Crocodile reported around Bulimba Creek in Brisbane’s south

Original story by Daryl Passmore, Courier Mail

RESIDENTS around Bulimba Creek on Brisbane’s southside are keeping their eyes peeled after a report of a freshwater crocodile emerging from the waterway.

A listener rang radio station 4BC on Friday night to say he spotted the reptile creeping out of the creek near Banika St in Mansfield.

Locals were yesterday startled — and cynical — about the suggestion that a man-eater may have moved into the neighbourhood.

Mark Kenway, whose house backs onto the bush corridor around the creek, was cool about the possible threat.

“I’ve lived here eight years and never seen anything,’’ he said.

“Well there are some pretty big goannas around here — and some mighty pythons.’’

“Let me guess,’’ asked Terry Vogan. “The bloke who rang the radio had a Kiwi accent and was actually looking at a four-foot lizard.

“We’ve got a couple of those, some vicious wallabies and a few savage cane-toads. But I can guarantee there ain’t no ‘gators.’’

Turns out, however, that Terry’s wife Lesley has got history when it comes to croc-spotting in the suburbs.

“I grew up on Norman Creek and there were always stories that a crocodile was in there. We survived that one too.’’

Crocodiles are rarely spotted south of central Queensland but rangers captured a 3.1-metre saltie in the Mary River near Maryborough last November and a 3.5m giant is still believed to be on the loose in the same area.

Wildlife officials caught a 1.6m freshwater crocodile in Logan City in 2009. They said there were signs it had previously been held in captivity and released 1300km from its natural environment.

The Courier-Mail carried a photograph of a 3.8m crocodile which was shot in the Logan River in 1905.