5 jolly frogs straddle bemused baby crocodile

Is the baby crocodile a docile friend to the frogs or the boatman to their doom?  Image Tanto Yensen

Animals on top of the food chain often command an air of respect and fear from everyone else, especially little critters that can be considered prey. But life has a way of turning things upside down for kicks.

Asi if lined up at a bus stop, the frogs take turns climbing the unmoving crocodile’s back. Image Tanto Yensen

Photographer Tanto Yensen captured one such odd moment while visiting Tangerang, Indonesia. What he saw was five frogs, taking turns as they slowly mounted atop the back of a baby saltwater crocodile, reports The Telegraph.

Just a couple more frogs and the croc express is ready to depart. Image Tanto Yensen

If anything, it could be described as a scene from a Disney movie where the cast of talking animals are preparing for a song number. In reality, the phenomenon could be attributed to the fact that both animals are ectothermic, or “cold-blooded.”

The baby croc was resting on a flat piece of rock where it was likely trying to catch some heat from the sun. In effect, the crocodile’s warming body may have attracted the frogs to populate its back so they could also catch some heat to warm their bodies.

What happened after is anyone’s guess, but it would be safe to say that based on the size of both the croc and the frogs, the amphibians would have hopped away in safety afterwards since they were too big for the baby crocodile to gobble up. Alfred Bayle