My six nights up a tree, by Crocodile George

My six nights up a tree, by Crocodile George
By Barbie Dutter in Sydney
15/08/2007
Guardian UK

An Australian cattle rancher has told how he spent seven days up a tree looking down into the jaws of two hungry crocodiles after stumbling into a swamp crawling with the reptiles.

'I knew they were looking'

David George, 53, was knocked unconscious after falling from his horse during a bush-burning operation in north Queensland.

Dazed and bleeding after coming round, he remounted his horse hoping it would take him home. Instead it took him to a swamp criss-crossed by crocodile tracks.

Surrounded by "salties" - saltwater crocodiles - Mr George realised his only chance was to climb.

Injured and with just two meat sandwiches to sustain him, he spent the next six nights tied to a branch as the would-be man-eaters prowled below.

He was finally plucked from the boughs by helicopter after its pilot spotted his frantic waving and a makeshift distress signal - sunlight reflecting off his tobacco tin.

The rancher said: "There were some monstrous tracks and the big ones are never far from the nest," he said.

"I couldn't go back. It was too far and too dangerous. So I headed to the nearest high ground and stayed there, hoping someone would come and find me before the crocs did.

"Every night I was stalked by two crocs who would sit at the bottom of the tree staring up at me. All I could see was two sets of red eyes below me, and all night I had to listen to a big bull croc bellowing a bit further out.

"I'd yell out at them: 'I'm not falling out of this tree for you bastards'." Mr George, who manages a remote cattle station near Coen, north Queensland, told how he spent his first night in a fork in the tree around 8ft from the ground, strapping himself to a branch and trying to snatch some sleep while standing up. "The next night I got higher and set up some sticks that I could lie on," said Mr George in an interview with an Australian radio station.

Within three days, his sandwiches had gone although he found enough moisture to survive. His efforts to attract the attention of rescuers, such as making a flag from his shirt, flashing sunlight from his tobacco tin and festooning branches with lavatory paper were thwarted by the dense surrounding bush.

"I could see the choppers, I knew they were there, I knew they were looking," he said. Eventually Mr George was spotted "waving like mad" by an army helicopter and was winched to safety.

He immediately devoured a Cherry Ripe - a fondant-filled chocolate bar much loved by Australians - and likened it to "a gourmet meal".

Mr George was treated for cuts at hospital in Coen and is now recovering at the cattle ranch.

Officials said he had been fortunate to escape, as crocodiles were opportunistic predators who would have seen him as an easy next meal.

Mark Read, of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, said the crocodiles, while less active in winter, would have sensed they were within feet of injured prey.

"If breakfast, lunch or dinner presents itself in an easy, accessible fashion, they'll certainly exploit the situation," he said.

Mr George's week-long ordeal is one of a long line of stories of survival in Australia.

In 1999 Robert Bogucki, an Alaskan fireman, was lost for more than 40 days in the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia. He was spotted stumbling through a gorge by a media helicopter after police had given up hope of finding him alive.

Paul Lucas, 37, from Leicester, spent 24 hours in shark-infested seas after being swept away during a scuba dive off Coffs Harbour, 280 miles north of Sydney, in January 2000. He suffered sunburn, blisters and insect bites.

Ricky Megee, 35, from Brisbane, claimed to have survived on a diet of leeches, grasshoppers and frogs after being lost in the Northern Territory for 10 weeks last year. Mr Megee was described as a "walking skeleton" by rescuers, though details of how he became lost remain unclear.