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Did people ever really put crocodiles in moats?
Castle moats were usually between 5 and 40 feet deep, and they were not always filled with water. In many stories, moats are filled with alligators or crocodiles. This is a myth. However, moats were sometimes filled with fish or eels for food.
Are there crocodiles in Brazil?
Vast numbers of Yacare caiman congregate in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands, representing perhaps the largest single crocodilian population on Earth. Juvenile Yacaré caiman feed primarily on aquatic invertebrates and vertebrates; particularly snails, molluscs, crustaceans, and fish.
Are there crocodiles in America?
The American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) lives in several places within the Americas, including Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and south Florida. South Florida is the only place you can find both animals in the wild.
Do moats have alligators?
Can moats be filled with crocodiles or alligators?
As for moats that were filled with water, while filling them with crocodiles or alligators wasn’t seemingly something anyone did, some savvy castle owners did fill them with fish giving them a nice private fishery.
Are there crocodiles in castle moats?
Today: Castle moats never contained crocodiles. The idea of a moat imparts a sense of impassibility and danger. For one to fall into the waters of a castle moat seems to spell inevitable death at the jaws of crocodiles, the pets of a sinister count or king.
Why are there no alligators in the moats of European castles?
Europe has no alligators. Consequently, there were not alligators in the moats of European castles. Or, indeed, of anybody’s castles. The idea of huge killer reptiles immediately surrounding Medieval fortifications is complete fiction. Even if they had been available (crocodiles, for example,…
Are there crocodiles or alligators in Europe?
No, we don’t have either crocodiles or alligators in Europe, except in zoos. And in the Middle Ages we didn’t have zoos, or castles with moats filled with crocodiles, alligators or indeed sharks or piranhas. The odd pike was about as scary as moats got.