A very unusual rescue occurred deep in suburban Rooty Hill in Sydney's west on Tuesday evening. A caller rang WIRES to say her teenage daughter had found a crocodile in their backyard.

An intrepid reptile rescuer, Rose went to the rescue and found a small 50 cm long freshwater crocodile already contained... in an esky. Rose carefully transferred the young reptile to her container for the trip to her home.

She placed it in an enclosure with sand at one end and water at the other and the young animal immersed itself in the water for several hours.

The WIRES rescue ambulance picked up the wayward "freshie" the next morning and it was transferred in consultation with NPWS to the Australian Reptile Park on the Central Coast, where there are appropriate facilities for an animal like this.