A croc in the water!

I did a double-take walking through the Jacksonville Zoo. We had just passed the bongo and zebra enclosures and were just about to look at the lions. Underneath the wooden walkway, I saw this croc floating on the duckweed-filled water. Yes, a croc in the water! Not an unusual sight in Florida, but not exactly the kind you would expect.

Okay, so if you’ve read any of my posts, you know I always wonder about such things. What’s the story behind this? How in the world did someone’s croc end up in the water?

Perhaps it was a game of keep away. Someone stepped out of a croc, friends grabbed it and tossed it back and forth until it sailed over the railing and into the water. Yeah, you’re going home half-barefoot. Sorry about that.

Maybe it was a dare. “Hey, do you think there are any alligators in the water?” “There are alligators in every pond in Florida, doofus.” “I dare you to throw your croc in the water. Everyone will see and take a picture of a “croc in the water.”

It could have been an accident. Exuberant spring-breakers were kicking at each other. One kick missed, a shoe went flying, and suddenly there was a “croc in the water.” Maybe friends were slapping each other with flip-flops and other shoes, when one went astray and sailed into the water.

Maybe the rhino-ostrich-lion staff saw a chance to mess with the tourists. “I know. Let’s throw a croc out there in the water. They’ll freak out.”

We look for and often see alligators along the banks of every retention pond we pass by. We were not surprised to find a croc in the water.