A South African man has a good reason for losing his wedding ring: a crocodile ate the arm it was attached to.

Pieter Abrahamse tells Reuters from the hospital: "He took my wedding ring, I suppose he ate it up."

The farm manager, 47, was attacked last Thursday while working on a citrus plantation in the northern Limpopo province.

He was belly-deep in water when he felt a jolt in his left hip. At first, he thought it was a hippo, but realized it was a crocodile, reports Reuters.

He says: "I was on the lookout for hippos and didn't see any. It slipped my mind that there might be crocodiles."

Abrahamse says he immediately began fighting by hitting the reptile with his left arm. The crocodile then bit his left forearm.

"It pulled me under the water for a few seconds and I knew this was his biggest advantage. I realized if I didn't stand up my wife will never find me again."

He got away from the crocodile when it loosened its grip. He didn't realize at the time that it had taken part of his arm off.

Abrahamse grabbed the rope of his horse with his right arm and was dragged to safety.