# If you get bitten forcibly by a crocodile... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876 "2012-04-25T02:42:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/21 "2012-04-25T18:56:23Z")
> [@SDMBKL](#): > > How much would it hurt? Unlike some of the posters above who are made of steel or wear arm plates, IMHO it would hurt like Hell! Ever see Romancing the Stone? Check out the scene in which Zolo catches the emerald. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/22 "2012-04-25T19:40:29Z")
> [@SDMBKL](#): > > If you get bitten forcibly by a crocodile on the limb (leg or arm), … How much would it hurt? Do crocodiles eat humans, or is the reverse true? … How _ **much** _ would it hurt? 😕 On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being ‘hurts the most’, my WAG would be… somewhere in the range of 14-15. 😃 Yes and yes. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/23 "2012-04-25T21:10:33Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > There are intended and unintended consequences of removing apex predators in any ecosystem. Subtle changes can ripple through the ecosystem and cause much larger impact than simple the immediate prey species… Sure. Look at all the skinny, underfed white-tail deer that overcrowd some U.S. subdivisions. Nobody anticipated that nearly eliminating the wolves would lead to so much damage to their pansies and petunias. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/24 "2012-04-25T21:16:43Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > I’m just wondering if it’s possible to get bitten by a crocodile in **any** other way than [forcibly](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/forcibly?s=t). Maybe he just nibbles on you, hardly draws blood? 😉 Maybe if it’s an elderly specimen, and has left its teeth in a glass by the bed, it would just give you a nasty suck. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/25 "2012-04-25T23:22:16Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Sure. Look at all the skinny, underfed white-tail deer that overcrowd some U.S. subdivisions. Nobody anticipated that nearly eliminating the wolves would lead to so much damage to their pansies and petunias. Hey! All joking aside, those dang deer are becoming a serious road hazard in many parts of North Atlanta. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/26 "2012-04-25T23:28:50Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > I’m just wondering if it’s possible to get bitten by a crocodile in **any** other way than [forcibly](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/forcibly?s=t). Maybe he just nibbles on you, hardly draws blood? 😉 Consensually? ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/27 "2012-04-26T15:15:40Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Hey! All joking aside, those dang deer are becoming a serious road hazard in many parts of North Atlanta. > :eek: Tell me about it – I almost hit one a couple months back, just outside downtown Duluth. I’ve seen a few others in Johns Creek & Alpharetta, back when I worked in north Fulton. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/28 "2012-04-26T15:20:05Z")
Need answer fast? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/29 "2012-04-26T16:41:25Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Oh…no problem then! I’m going to go try this out. I will report back shortly… … well? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/30 "2012-04-26T16:45:20Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > … well? Yeah right. 😃 Seriously though, nobody really answered my question about wiping alligators and crocs off the face of the earth. I realize there’s always a reaction to every action, unintended consequences and all that, but what would be the outcome of croc and alligator extinction? Or of mosquitos? Do these creatures do anything beneficial where they’d be missed once gone? How about sharks? ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/31 "2013-02-13T09:24:51Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Yeah right. > > 😃 > > Seriously though, nobody really answered my question about wiping alligators and crocs off the face of the earth. I realize there’s always a reaction to every action, unintended consequences and all that, but what would be the outcome of croc and alligator extinction? Or of mosquitos? Do these creatures do anything beneficial where they’d be missed once gone? How about sharks? I realize this is an old thread but I’ve been on an unintended ‘sabatical’, so to speak, so please forgive me for ‘raising the dead’. 😛 Look at it this way… The [del]animals[/del] organisms you mention are all links in the food chain and if you remove that particular link it will have far reaching consequences, IMO. Maybe not immediately noticeable, but eventually. For one example, IIRC the male mosquito of some species feeds on plant nectar and in doing so pollinates those plants just like honeybees, butterflies, bats, etc. It’s the natural order of life as we know it, is it not? Oh, and FWIW I am not a biologist or any other kind of 'ist. (entomologist, etc.) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/32 "2013-02-13T09:46:13Z")
Crocs sometimes take a liking to a particular person’s flesh. If one bites off your hand he may return to try to get the rest of you. If you are lucky he will have swallowed a clock and you can hear when he is nearby. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/33 "2013-02-13T10:23:43Z")
A croc’s bite can clamp down hard enough to crush bone but it’s not likely to bite a chunk clean off. To do this, the croc goes into a death roll and that will likely tear off a big part of you through avulsion, rather than laceration. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/34 "2013-02-13T10:26:27Z")
Crocodiles are essential for keeping populations of zoologists and wildlife documentary filmmakers under control. Sharks serve the same function vis-a-vis marine biologists. Mosquitoes aren’t of much use to these sorts of ends - well, except in places like Florida where they grow large enough to completely exsanguinate an adult human. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/35 "2013-02-14T08:42:27Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > … Mosquitoes aren’t of much use to these sorts of ends - well, except in places like Florida where they grow large enough to completely exsanguinate an adult human. Yeah, but do they have festivals celebrating the bloodsucking little bastards? 😃 [http://www.mosquitofestival.com/](http://www.mosquitofestival.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/36 "2013-02-14T09:06:15Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Consensually? Persuasively… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/37 "2013-02-14T10:44:17Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Seriously though, nobody really answered my question about wiping alligators and crocs off the face of the earth. I realize there’s always a reaction to every action, unintended consequences and all that, but what would be the outcome of croc and alligator extinction? Or of mosquitos? Do these creatures do anything beneficial where they’d be missed once gone? How about sharks? Not sure about the crocodiles, but eliminating mosquitoes might seriously impact insectivores like bats (some of which are already endangered), birds, fish, and other insects like dragonflies. Apparently, a lot of critters eat mosquitoes. And, as noted, the male mosquitoes act as pollinators for various plants so there would be an impact there as well if you eliminated mosquitoes. As for sharks - you know, we’re not really their chosen prey, we’re accidental by-catch from their viewpoint. They keep certain other ocean predators under control like seals and penguins. Removing the brakes on those might mean a decimation of the fish population we eat, too, as their numbers soar. Sort of like the boom and bust we see in deer populations where deer predators are removed. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876/38 "2013-02-14T11:48:04Z")
If it’s a legitimate bite, the body has ways of shutting that whole thing down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-get-bitten-forcibly-by-a-crocodile/619876.md?page=1)