h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Can a human being outrun a crocodile on dry land? I was just wondering.

I dont know
and for some reason I'm not too keen on trying to find out IRL

Well I was just thinking, I mean, animals are generally harder than humans aren't they? A wolf or tiger or Lion could easily outrun and outfight a human. So I was just wondering what predatory animals a human could outrun or outfight.

I really think that I could outrun a crocodile over 100m. They don't look very fast. I wouldn't try and outfight one though. Any thoughts?

crocs, gators and caymans are sprinters. They can put on an astonishing burst of speed, but not for very long. This is dry land we're talking about, right? I don't think a human can outswim a croc unless his name is Johnny Weissmuller.

Yeah, I'm talking about being on a running track. My tactics would be to sprint as fast as I can and then keep running until it couldn't be bothered chasing me anymore. D'you reckon it'd work?

Speaking of crocs, did anyone see Lake Placid? How bad was that film?

On a race track, the croc would lash out at you, but if you kept running it couldn't catch up. Yes, a dude can outrun a croc on land.
And if you run in a zigzag then it'll help even more, I think.
Just keep out of the swinging arc of its head.

Cheers. Now I can rest easy that I'm fully prepared should I ever need to outrun a croc over 100m

You never know what might happen.

If you live near where I live, it can happen quite easily, but with gators, not crocs.

Lil
Green Swamp
deepest central Florida

Australia has lots of crocidiles

Britain doesn't. But then we have badgers, and we all know the catastrophes which tragically unfold when rampant herds of badgers are 'in the zone'.

I don't.

It's not pretty. A friend of mine had his left elbow and half his nose chewed off, with a pierced pancreas to boot, after being caught by a band of badgers. It was kind of his own fault though. He did start shouting that they were a bunch of black and white wankers and that they didn't scare him - he'd seen them on "Animal Hospital" and they were a bunch of wusses.

He regrets it now, of course, and gives marauding bands of badgers the respect they deserve.

Over here we have wolverines. And in NZ they have the tasmanian devils. They're all an ill-natured short-legged lot.

Yeah. You can't do anything with short-legged, furry, sharp toothed omnivores. They just have this terrible attitude problem, you know? Like they think they have to prove something.

Give me a two-toed sloth any day.

I agree completely. Don't you find that two-toed sloths are just the nicest large nocturnal mammals around? Always friendly - I've always got time for them.

Fruit bats, though, are a different story. They're nasty pieces of work.

Badgers are slow things, aren't they? Did your mate stand around until they were at his feet, and then they proceeded to knock him out? Jeepers!

Mind you, most of these creatures are as equally scared of humanity...

- Simply, High Spirited.

Not wolverines. And I wouldn't reach down to pet a tasmanian devil, either.

I say give these little guys a chance. Once they've had some time being kings of the world again, we can knock 'em down to size and eat them with a clear concience