Mexican fishermen capture 7.5-foot crocodile in the Rio Grande

[Gman]

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (AP) -- Mexican fishermen captured a 7.5-foot-long crocodile in the Rio Grande, the river that divides Mexico and the United States, and turned the animal over to a local animal shelter, authorities reported on Sunday.

The animal was caught on a fisherman's line on Saturday in a sparsely populated stretch of the river on the outskirts of Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas.

The crocodile weighed about 130 pounds and appeared to be in good condition, said Jose Moreno Araiza, a commander of the Nuevo Laredo fire department, where the fishermen first brought the animal in the back of a pickup truck.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MEXICO_BORDER_CROCODILE_TXOL-?SITE=TXSAE&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

-------------------------------------

Crocodiles are not native to North America so someone put it there. Sounds like the handiwork of the Minute Men who are "patrolling" along the Rio Grande right now.

p.s. put this in LBN because it hasn't been up 24 hours yet.

p.s.p.s.... oops, never mind, didn't realize LBN rules changed going on 2 years ago! Please move to GD.

[doubleplusgood]

1. they exist in Central America

I know that, at least in Costa Rica, they have crocodiles that can get > 20 feet in length...I've seen them on the Rio Tarcoles & other places in C.R.

[Gman]

3. Didn't know that...

but they are not native to Northern Mexico/South Texas. Somebody put it there and I don't even need three guesses to know it was the Minute Men.

[MidwestTransplant]

12. Maybe the Mexicans put it there to eat the Minutemen?!

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Good guess

[KIDGLOCK2]

34. Maybe the Minuteman

put it in there to eat ILLEGAL aliens . ( going to need more gators !!! )

Maybe the gator is really a ILLEGAL alien .

[SoCalDem]

38. Panamanian crocs can be deady...

and they are in many rivers.. We never swam in rivers that were not clear..:scared:

[Botany]

2. Crocs are native to N. America

"Crocodiles are not native to North America .."



native range of American Croc.

[Gman]

4. How can a fundie look at that picture

and still make creationist claims?

Thanks, didn't know this.

[damntexdem]

28. Oh, every claim by a Creationist ...

is a crock.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. That's not where this one was found

[damntexdem]

29. Aha, so the croc was undocumented.

Maybe they'll take jobs that American alligators won't: like eating Minute Men.

[Squatch]

5. Do you come up with your own conspiracy theories?

This is pretty funny:

"Crocodiles are not native to North America so someone put it there. Sounds like the handiwork of the Minute Men..."

Yeah, so these guys the Minutemen (who hate anybdy south of the border) travel to a place where crocodiles ARE native, like Colombia, Guatemala, etc, capture one, bring it back to Texas, and then put it into the Rio Grande river. Their hope was, in some grand scheme, to have a local fisherman catch the crocodile, contact the media, thereby getting word out that

a: There are crocodiles in the Rio Grande so you better not try crossing

b: That the minutemen are resorting to new tactics to deter border crossings

Yeah....right

[Botany]

6. as a small time ecologist, real good chance that the croc was put there

as a "pet" that was small and then got way to big to keep.

The Rio Grande is at least 500 miles from it's native range.

[Squatch]

7. I agree that's probably the case...

but I highly doubt it's part of a greater conspiracy hatched by xenophobic Texans.

[Botany]

10. Althoug I would pay cash money to see some fat ass red neck

minute man w/ a 130 lbs. Croc.

Young Crocs and gators can also be blown along way across
the water by storms too.

Wild guess .... storm pushes young croc across the gulf.?????

[Scout1071]

18. You are correct. I live near the Missouri river and we see

reports on the news all the time about piranhas, japanese jumping fish (can't remember their name, but they are so large and fling themselves so forcefully at people in boats/wave runners that people have been seriously injured), alligators, and more.

Pets gone wild, so they dump them in the Mighty Mo.

[TX-RAT]

19. japanese jumping fish

Seen a show the other day where they were using bow's and fishing arrows to shot them out of the air as they jumped. I also notice the guy driving the boat wore a helmet and face shield. Those fish were jumping like crazy.

Silver Carp?

[damntexdem]

31. Well, those big goldfish can play havoc with earthen dams -- you know:

carp'll tunnel syndrome!

[TX-RAT]

35. LOL

[AngryAmish]

37. Asian carp

brought in years ago to eat algae in catfish ponds, got loose during a flood. They are spreading throughout the Mississipi watershed (and we are trying like crazy to keep them out of the Great lakes.

[silverweb]

47. I'd never heard of Japanese jumping fish before.

So of course I had to go find out and found _this video_ when I googled the phrase. Amazing and funny to watch! The University of Missouri also has a good article on the fish, which are Asiatic carp, _here_.

I learn the most amazing things here at DU! :D

[eppur_se_muova]

49. Airborne nets would seem to be in order -- just hang them alongside the

boats. If no other fish jump like this, you'd be netting exclusively carp.

[Gman]

9. Yes, I do!

:tinfoilhat:

If you think hard enough, everything can be blamed on conservatives. Sometimes you have to really be creative, but it can be done.

BTW, the croc was found in an area where the MM are currently patrolling.

[damntexdem]

32. Yeah, but is there any way to blame it on Bill Clinton?

If there is, the GOP will.

[Gman]

44. Had Clinton kept his penis in his pants...

_____________________(Fill In The Blank)________________________

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. I wouldn't put anything past the 60 second men

although, this one took some smarts which they don't have a lot of. LOL

[damntexdem]

30. Yeah, you're right:

that strategy is too well-thought-out for the Minute Men. ;-)

[CabalPowered]

33. If they can't do it from their tailgate

then they probably won't do it. ;)

[rodeodance]

8. Well, scare tactics work. I am glam they go it.

[Na Gael]

11. I Know It's Not a Croc.

-But I've seen alligators(as in more than one), as far North as Lajitas. They were WAAAAY bigger than 130lbs too. How they got there is anybody's guess, but they were fat and happy.

[Gman]

14. There are (or at least used to be)

alligators in the San Antonio River just south of San Antonio. Used to be a story among the real oldtimers about some guy in the 30's that used to kill people and feed them to the gators in the SA River at Berg's Mill.

[Xenotime]

13. Crikey!

[flying_wahini]

15. I'd like to know what kind of line the fisherman was using,

and why would want to catch one of these???? Wouldn't you cut this sucker loose when
you saw what you had?????
:shrug:

[jpak]

16. There is an American Crocodile (in FL) and it's endangered

If this is an AC - this is good news for the species...

:)

[alarimer]

17. There are North American crocodiles

They are confined to parts of south Florida and the Keys.

[Kali]

23. Why would the minutemen do that?

What would the motive be? I don't get it?

[IndianaGreen]

25. Because the Minutemen are a bunch of racist Nazis!

They are the real squatters, living in lands stolen from Mexico by a racist America motivated by a belief of Exceptionalism, or "Manifest Destiny." Hitler's Germany suffered from the same delusions!

[Kali]

26. Calm down. I just meant tactically - what would putting this animal in

the Rio Grande accomplish?

[UncleSepp]

27. Because sharks are salt water creatures.

Reportedly, the Minutemen had a devil of a time trying to put the frikkin laser beams on the crocodiles.

[KIDGLOCK2]

36. Yawn ..........blah blah blah .

[xchrom]

24. if conservatives can blame EVERYTHING on the Clenis --

then we can blame this on the minutemen.

not likely -- but so what.

[KIDGLOCK2]

39. Blame game

No it was the gay baby fur seals !!!

[Stu DeBeouf]

40. K n R

We can't let this fall off the front page...

[Stu DeBeouf]

41. Kick

All should know about this amazing discovery...
:kick:

[Stu DeBeouf]

42. C'mon guys...

This is earth shattering..let's see some interest. Fuck Foley....Crocs in the Rio tears it for me, where's my torch and picthfork?

[pitohui]

43. of course crocodiles are native to north america

i have seen them in central america but there are even a few remaining in florida, a highly endangered few

[Slyder]

45. Piranhas in Kansas

A couple of years ago a piranha was caught in a reservoir in eastern Kansas. What about those boa constrictors in the New York sewers? Raccoons are ceasing to be rare in Britain and I hear wallabies are found all over Ireland. Kudzu has reached eastern Kansas too. Ireland is on the wrong side of the Wallace Line for such creatures. Fire ants in the late 40s were limited to a few southern Alabama counties where they were introduced from South America. Norway rats are now found worldwide. So crocs in the Rio Grande aren't surprising. Where man goes, he carries creatures whether he intends to or not.

[yardwork]

46. I have to say this is the most entertaining thread I've read in weeks

complete with the troll or two.

[Binka]

48. Only One Or Two? n/t