BEACHGOERS watched in horror as a large crocodile swam to shore at Cardwell at the weekend, with half a dog hanging out of its jaws.

The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection is investigating a report of a saltwater crocodile, estimated to be between 3.5 and 4m long, which had been regularly spotted swimming off the beach of the seaside community.

Cardwell resident Judy Mundine was walking on the town foreshore with friends on Saturday about 7am when she sawthe animal swimming offshore, near the Colleen McLaughlin Memorial Park.

When it moved towards the beach into the shallows, the group watched aghast as the reptile attempted to swallow the remains of what appeared to be a medium-sized black dog.

"At first glance, you'd say he had a big leg of ham in his mouth, with jagged bits of it, and about three feet of entrails sort of facing up the beach," she said.

"When he saw us and got spooked, he started backing back into the water. The entrails followed.

"One of the other guys said he could clearly see the leg of a dog and a tail.

"It was hanging out the other side of the croc's mouth."

A CROC ATE MY BEST MATE



HOLY CROC THE RUMOURS ARE TRUE THERE'S CROCS LIVING AT LAKE TINAROO

Ms McLaughlin said the croc started swimming away from the beach, while thrashing around trying to continue to swallow the dog.

"It was amazing to see," she said.

"When the impact of it settled in, I was thinking, that could have been a child."

Ms McLaughlin said she did not know who owned the dog. However said she had seen a poster on a local telegraph pole advertising a lost dog that was dark-coloured.

Callan Ihle from Cardwell Butchery, said the croc had been regularly spotted swimming at least 20m offshore from the beach for several weeks.

"It's a regular. In the afternoons you can see it swim south, and the next morning it swims north," she said.

"There's also a bigger one, probably 4-5m long that you'll see about once a month."

He said the attack on the dog demonstrated the crocodile was a clear danger to humans.

"The crazy thing is, on Sunday morning, because of all the freshwater (from the rain), all of the prawns have been flushed out from the rivers," he said.

"There must have been about 20-30 castnetters all standing in waist-deep water catching these prawns.

"It wouldn't go anywhere near the water at the moment."

An EHP spokesman said no further sightings of the crocodile had been reported.

"As the Cardwell foreshore is within known crocodile country, it is probably the animal was using the ocean to move from one creek system to another," he said.

More croc news

SURVEY REVEALS DIVISION ON CROC MANAGEMENT

HARPOONS MAY BE USED ON UNWELCOME CROCS

AMOROUS CROC HITS THE SEAS ON THE HUNT FOR TAIL

CROCS FACE CULL UNDER MANAGEMENT PLAN



PICTURE GALLERY: CHOC-O-CROC



More animal stories

IS THIS FOWL PLAY?

PASSION THE SIZE OF AN ELEPHANT



VIDEO: YOUR OWN LOL CAT FOR HALF THE PRICE



VIDEO: SNAKE BITES OFF MORE THAN IT CAN CHEW





FAMILY TURNS TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO FIND PET



TOP 5 WAYS TO COOL OFF A HOT DOG



IS THIS AN UNLOVEABLE DOG?



LUCKY BREAK FOR UNLUCKY DOG



IS THIS CAIRNS UNLUCKIEST DOG?

PICTURE GALLERY: AMAZING YOGA DOGS

MEET THE REAL BEARCAT

HOW KERMIT COPPED IT AND LIVED



GAME .PET. MATCH: CAN YOU PICK THE OWNER FROM THE DOG?

DUGONG HUGGER FINED



SARI THE BEARCAT FITS RIGHT IN

LEISURE LIZARDS TRAVEL TO LA



