An Australian plumber is recovering in hospital after he was attacked by a 15-foot saltwater crocodile, saying that he managed to fight off the monster using nothing more than a palm frond.
Speaking from his Cairns hospital bed Tom Bartlett, 20, said he was "bloody lucky" to survive the attack during a hunting and fishing expedition on Cape York, in the far north of Queensland.

Mr Bartlett and his two dogs were chasing a feral pig into the jungle when he was attacked by "a big salty", and in his panic grabbed a pandanus branch which he waved at the crocodile.

"He's the biggest one I've seen in my life," he told a local newspaper.

Mr Bartlett said he had an uneasy feeling as soon as he followed the pig into the undergrowth: "I had this sense that something was behind me." A short time later he spotted the crocodile crawling out of the lagoon.

"It was about a metre-and-a-half behind me and trying to grab my leg," he said. "He was big and black."

The young hunter said he'd made the mistake of turning his back on the lagoon as he pursued the feral pig into the jungle. That "brain freeze" almost cost him his life –crocodiles can run at high speed on dry land.

As soon as he spotted the crocodile, Mr Bartlett abandoned the feral pig and tried to escape up a slippery bank, but fell down "on my arse".

The only weapon he could find to defend himself was a palm frond, which he started swinging at the monster, and shouting at the same time. Remarkably, the crocodile backed into the water where it partially submerged itself.

"I could see his eyes, he was just watching me," he said.

Just as he thought he was safe, the crocodile lunged at one of the dogs, disappearing back into the lagoon. "He just came up and went 'bang', took the dog from right in front of me."

As the crocodile thrashed in the water with the yelping dog between its jaws, Mr Bartlett yelled for help. His uncle soon arrived and fired twice into the water. "The croc just let the dog go," he said. "The dog swam slowly over and we pulled him out."

Both dog and master survived the ordeal with minor injuries. The dog, Henry, suffered a broken rib, while Mr Bartlett aggravated an old football injury – and has since undergone a knee reconstruction.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newst ... dile-with-palm-frond.html