Crocodilians Master Stick Trick
So, how cunning are crocodiles or alligators. According to Scientific American, they’re smarter than your average bear….Two crcoodilian species have been observed to lie partially submerged, just hanging out – with sticks protruding from their mouths. We know all great apes use tools, like chimpanzees will use sticky sticks to poke into a termite mound. The insects begin to climb up, and the chimps snack. Herons have learned to fish, dropping berries into water, for fish to come to the surface for. Many other animals use tools, but the prehistoric crocodilians?
So, back to the sticks – herons nest in trees near the water. They’re smart too, pretty careful when walking along the shore to collect sticks for their nests. But the crocodilians are smart too. They’ve learned to hold sticks in their mouths, as they remain mostly under the water….the bigs can’t see the giant reptiles….the fly down to grab a stick. And it’s the heron who gets grabbed. If you think the stick in the mouth is random or coincidence, it turns out the crocodilians only do this during the birds’ nesting season.
And the method, by the way, works.