A man who grabbed the tail of a massive crocodile admits that if the situation had gone wrong, he would have died. Damian “Wildman” Duffy, an Australian crocodile enthusiast and wildlife guide, recently shared a video of him interacting with a large saltwater croc in Timor-Leste, a country in Southeast Asia.
Duffy approaches the croc on land, then grabs its tail as it begins to moves into the water. As a group of locals scream and laugh, Duffy puts on a bit of a show, jokingly “pulling” on the croc’s tail and urging it not to go. Though it was all in jest, Duffy quickly admits to the camera that it was a dangerous stunt. However, he also says that sometimes you have to take a risk to have “an experience.”
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“What an absolutely humbling experience. What a privilege,” Duffy wrote in his Instagram post sharing the video, which garnered mixed reviews from his community. “This large male Saltwater Crocodile allowed me to share space with him for a few brief moments, and it was hands down one of most incredible experiences of my life. If he didn’t want me touching him he’d have reacted very differently.”
Though he urges his community never to copy his actions, some people in the comments section note he’s giving mixed messages.
“Love the vids but can’t say I love the contradicting messages about safety,” one person wrote.
“I enjoy a lot of your content but a couple recently i have some questions about haha,” wrote another.
Duffy concludes his post with: “Don’t try this at home . . . just don’t.”
Watch as a man grabs the tail of a massive crocodile here: