Crocodiles — Some Very Big Bites

1907

They Show the Power of the Jaws of the Crocodile

The power of the jaws of the crocodile is terrific, says Sir Samuel Baker in his book on wild beasts.

Once, he continues, he had the metal of a large hook the thickness of ordinary telegraph wire completely bent together, the barbed point being pressed tightly against the shank and rendered useless. This compression was caused by the snap of the jaws when seizing a live duck which he had used as a bait, the hook being fastened beneath one wing. On one occasion he found a fish weighing seventy pounds bitten clean through as if divided by a knife. This, again, was the work of the snap of the jaws of a crocodile.

A Frenchman, M. Paul Bert, once made experiments on the strength of a crocodile's jaws by means of a dynamometer. He found that a crocodile weighing 120 pounds exerted a force of 308 pounds in closing his jaws. The lion has an enormous jaw power. On one occasion an African traveler pushed the butt end of his gun into a lion's mouth, and the pressure of the jaws cracked it as though it had been struck by a steam hammer.