A fisherman on the banks of a creekside resort in Weipa, Australia, lost a finger and lived to tell about it after his harrowing attack by an aggressive 13-foot crocodile.
Todd Bairstow, 28, was fishing near Albatross Bay Resort when the crocodile lunged at him, snapping off his finger, according to a report on cairns.com.au, a local news website.
The crocodile lunged a second time after Bairstow lost his footing and latched onto the fisherman's legs.
Greg Shean, manager of Albatross Bay Resort, told cairns.com.au that Bairstow screamed for help while clinging to a tree.
"He grabbed hold of a branch and yelled for help and one of his mates, who was on the pub veranda, heard him and ran down," Shean said. "His mate hit the croc over the nose with a big branch, causing the croc to let go of the man."
In addition to losing a finger, Bairstow suffered dislocated bones and lacerations, the Queensland Police Department said, but his injuries are not life threatening.
The Department of Environment and Resource Management are attempting to identify, catch and remove the crocodile.