Elderly woman feeds sticky rice to crocodiles in a pond

Large crocodiles are known to survive for as long as a year without a meal but one crocodile in the Chaiyaphum Province, Thailand, has come to look forward to the sticky rice treats from a friendly elderly woman.

A viral footage captured a woman pushing the homemade rice treats towards the crocodile while sitting by a pond close to a Buddhist temple in Thailand.

The woman, Aos Khannontewa, had been visiting the pond regularly to feed the crocodiles for the past five years. Locals say they have now become best friends and they always look forward to her visits.

Onlooker Wat Kamnuanwai said:

They were like the best of friends. The crocodiles wait every day for their favourite snack from the old lady.

Five facts about crocodiles

We bet you didn’t know that crocodiles liked sticky rice, huh? Want to know other fun (and some not-so-fun) facts about these incredible reptiles? Here are a few.

• Crocodiles are carnivores, meaning they generally eat only meat. However, a recent study proved they also enjoy an occasional taste of fruit or as in the case of this crocodile, sticky rice from a kind old lady.

• The expression to cry ‘crocodile tears’ (to display insincere or a false display of emotion), derives from crocodiles shedding tears, while they eat their prey. While this was originally an ancient belief, studies have shown that crocodiles’ eyes do water while they eat, but for biological reasons and not from remorse.
• Crocodiles can go through 4,000 teeth over a lifetime. They have between 60-110 teeth. When a crocodile loses a tooth, there is a small replacement already on standby. They are able to replace each of their 80 teeth up to 50 times over their lifespan.

• Crocodiles can sleep with one eye wide open. Only some other reptiles, birds and dolphins can do the same. They generally sleep with two eyes closed, though.
• Worldwide, crocodiles are estimated to kill about 1,000 humans per year. Hundreds of those crocodile attacks occur in Africa, often in small communities where they not widely reported.