WATCH ABOVE: An Australian woman’s taken home security to a new level. Most nights she keeps a crocodile tucked up in her bed and you also won’t believe what she has lurking in the bathroom and the garage. Trent Dann explains.
TORONTO – An Australian woman, famous for her exotic pets, is making headlines again after confessing that she often sleeps with one of her pet crocodiles.
Vicki Lowing, sometimes known as ‘The Croc Lady,’ has been a wildlife and reptile advocate for more than 40 years and can often be seen at home feeding her long list of pets. Her horde includes four lizards, four turtles, a goanna, nine snakes and three crocodiles.
A larger saltwater croc named Jilthia lives in the garage while little Fabian stays in the bathroom. It’s Johnie who actually rules the roost — curling up in bed every night on Lowing’s bed.
“Initially I was a bit concerned when the snout’s near your face but I realized she just wanted to be close to me,” Lowing told Network Ten. “The only time she’s ever nipped me — and hasn’t done so for a long time — is if I’ve accidentally stood on her.”
Johnie arrived on Lowing’s doorstep in 1996 via an anonymous person. Just a few weeks old, and sick, Lowing nursed the female croc back to health and the pair have been inseparable since — so much so that it cost Lowing her marriage.
“Husbands can look after themselves but my crocodile can’t make his meals,” she told The Telegraph in 2009. “As soon as I started looking after Johnie, Greg and I started having problems. We did nothing but fight. There was a lot of tension in the house.”
The couple split in 2005 and Lowing raised Johnie in Rockbank, a community west of Melbourne, along with her son, Andrew.
“Little by little, she started mimicking us and when she was about five she decided to climb up into bed with me,” she added in a recent interview with the Herald Sun. “Then she started resting her head on my foot and nudging her way into the shower.”
The neighbours haven’t seemed to mind either.
“She thinks it’s great because she has a little daughter and all they have to do is pop her head over the fence if they wanna see a bit of a zoo,” Lowing told reporter Trent Dann.
Lowing’s only real issue: her companions can be expensive. But surprisingly, it’s not the food that’s breaking the bank.
“It costs me about $150 a week to feed them all, but $50 for the crocodiles because they only eat every 2-3 days,” she explained. “They love chicken, whole fish, plucked birds and red meat.”
“The electricity can be anywhere between $800 to $1300 a quarter with all the heaters going, that’s what gets me, but we do the best we can.”
Anyone interested in meeting Johnie and the rest of the gang can actually book Lowing for an event through her conservation and awareness website, Crocs n Critters Wildlife Demonstrations.
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