This exercise was usually done with a male worker first chasing the
crocs into the water. Then the remaining 3 to 4 women would help with
brooms, baskets and spades. Occasionally, we would have a crocodile
wanting us to get out of his pit instead. No matter how hard you hit
him on his nose he would chase you around until he would finally give
in, so to speak, and dash into the water with a big splash or
sometimes, glide gracefully to where he could join his friends who
sometimes numbered a thousand! (The Croc Bank had around seven thousand
crocs at the time I was there.)
I also had occasion to participate a few times in the operations
involved in shifting crocodiles from one location to another. That was
quite an adventure in itself!
One day Rom and Harry decided to shift the largest male Gharial in the
Croc Bank from one pit to another as it had broken its upper jaw in a
fight with another male during the previous breeding season.
Normally you try to catch a croc by throwing a sort of a small anchor
in and when the croc latches on to it you try and pull it out. Once it
is out, about 10-15 people quickly jump and sit on it. (That's the only
way to prevent a croc from getting back into water!). With its mouth
bound by rubber bands, the croc is then rolled onto a ladder, bound to
it, lifted and carried to the pit that it has to be transferred to.
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