arnold Splode of Kidderminster had just gone out to put the waste in to one of his three wheelie bins when the reptile crept out of the pond. 

 

That's the bit I find hardest to believe....As if the local council would let him have 3 wheelie bins!!!!! 

We have three wheelie bins.  (i) One for general waste, food waste etc; (ii) one for biodegradable and recyclable products, paper, cardboard, tin cans and plastic bottles; (iii) one for grass, hedge cuttings etc.

[Forth Bridges]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4313978.stm

            

               Snake bursts after gobbling gator
            

         

      
      
          
      

               
                   
                       
   
      
                       
      
         
   



   

   

The predators died in the clash         Enlarge Image

An unusual clash between a 6-foot (1.8m) alligator and a 13-foot
(3.9m) python has left two of the deadliest predators dead in Florida's
swamps.

The Burmese python tried to swallow its fearsome rival whole but then exploded.

The remains of the two giant reptiles were found by astonished rangers in the Everglades National Park.

The rangers say the find suggests that non-native
Burmese pythons might even challenge alligators' leading position in
the food chain in the swamps.

   
   
   

   
           
           
       
   

Clearly, if they can kill an alligator they can kill other species                                                                          Prof Frank Mazzotti

   
   
   

The python's remains were found with the victim's tail
protruding from its burst midsection. The head of the python was
missing.

"Encounters like that are almost never seen in the
wild... And here we are," Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida
wildlife professor, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news
agency.

"They were probably evenly matched in size. If the
python got a good grip on the alligator before the alligator got a good
grip on him, he could win," Professor Mazzotti said.

He said the alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach, leading it to burst.

"Clearly, if they can kill an alligator they can kill other species," Prof Mazzotti said.

He said that there had been four known encounters
between the two species in the past. In the other cases, the alligator
won or the battle was an apparent draw.

Burmese pythons - many of whom have been dumped by their
owners - have thrived in the wet and hot climate of Florida's swamps
over the past 20 years.
      
                       
      
   
   

[Sweetie pie]

There is a reptile near where i live(in Northern Ireland) which sells baby alligators

[Sweetie pie]

Sorry meant reptile place.

[Scarlet Passion]

We have three wheelie bins. (i) One for general waste, food waste etc; (ii) one for biodegradable and recyclable products, paper, cardboard, tin cans and plastic bottles; (iii) one for grass, hedge cuttings etc.

 

Wow where we lived before we moved here would only let each house have two bins maximum. They wouldn't empty more than that!

Here we have a wheelie bin for general waste and then small box type bins for recycled paper/card/plastic and glass materials/clothing and fabric items/tins and cans. But these are quite small, nowhere near the size of a huge wheelie bin.

How often are yours emptied? Ours are emptied every week.

Does anyone have that only emptying the bins every two weeks thing happening with them yet? So far here it's only an idea and I hope that's all it ever is. Lots of places would smell quite bad in the summer time if they go ahead with this wouldn't you think?

They alternate.  General waste one week and recyclo/garden the next.  It works well.  If you keep the food stuff bagged there's no smell.

[oldspice]

We have three bins too. One for general waste, emptied once a fortnight, one for re-cycling paper, card, tins, plastic etc but not glass, and finally one for garden waste.

 

My black bin is always only half-full when the collection comes every other week.  I don't need the garden waste one because all gfarden waste goes in the composter. Of course, I re-cycle everything else.

[Scarlet Passion]

My mum's having a MASS clear out at the moment. I swear if I fell asleep on the settee I'd wake up in the bin after one of her industrial strength 'tidy ups'.

As a result our bin is almost always full, and has been for the past few weeks. We've had three large garden fires. (Old comics, exercise books, and even an old wardrobe!) The charity shop is over full with our cast-offs and the recycle bins in the local car park are literally groaning under the weight of all the stuff we've crammed in there!

I don't know where it's all coming from, but she's opening boxes from the loft that I don't think any of us have looked at since we packed them for the move nearly 7 years ago.

Dad's staying well out of the way in case she makes him clear out the shed. She's like a woman possessed. It's really not safe in our house at the moment. If you have anything you really want to keep you either put it away tidily, nail it down or take it with you. It's the only way to be sure you still have it at the end of the day.

But I must say the house looks absolutely brilliant.

[Cherry_Ripe]

We don't have bins we have bags ... white for garden waste, blue for paper, clear for plastic and metal, red for clothing. Cardboard is just left out by itself. Our rubbish (black bags) is collected every week but the recycling is collected every other week. The seagulls and magpies rip into the bags and it leaves a mess all over the street. I would like to have a wheelie bin for the rubbish! I currently put bleach / washing up liquid / jayes fluid over the rubbish to try to repel the birds but it doesn't always work.