'They put up a good fight': Huge crocs caught and killed after terrorising cattle
Two crocodiles, so big they had to be moved by a tractor, have been caught after making a meal of livestock at a Northern Territory cattle station.
Catchers shared a picture of the monster crocs strung up to the tractor on Wednesday, after hooking the beasts on Boxing Day at Annaburroo Station, 100km southeast of Darwin.
The cattle station's Adrian Phillips told the ABC he is spending $100,000 each year to protect his 6000 cattle from crocodiles, with one of the most heavily croc-populated waterways in the world, the Mary River, bordering his property.
Croc farmer Roger Matthews, of Triple C Crocodile Catching Contractors, pictured with the beasts, said the pair measured 4.3m and 4.45m. The contractors have a permit to catch crocodiles.
He and associate Michael Phillips caught the crocs "holed up" in a small dam together for a few hours, Mr Matthews shared on Facebook with the pic.
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He said he named them Gobbo and Croco after two mates who chose to abandon the mission while recovering after a big Christmas Day.
Mr Matthews told how he used a special hook to agitate the reptiles to force them to pop their heads above water, allowing him to jump in and slip a noose around their snout.
“It’s a procedure, but if you’ve never done it before it would probably look a little bit terrifying,” he told the NT Times.
One man who came across the pic of Mr Matthews' catch on Facebook commended the effort, saying: "They put up a good fight! Handsome bloke hey."
It is illegal to catch and release a crocodile, so the pair were euthanised.
Mr Matthews said he would use the skin for leather and the skulls will be processed and sold.
