- By Poorva Karki
- Wed, 04 Oct 2023 04:03 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Unlike humans, most animals have a specific time period that they deem perfect to start the process of welcoming their younger ones. These particular months, or the animal’s mating season, are often marked by a certain season like the arrival of the monsoon and such. The sounds that humans get to hear from a forested area during the mating season are often unforgettable in a different way. But the fact that it is restricted to certain days, makes sure that one doesn't get to hear the animals getting busy all the time. But things turned out to be a bit different for an Australian resident residing near a farm with 3000 crocodiles. John Lever, the owner of the Koorana Crocodile Farm, found his crocs having sex' before the mating season. After deducing the reason behind this early mating session, he came to an unusual conclusion. Believe it or not, the reptiles were reportedly responding to the sound of the Chinook helicopters.
The farm’s pond reportedly became a navigation point for the forces as they flew Chinook helicopters quite frequently while holding bilateral military training operations. The Singapore Armed Forces held the operations in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area. Once, a helicopter used the opportunity to take photographs of the exotic reptiles, that is when the Chinook came a bit closer to the farm, resulting in its sound triggering the crocs. “We had a big Chinook that came down low because the guys wanted to take some pictures of the crocodiles,” Lever was quoted as saying to ABC News. “Chinooks have got a big thump, thump, thump, like that,” he continued as he explained his assumed theory. “All of the big males got up and roared and bellowed up at the sky, and then after the helicopters left they mated like mad," Lever was quoted as saying.
On the other hand, explaining his side of the theory, Charles Darwin University researcher Dr Cameron Baker had something else to add. According to him, the reptiles might have mistaken the helicopter's sound with male crocodiles. "It might be producing a very low-frequency 'thump, thump' as it hits the water," Baker was quoted as saying to ABC News. "That may just coincidentally be similar to some of the sounds big male crocodiles produce to say, 'Hey, this is my turf',” he added.