Crocodiles in Indonesia Have Allegedly Learned to Pretend to Be Drowning Humans In Order to Lure People Into The Water So They Can Eat Them

This video has been going semi-viral on the internet for the last couple of days. Due to the narrator's British accent, you're inclined to believe it. Surely this clip is from a respectable National Geographic nature documentary made to educate us on the genius crocodiles of Indonesia who said to themselves, "You know what, from a distance, our crocodile hands look a lot like human hands. We have the same number of fingers. If we wave them in the air, a delicious tourist will dive in to save us. We'll eat good tonight."

I will say, at first glance, from a distance, it really does look like a chubby melanin-rich human is fighting for his life underwater.

Somebody impulsively diving in to save what they've mistaken for a drowning child isn't the most farfetched idea I've ever heard. I could see it happening once or twice. Could it be happening so often that word has spread in the crocodile community, and fake drowning has become a viable way for crocodiles to attract really really dumb human prey? That's a question for this guy.

If anybody reading this knows how to get in touch with that guy, I'd love to pick his brain. If anybody has ever witnessed a crocodile trick a human into diving in the water, it's him. That guy could clear this up in a matter of minutes. 

I suppose it's not the craziest concept. Crocodiles could have discovered this by accident. Over time they've come to realize when they roll around underwater in a certain way, that occasionally 140 pounds of human tar-tar will swim directly into their jaws. It would be a hilariously stupid way to die. Imagine if once every couple of weeks this guy…

…sees some dumbass American tourist go diving headfirst into the crocodile infested waters. "Ohh nooooo… don't do thatttt…. ahhhhhh…. aw damn it happened again…"

Maybe that guy has witnessed hundreds of tourists eaten by crocodiles. Crocodiles are pretty smart after all. They lure prey in other ways. For example, they'll lay along the water with sticks on their heads to attract birds.

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NBC News - New research shows that alligators and crocodiles can use small sticks to attract birds looking for nesting materials. If the birds get too close, they become a meal. The behavior has so far been observed among American alligators in Louisiana, as well as mugger crocodiles (also known as marsh crocodiles) in India. 

So if they managed to figure that out, we know they have the mental capacity to lay a trap. And it's not like they're shy about going after humans. They do see us as food.

I'm starting to talk myself into believing this. I can't find a lick of evidence online outside of this video that says a person has ever been eaten by a crocodile in this manner. But to be fair, if it is happening, I'm not sure this guy is necessarily running to Reddit to post about it.

We really gotta get a hold of that guy. I need to know if anybody, even one person, has fallen for this trap. If so, we need to start putting more respect on the crocodile name. I never hear them mentioned when people talk about the smartest animals. Whales and dolphins get all the shine. Also monkeys. Pigs. Octopus. The African Grey Parrot.

Douglas R Clifford. Shutterstock Images.

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Sentient - African Gray Parrots can use deductive reasoning to solve problems, specifically determining which of two cups contains a food reward. More advanced versions of the same test revealed the parrots’ ability for logical thinking.  In one such experiment, Griffin, the test subject, outperformed five-year-old children when it came to understanding concepts of certainty versus possibility.  

Crocs are mentioned nowhere in Sentient's list of 30 smartest animals. But if crocodiles are really out here outsmarting humans, they should skyrocket up the ranks. I mean they're basically dinosaurs. They've been on this planet since pre-historic times. They clearly have their shit together. Crocodiles are doing something right.

But again… there's just no way enough people have fallen for that for crocs to have picked up on it. Regardless… be careful visiting Indonesia. Be especially careful swimming. Even if you aren't eaten by a crocodile, if for whatever reason you start to drown, nobody is gonna jump in to save you anymore.