Crocodiles can climb trees — and they’re good at it, researchers say

Crocodiles, it seems, can actually climb trees. Moreover, they’re pretty good at it. Wired reported that some crocs have been seen in trees, 32 feet above the ground.

It’s actually quite common, scientists in Herpetology Notes reported. Researchers said they received sightings of crocodiles — and alligators, the croc’s genetic partner — in trees in Tulum, Mexico; in Mississippi; in Colombia; and all along the Nile. The crocodiles in Colombia were seen as far as 30 feet up, researchers found.

Researchers then decided to take matters into their own hands and observe the beasts in their tree-climbing habitats for themselves. What they found proved surprising.

Scientists reported crocodiles in trees in Australia — where they also watched one trying to scale a chain-link fence — as well as in the Everglades and Central America, Wired reported.

Meanwhile, African crocodiles along the Nile were spotted just as frequently in trees as in the water. One was resting on a log that was 13 feet above the water — but 16 feet from the bank of the river, Wired reported.

“To reach this site the crocodile would have had to scale a [13-foot] completely vertical bank and then walk amongst the branches to reach the end of the tree,” the researchers reported.