Crocodiles are carnivores, meaning that they exclusively consume meat. They eat fish, fowl, amphibians, and crabs in the wild. Crocs may even feed on each other. Crocodiles in the wild use their large jaws to clamp down on food, smash it, and then devour it whole. They are unable to chew or break apart little amounts of food like other animals. AdventureBudgies – a Youtube channel – caught incredible footage of one of these giant creatures performing a death roll on another. A death roll involves the apex predator taking its prey and spinning it like a washing machine. The death roll isn’t limited to the water. If a croc enters into a battle with another croc or even a human, he will employ the death roll to defeat his opponent. In the footage, there are several crocodiles basking in the sun on the shore. It’s unknown what caused this tussle but one thing is for sure – these crocs aren’t happy with each other. It all starts when one of the crocs hits another in the face with his tail. Within seconds, the crocodile that was hit grasps the other on the back of the neck and attempts a death roll, only to flip himself over. The roll is a method for both eating and killing. Crocs beat their prey on rocks with their roll to break up the body. Crocs may sometimes squeeze their food between two rocks and then roll about with it in their teeth, snapping off portions of flesh. In the video, the croc bit quickly runs away from the others. It’s only then we see how truly huge the other is. An adult male crocodile can get up to 17 feet long, while females grow to be 11 feet long. Another croc walks up to the one that did the death roll, almost appearing to console him. What does the disturbed croc do? Bite the face of the inquiring crocodile and attempt to death roll him as well! Seems like someone woke up on the wrong side of the swamp this morning. The prey is disoriented by the roll’s rotating action. Even if it managed to wriggle free from his jaws, it’d be too bewildered and disoriented to attempt a successful escape. The croc, on the other hand, does not stop rolling until the victim has been slain.
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Learn all about how crocodiles use the death roll in the wild! Here’s an in-depth look at just how scary it is to be on the other side of this unique killing tactic.
