While survival in the wild can be harsh and cruel, having a friend to share time with can help to take some of the weight off, and what better activity to do together than go out for a meal?
Judy Lehmberg caught this unlikely pair on camera and sent the footage of their hunt into Latest Sightings. Together, this crocodile and stork had declared a peaceful truce while they poked about in the shallow waters, looking for tasty fish.
Struggling While Apart
At the beginning of the footage, both animals were spending their time separately in the water. The crocodile was lurking just beneath the surface, perhaps even eyeing up the stork as an opportunistic snack.
The stork, meanwhile, was carefully treading through the water as it hunted for its own snacks, in the form of fish. The two of them appeared to be having mixed amount of success.
A sudden jerk from the crocodile startled the stork, but the bird itself must have been sure it wasn’t in any immediate danger, as apart from fluttering its wings in irritation, it made no attempt to flee.
A Beautiful Blossoming Partnership
The sudden splash must have been the crocodile catching, or almost catching, a fish in a move which left the stork without anything for itself. Hope remained though, as for both animals to be hunting in the same spot there must have been an abundance of prey.
The fact that the stork didn’t immediately abandon the area was evidence that it still had some hope that it was going to catch something, but while the crocodile had a few more splashy moments the stork seemed to keep coming up empty handed.
Perhaps the splashing crocodile was scaring most of the fish away, making things harder for the stork to catch something for itself. Despite this, the two remained close together in the water, hunting together in harmony.
Common Allies
Due to the stork’s lack of apparent success, this might not appear to be the most beneficial arrangement, but seeing birds hunt with larger aquatic animals, like crocodiles and hippo, isn’t uncommon.
Quite often the smaller birds will even hitch a ride on the backs of the larger animals as they move about in the water, although in this case the stork trying to ride the crocodile might have disturbed their peaceful meal.
Under different circumstances, the crocodile might have been sizing up the stork for a meal, but this one had declared a truce. Its mere presence then became a source of protection for the large bird, as it deterred any other large predators in the area from coming too close.
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
Safety By Association
Crocodiles are typically very territorial, especially when it comes to water, so while this particular croc might have accepted the presence of the stork, another animal coming too close would likely be quickly threatened and forced into retreat.
This meant the stork wasn’t in quite as immediate danger as it would have been if it had been hunting for fish alone. Although, if it had been hunting alone it might have been more successful, as it wasn’t clear if the stork landed a single fish during this footage.
Maybe the real success here is the harmonious friendship that had blossomed between these two animals, as they continued to happily do their own thing, each comfortable with the other’s presence.
