A man who was stalked by two large saltwater crocodiles for three days while trapped in a flooded Gulf country fishing camp has been rescued.
Terry Donovan, 65, from Innisfail had been caretaking at the Staaten River Fishing and Wilderness Lodge on Dinah Island 180km north of Karumba since November. He was cut off by rising floodwater amidst heavy rain and forced to fend for himself.
Mr Donovan told the Cairns Post that he was afraid that, once the water rose high enough, the crocodiles just outside would swim in and tear him apart. He said one of the crocs – thought to be four metres long – lunged at a wallaby sheltering on his back veranda.
“The first time I saw it and it saw me, it was just outside. It sank below the surface and I saw it swim under the house,’’ he told the Post. “I was determined I wasn’t going outside, come hell or high water.’’
Mr Donovan said wild pigs also swam to the veranda and kept running their snouts up and down the sliding glass door separating the veranda from the interior.
“It was like they were trying to work out how to get in,” he said.
As the floodwaters rose, Mr Donovan set himself on the highest spot he could find in the house, on a billiard table, and packed it with supplies.
He was rescued recently by professional fishermen who followed a helicopter across kilometres of flooded wilderness to the hut.
