From time to time I have been known to post the odd weird tale in the belief that it could 'only happen in Wales...' The moment I read this story in the online Daily Telegraph, I knew it was one for this blog :
Crocodile spotted near Welsh Supermarket....'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1914892/Crocodile-spotted-near-Welsh-supermarket.html
Now part of what makes this story so wonderfully Welsh, is the fact that the title is so misleading. The supermarket in question is never named, or indeed even mentioned in the following article.
Basically a man was walking his dog along the bank of a six acre, 20ft-deep lake (Called Pluck Lake) in Swansea, Wales, around midday last Sunday.
The article goes on 'He was looking at a white van submerged in the water when he saw what he thought was a log begin moving by using its tail.' Hang on. A white van in the water... where does this figure in the tail - sorry, tale? Just couldn't resist that one!
The answer of course is that the white van has nothing to do with the story at all. It's just a bit of local colour...
Anyway, Mr Jenkins walked closer (the dog, having more sense, presumably ran a mile in the opposite direction) and saw what he thought was a 3ft long reptile. He then dialled the emergency services and reported the creature but two officers from South Wales Police visited the scene and could find no trace of it.
Well what a surprise. Did they dive in? Hardly likely. Maybe the crocodile was hiding in the van... hang on, maybe he was driving it...
Now for the best bit..... Expert Paul Brain, professor of natural history at Swansea University, said it was possible for crocodiles to survive in British waters. “There are a lot of exotic pets out there and this could be one which outgrew its tank and the lake may have been a suitable place to dump it.”
So now we know.... or as Mulder and Scully might have put it, 'The truth is out there somewhere....'
