Terrifying moment after driver's 'risky' move on notorious crossing
Matteo Mastratisi was parked at one end of the infamous causeway in Kakadu at around 12pm on Sunday when he accidentally filmed the ute's encounter with the very annoyed reptile.
The Northern Territory resident had been waiting for the tide to go down for about two hours when he whipped out his phone to record the lapping water and asked a friend if it was safe to cross. It was then the driver of the black 4WD, which had also been in line, started inching toward the other side.
'Because the water was quite high, you couldn't see that there was a croc on the actual crossing, and all of sudden you see him hit a bump,' Matteo told Yahoo News on Monday. 'You could definitely tell they had no idea what they were driving over until that monster came from underneath.'
Video footage shows the clearly irritated animal being dragged through the water by the vehicle's rear tyres. Just moments before reaching dry land, the driver slows down and reverses briefly, providing just enough space for the thrashing croc to fight its way out and glide back into the deeper water.
'It was definitely a rare, bizarre moment,' Matteo, who is travelling to nearby remote communities to host dance workshops for his company Break'n Barrierz, said. 'In my opinion, [the driver] did the sensible thing — get to where it was safe to then be able to reverse a little bit.'
If the person behind the wheel had stopped just a few moments earlier, the car could have been dragged into the river, he explained.
'There's not much else he could have done. I'm definitely not going to get out of the car and check what's under the car in croc-infested waters.'
No serious injuries to croc after bizarre Cahills Crossing bogging
Matteo said he didn't see if the driver got out of his car to ask others what had happened because he had to move his own vehicle to avoid holding up others waiting behind him.
'After a few more cars went past, it was clear of crocs,' he said, noting the movement appeared to have scared them away.
Luckily, the croc didn't appear to be injured in the debacle.
'As we drove past, we could see the crocodile just chilling in the water right next to [the crossing],' Matteo told Yahoo, adding he witnessed the creature munching on fish. 'It was more just annoyed about being dragged a bit, but I don't think there was any serious damage.'
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The video, which has racked up almost one million views across all of Matteo's social media accounts, serves as a good warning to locals and tourists who attempt to venture across Cahills, experts say.
'Crossing the river when the tide is moving like that is always risky, even with a high clearance 4WD,' Brandon Sideleau, a specialist in human and crocodile conflict, told Yahoo.
'People need to be aware that there are numerous crocodiles at [Cahills] crossing and they should drive with great care, both to avoid running over any of them and also to avoid getting pulled off the crossing by the current.
'Drivers should never attempt to cross in anything other than a high-clearance 4WD, unless it's at low tide and the crossing is dry. However, even then, if the driver is planning on crossing back over, they must account for the changing tides.'
Sideleau said the crocodile in the clip appears to be a 'reasonably large' adult male.
John Lever, owner of Koorana Crocodile Farm in Queensland, told Yahoo the animals are masters of disguise and only have to linger 'an inch or two under the water' to be invisible.
'Have a bit of patience and wait for the tide to drop down a bit so that you can see the crossing quite clearly and that there are no crocodiles on it,' he said. 'But the nature of their skin is so good they only have to be an inch or two under the water and you wouldn't see them.'
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