A farmer has survived a near-deadly run-in with a crocodile after he bit the beast back.
Colin Deveraux, who is in his mid 60s, managed to defend himself from the beast by using his own teeth to take a bite of the crocodile’s eye.
Deveraux, who lives in the Northern territory of Australia, is a veteran cattleman.
He said he tried to kick the crocodile in the ribs with his left foot, and when that didn’t work he bit the croc in the eyelid.
“I was in such an awkward position … but by accident my teeth caught his eyelid.”
“It was pretty thick, like holding onto leather, but I jerked back on his eyelid and he let go. I leapt away and took off with great steps up to where my car was.
“He chased me for a bit, maybe four metres, but then stopped,” the farmer told ABC News.
“The water had receded and it was down to this dirty water in the middle. I took two steps and the dirty b*****d latched onto my right foot.
“It was a big grab and he shook me like a rag doll and took off back into the water, pulling me in.”
The quick-thinking cattleman then said he got a towel and some rope to stop the bleeding where the croc had gnawed at his leg.
Devereaux was then driven more than 100 kilometres to the hospital by his brother, where he has been receiving treatment for his wound.
“Biggest problem was having to clear out all the bad bacteria [from the wound] … so all of the billabong water full of mud, goose s**t, duck s**t, and crocodile teeth marks,” reported ABC.
“It [my foot and leg] was opened up bad and over 10 days in a row, I think, they had to flush it.”
Earlier this month, he had to receive a skin graft, and his condition has been improving. He said that he could now feel his toes, and doctors were hopeful that he could walk out of hospital this week.
He reflected on his luck, as the crocodile was “was really in his prime, as fat as a fool … If it had bitten me somewhere else it would have been different.”
“He could have got me arms or me guts … I was pretty crook there for a while.”
The crocodile has been ‘removed’ after the attack and “won’t be doing it again”, according to Mr Deveraux.
