Former cricket player Guy Whittall survived a scary night when he unwittingly slept with a crocodile nestled under his bed at a Humani lodge in Zimbabwe.
The 330-pound, eight-foot beast was discovered the next morning, when his housekeeper's screams interrupted breakfast. The crocodile came from the Turgwe River, a few kilometers from the house.
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"The really disconcerting thing about the whole episode is the fact that I was sitting on the edge of the bed that morning, bare foot and just centimeters away from the croc,"
Whittall told The Daily Mail. "Crocodiles are experts at hiding, that's why they have survived on Earth for so long and why they are the ultimate killers in water," he told the paper. "They know how to keep quiet and go unnoticed, it's in their nature.
"They often wander about the bush especially when it's cold and raining. I think he liked it under the bed because it was warm."
Whittall is a director at the lodge. Upon discovering the crocodile, Whittall and a few coworkers used a rope and dragged the creature out by its tail to the Turgwe River. It was released into Humani's Chigwidi dam.
"Catching and securing a croc of any size on land though is a fairly straightforward affair and we are experienced in that," Whittall said. "The only real danger is getting bitten because it can't drown you. The most important thing is to get its snout roped and secured and then it's just a matter of restraining it and covering its eyes, to calm it down."
Whittall, 41, is a former cricketer who captained Zimbabwe’s team four times in international competitions.
He is lucky to be alive; a crocodile attack in Australia last month killed 26-year-old swimmer Sean Cole in the Mary River,
the BBC reported.
"I just remember thinking goodness gracious, that's one for the books," Whittall said. "I'm pretty sure everyone in Humani checks under their bed before going to sleep now anyway."
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