Crocodile Under Bed: Man Sleeps Through the Night Before Discovering 300 Pound Reptile

A man in Zimbabwe spent the night with a crocodile under his bed and did not even know it until the next day.

Guy Whittal, a former cricket captain, was staying at a lodge in Lwveld at the Save Conservancy. Little did he know that underneath his bed a was a large crocodile, who remained under the bed for more than eight hours.

"Crocodiles are experts at hiding, that's why they have survived on Earth for so long and why they are the ultimate killers in water," Whittal said in an interview with New Zimbabwe.

At one point, Whittal was even sitting on the edge of the bed planning out his day, but the crocodile still did not attack him or his feet.

"The really disconcerting thing about the whole episode is the fact that I was sitting on the edge of the bed that morning, bare foot and just centimeters away from the crocodile," Whittal said.

Whittal, age 40, learned about the crocodile when left his room and went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. It was then that he heard the screams of the housekeeper who discovered the secretive reptile.

According to Whittal, the crocodile appeared to weigh about 300 pounds and likely came from the nearby Turgwe River.

A couple of co-workers helped Whittal remove the crocodile from the room and bring him back to his home.

"Of course he resisted being roped and hauled out from under the bed, that's only natural," Whittal said. "Catching and securing a croc of any size on land though is a fairly straight forward affair, and we are experienced in that. The only real danger is getting bitten because it can't drown you.

Luckily, Whittal and his friends knew the proper protocol in controlling a crocodile.

"The most important thing is to get its snout roped and secured, and then it's just a matter of restraining it and covering its eyes, to calm it down," Whittal said. "Bigger crocs require more manpower obviously though. When roped they thrash around frantically and are extremely powerful."

From now on, Whittal will be more likely to check under his bed before slumbering.

"I just remember thinking goodness gracious, that's one for the books," he said. "I'm pretty sure everyone in Humani checks under their bed before going to sleep now anyway."