Crocodile alarm on Lake Constance: Fire brigade discovers deceptive dummy!

Crocodile alarm on Lake Constance: Fire brigade discovers deceptive dummy!

In the early morning hours of June 14, 2025, an unusual find caused a stir in Konstanz. Walkers discovered a crocodile head sticking out of a pool near the shore of Lake Constance. At 8 a.m., the Konstanz fire department alerted the emergency services, who quickly rushed to the unusual location. Initially it could not be ruled out that it was a live animal, which is why the emergency services acted extremely carefully. An expert estimated the crocodile to be around two meters long, which further dramatized the situation.

The head was finally recovered from the water while following strict safety measures. But to everyone's surprise, it turned out that the crocodile head was just a deceptively real dummy made of hard plastic. The fire department then handed the object over to the Konstanz police, who began the investigation. It remained unclear where the dummy came from and whether the incident might have had a jokey background.

Humorous incidents and their backgrounds

A similar incident was already documented in the region in 2021, when a plush crocodile with a sign that read “Felix, the last surviving Lake Constance crocodile” was discovered in the smugglers' bay. At that time, the police completed the investigation against the owner and described this incident as mischief. It remains unclear whether the current incident is related to the previous one.

The fire department's operation in this case ended around 8:45 a.m. after the police successfully took over the dummy. Such incidents raise the question of the extent to which invasive species penetrating Germany could pose a serious problem. The World Biodiversity Council (IPBES) warns of the dangers of alien species, which not only threaten native flora and fauna, but can also cause billions of dollars in economic damage. Global warming also promotes the establishment of new species, which creates further challenges in the future.

Germany currently has a low-species herpetofauna with only 22 amphibian and 15 reptile species. However, there are already three species that have been introduced by humans: the bullfrog, the red-eared slider and the Croatian mountain lizard. With summers that have been consistently warm for 27 years, it could become easier for reptiles and amphibians to settle in this country in the future. Experts like Dr. Axel Kwet, Vice President of the German Society for Herpetology and Terrarium Science (DGHT), expressed concern about the possible new species that could establish themselves in Germany.