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A expectant - weighing machine saltwater crocodile pairing fury was recently trigger off by an improbable suspect in Australia — a low - flying Chinook helicopter . Ranchers from the Koorana Crocodile Farm in Queensland , which is home to over 3,000crocodiles , say their scaly residents became aroused after the flyby and " entangle like brainsick . "
John Lever , proprietor of the farm , severalize ABCthat the Chinook pilots use his farm as a marker point to transfer course of action mid - flight of stairs , with one pilot program late add up especially lowly so the people on board could snap a few pic of the crocs .
Males on the crocodile farm, which has around 3,000 residents, went into mating mode after the helicopter flew over.
" All of the swelled male got up and roared and bellowed up at the sky , and then after the eggbeater leave behind they mated like mad , " Lever sound out . " There ’s something about the sonic undulation that really gets them shake up up . "
So what is it about low - flying helicopters that gets crocs in the humour ? HerpetologistMark O’Sheafrom the University of Wolverhampton in the U.K. , told Live Science there are a few reasons why a helicopter might spark off acrocodile sexfrenzy .
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The Chinook helicopter (not pictured) was flying low so the people on board could take photos of the crocodiles.
One reason may be bind to helicopters simulate many of the warning signs of an incoming electrical storm .
Heavy rainfall are have a go at it to have an aphrodisiac consequence on many species of crocodilians . And seawater crocodile ( Crocodylus porosus ) appear to time mating so new hatchling do not overwhelm in flood weewee after heavy rains and storm , O’shea sound out . They couple during thunderstorm so materialization are more likely to hatch in more moderate conditions .
" unremarkably , conjugation is a seasonal affair because [ crocodiles ] want to co-occur with the good time to lay their eggs in a tunnel or nest , " O’Shea said .
affectionate and wet weather condition normally triggers mating behaviors , and October is just about the correct clock time for crocodile romance in Northern Australia , where Lever ’s crocodile farm is located .
But the low - vanish helicopter ' rotor may produce the same signals that tell apart crocodile a storm is tight .
crocodile have multi - sensory pipe organ call integumentary sensory organs ( ISOs ) that are used to detect changes , such as movement in the water , atmospheric pressure and sounds at extremely scurvy frequencies .
" I imagine that the downdraft from a large , grueling helicopter would create a change in pressure sensation that the ISOs on crocodile hide can detect , " O’Shea said . " drop barometrical pressure from a downdraft may resemble the change in insistence from a storm .
Another potential account , O’Shea says , is that the Chinooks could be bring about infrasound – sound so grim in absolute frequency that they are indiscernible to the human ear . Such vibrations can also be picked up by ISOs .
“ Chinooks may artificially recreate the sound of the start of a thunderstorm , ” he said .
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Such vibrations play an important function in crocodilian communication , O’Shea sound out . The phone of a Chinook ’s powerful rotors may resemble the strait of contend crocodilian male , such as the low bawl sound of male looking for a mate , or the sound of Male slap the pee with their jaws — another territorial and courting behavior .
So , is a Chinook chopper all it takes to get crocodile in the mood ? O’Shea says he is not so sure . crocodile may need to already be picking up elusive discriminative stimulus , like changes in temperature , that signal their traditional mating time of year is about to jump to be persuade by the large aircraft .
