How to put off a snappy passenger who was riding without paying a fare was
a question puzzling a NorthernTerritory bus driver this afternoon.

A fellow passenger dobbed in her travelling companion to the driver.

The woman was getting on to the bus in the centre of the satellite city of
Palmerston when she noticed the passenger skulking behind the driver's
seat.

She told Barry Young there was a one-metre fresh-water crocodile on his
bus.

Mr Young checked - and found it was true.

He said the woman who found the crocodile, which incidentally had its jaws
taped shut, was happy to be taken home although she was not sure whether
to sit or stand on a seat.

Mr Young said he then took the crocodile to the police station.

The croc was later bailed from the cells by a wildlife officer who is
keeping it in custody while there is a search for the owner.