A papier-mache crocodile Chris and Mark put in the lake as a joke, isn't a joke anymore.

The British Army started the development of flame throwers in 1938, but progress was slow and interest was side-lined after Dunkirk while the army reequipped. Investment in a flame-throwing tank only returned to the agenda thanks to interest by General Percy Hobart when he developed ‘funnies’ for 79th armored Division and the concept gained the support of General Sir Alan Brooke. 141 (The Buffs) Regiment RAC had been converted to Churchill Tanks at the end of 1941 and in early 1944 they were earmarked for another change of role to the Crocodile conversion of the new Mk VII Churchill tank. This flame throwing system was secret and started to arrive with the regiment in April 1944. By D-Day only one squadron was equipped and trained, with space on the landing craft only available for two troops to land in support of 50th Division. The rest of the regiment arrived by the end of June and were in action with various formations across the front. There followed a period of misuse by those they supported and learning on the job by the regiment’s squadrons, but by the middle of the campaign a clear doctrine for the use of the Crocodile had emerged and they were in great demand.

For Steve and Terri Irwin, confronting aggressive sixteen-foot gators, hissing deadly snakes, charging rhinos, venomous spiders, huge lizards, and wild reptiles in their own habitats was a part of daily life. Steve’s love for animals began at an early age, when his parents created an animal refuge—instilling in him a respect for Australia’s native wildlife, and some of the most dangerous creatures on Earth. Writing with his wife and soul mate, Terri Irwin, Steve provides intimate insights into their private life away from the cameras. Learn how they first met, how they successfully translated a shared love of animals into a worldwide message of conservation, and how they built one of the largest private animal refuges in Australia.

For over 250 million years, the "crocodile" in the sense of a form of life occupied the top of the food pyramid between water and land. However, this included many different species, most of which were not linearly descended from each other despite enormous similarity. Often, they were even only very distantly related in the huge family tree of reptiles. Now Steffen Pichler shows that this pronounced convergence must be grounded above all in a recurrent selective orientation towards one specific goal: namely, the broadest possible "ecological harmony". Based on years of observations of free saltwater crocodiles in northern Australia and the evaluation of palaeontological studies, he proves that this manifested seamlessly in every aspect of physique and behaviour. The heavy body can glide almost turbulence-free on mirror-smooth water surfaces. The all-day existence is so extremely unobtrusive and quiet that disturbances caused to other creatures are close to zero. The killing of prey is done in an utmost surprising way and mostly within seconds. In addition, there are many positive effects, such as those as "health police" through the automatic selection of diseased fish or even that of an indirect "protector" of the well-rehearsed ecosystem against disruptive intruders. The author explains that with real observation and a little "thinking around the corner", the ecological harmony of the crocodile becomes as obvious that there can be no stable counterarguments and that even the best engineer could not find any potential for an optimization. However, in the public alienated from nature, artificial factors like focused slow-motion films of the mostly tiny moments of killing prey form the dominant impression. This and some other distracting influences make not only the layman miss a chance to use the crocodile for very deep insights. Pichler shows how the reflection of the crocodile form reveals a whole structure of most fundamental natural laws, which were literally missed by the civilising sciences, although their exploration would have been of highest importance for mankind. And he takes the logical conclusion so far that it eventually even reaches beyond the boundaries of space and time.

A compendium of forty-eight stories and some verse which should delight all those are fortunate enough to receive it. The variety of weird and wonderful characters will be long remembered and the book will be reread many times. It is a fictional work, often based on characters that have enlivened history or passed through my life, but most of them are creatures of dreams and imagination.

Across the world, animals are being domesticated at an unprecedented rate and scale. But what exactly is domestication, and what does it tell us about ourselves? In this book, Marcus Baynes-Rock seeks the common thread linking stories about the domestication of Australia's native animals, arguing that domestication is part of a process by which late modernity threatens to undo the world. In a deeply personal account, the author tells of his encounters with crocodiles and emus behind fences, dingoes and kangaroos crossing boundaries, and native bees producing honey in his suburban backyard. Drawing on comparisons between Aboriginal and colonial Australians, Baynes-Rock reveals how the domestication of Australia’s fauna is a process of “unmaking.” As an extension of late modernity, the connections that tie humans and other animals to wider ecologies are being severed, threatening to isolate us and our domesticates from the rest of the world. It is here that Baynes-Rock reveals a key difference between Aboriginal and colonial Australian modes of landscape management: while one is focused on a systemic approach and sees humans as integral to ecological integrity, the other seeks to sever domesticates from ecological processes. The question that emerges is: How might we reconfigure and maintain these connections without undoing humanity? Written in the author’s characteristically frank, passionate, and humorous style, Crocodile Undone takes the reader on a journey across both physical and philosophical landscapes. This fascinating narrative will appeal to anyone interested in the vital connections between humans and animals.

In Crocodile Land is principally the story of travels by lugger through northern waters and into slimy creeks where the huge crocodiles abound. The author took part in many hunting expeditions and enlightens us on the various methods adopted for catching these fearsome creatures. The party had more than a little success, to the great glee of the blackfellows who accompanied them. We journey next into the country of the buffaloes. Here on sunlit clearings through thickets of pandanus palms the buffaloes were to be found in hundreds... There is plenty of risk in hunting the buffalo... Once the shooting starts, the horse must continue his gallop, faster than the buffaloes and alongside them, keeping them going. One stumble and the end is near for horse and rider. - Western Mail, Perth 1946 Although it has the thrill of crocodile shooting and trapping as its central theme, the book also affords a sympathetic and fascinating study of the aborigines and their tribal customs, slants on the dangerous sport of buffalo hunting, and vivid pen pictures of Wyndham, Darwin and other far northern towns. - Adelaide Advertiser, 1946 Introduced by Tony McKenna

Visiting his uncle's cattle station in the Australian outback, Tom is thrilled when old Sam offers to take him and his cousin, Greg, walkabout. But trekking through the wilderness, the trio are appalled to stumble across an illegal drug laboratory experimenting on animals. Suddenly their lives are in jeopardy. Greg is captured, and Sam must forge onwards in an attempt to get help. Tom finds himself alone under the unforgiving sun, his food supplies dwindling. Meanwhile the lab workers plot to flee the country, and to dispose of Greg along the way. But the outback holds dangers that even scheming criminals cannot avoid. Kyrek the crocodile watches from the riverbed, assessing his prey. And when finally they take to the water, Kyrek moves in for the kill ...