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Grandfather Says: Croc Hunting in Mindanao

By RD Blakeslee

When he was in the army, Grandfather was detailed to the island of Mindanao, serving as cadre for a Filipino surveying company contracted by the US Government to survey and map the Philippines. The Southern part of Mindanao was Moro (Muslim) country.

Grandfather let it be known that he wanted to go crocodile hunting and pretty soon a Moro appeared, offering to take him on a hunt.

We went first to a Moro village, where Grandfather drank a mandatory potion before departing on the hunt. After that, we boarded a dugout canoe, donned carbide headlamps (to see the crocodile’s eyed in the dark) and set out. Grandfather saw one crocodile, but he slid beneath the water before Grandfather could throw his tethered lance.

Before long, Grandfather got violent spells of diarrhea and spewed over the gunnel until we got back to the village, where the ladies undressed him and cleaned him up. This was in the early 1950s and was then (maybe still is) a remote part of the world. Grandfather suspects the Moro ladies had not seen a white man undressed and further suspected that the potion was used to obtain that view.

But they needn’t have to put us to all that trouble. To see Grandfather’s weenie, all they had to do was ask.

***

About the Author: RD Blakeslee is a nonagenarian in West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.

Original oil painting by: Grandfather’s wife

May 12, 2022

Comments

  1. 1

    RD Blakeslee says

    Son Paul says you can hunt gators on land in Florida:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAPKVH8AK8U

  2. 2

    bill says

    Those poor Maro women. lol

    Don’t hunt gators on land. For a short distance, they can run 30 mph.

    I grew up 3 blocks from a huge bayou/marsh system. When they first resumed gator hunting in Texas, the buyer had one out on display that looked like a Sci-Fi gator. Where I live now, they can easily be over half a ton, and over 11 feet.

    Gators are your friend. Down here, a death threat can be veiled as “Alligators gotta eat.”. lol

    • 3

      RD Blakeslee says

      Wow! half a ton @ 35 mph!

      Oh, well. The cities have motor vehicles, heavier, faster and equally unpredictable, to contend with …

      The Appalachian mountains where we live have been undergoing reforestation for about 75 years now and the fauna has adapted. Black bears now can be a threat in remote places here.

      • 4

        bill says

        Redneck bears can be a threat here if they’ve been drinking Thunderbird. lol

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