Kimberley locals have spent a sleepless night trying to catch a large crocodile that emerged from floodwaters and was found roaming the streets of Fitzroy Crossing close to houses.
The 3-metre animal was found by a resident in the flood-stricken Western Australian town at 2am on Thursday.
Jasmine Bedford was one of the first on the scene.
"I was excited and surprised. It was a freshwater crocodile but it was massive," she said.
"My first feeling was 'we have to get this crocodile back to the river', because it was in the middle of the town."
Police officers, shire rangers and local Aboriginal rangers arrived on the scene, using whatever equipment they had handy to try to wrangle the reptile.
'Odd pedestrian on Flynn Drive'
"My cousin was walking home from the hospital around 2am, she was busy walking along looking at her phone, and she's looked up and seen a massive crocodile on the footpath," Ms Bedford said.
"She was screaming and saying a few French words because she was so scared.
"I rang the police and told them there's an odd pedestrian here on Flynn Drive.
"When the police arrived, I made a joke to them and said, 'hey, have you got big enough handcuffs?'."
"There was like six cars there surrounding this one crocodile.
"It looked like it was well fed, so there were also jokes about hopefully no one's lost their dog, but look fingers crossed because I know that's not a joking matter.
"There was lots of jumps and scares, because he would catch you unawares and come out with a hiss or a growl, it was so funny."
Over several hours, they improvised a high-risk capture.
At one point, a police officer threw a towel on the animal's head to try to subdue it.
Equipment used to catch stray dogs was also used, but the slender freshie was able to slip away.
The crocodile was eventually shot with a tranquiliser by a local wildlife worker, and it bit a metal pole before falling asleep.
Ms Bedford said the scene was both amusing and scary.
"It was really funny, there were moments of people running down the streets. When the crocodile started thrashing around my two kids sprinted away and then came back laughing.
"We were YouTubing 'how to catch a crocodile' because we weren't sure what to do.
"In the end it was all pretty entertaining, especially now that we know the crocodile was safely returned home."
The crocodile was returned to the flooded Fitzroy River just after dawn.
Saltwater crocodiles — which are larger and more aggressive — are usually relocated to a crocodile park when found on the loose.
But it was deemed best that the wandering freshwater croc was returned to the local waterway.
Latest drama for exhausted town
The shock croc appearance is the latest drama for the flood-stricken Fitzroy Crossing community.
It's been three weeks since record-breaking floodwaters surged through the streets, destroying around 30 houses and requiring hundreds of residents to be evacuated.
With the clean-up and repairs only just getting underway, a host of health hazards are emerging, linked to mosquito swarms, mould and decaying cattle carcasses.
Ms Bedford said they would be adding crocodile visits to the long list of risks.
"We do get little crocodiles coming out of the water most wet seasons, but with this flooding we're expecting more," she said.
"There was good community spirit involved – everyone turned out to help get this crocodile to safety."
"Everyone should be very proud … from the policemen who'd only just arrived in the Kimberley, to locals who have a bit of experience with crocodiles who jumped in."
Second croc spotted
Ms Bedford took to social media again on Thursday evening after a second freshwater crocodile was spotted in scrub off Sadler Place, close to Fitzroy Crossing's town centre.
She said the second animal was smaller than the first, estimating it was around 1.5m in length.
Ms Bedford said her daughter Dakota had initially spotted the crocodile while driving her car, with locals coming outside to see the reptile.
