Steve Irwin

[The Snark]

This was an eye opener for me. I've been watching a series of videos of Steve teaching people how to catch crocs. From just watching him work with crocs, along with glimpses of his hand picked team assisting, it gives absolutely no real idea as to how much expertise the man truly had until you see him teaching and training others. Hundreds of details he did automatically and reflexively that people are trying to learn. A couple of thousand ways to easily get chomped and how to avoid them, and the incredible amount of effort he put in to assuring the animals were unharmed.
A couple of the videos are labeled 'Croc School for Bindi' and 'Girls can catch crocs too'. Those video are definitely food for thought.

 

[Philth]

To bad he didn't have as much experience with sting rays....

Later, Tom

 

[vespers]

Respect to Steve. He was skilled, and those animals meant the world to him.

 

[Philth]

come on now, just having a little fun here, I love the Croc hunter just as much as the rest of you )

Later, Tom

 

[Biollantefan54]

I thought his comment was funny, I used to watch the croc hunter a lot.

 

[Silberrücken]

Oh, yeah: I agree with The Snark's Post.

 

[Shell]

Mod Note

Personal attacks against other users will not be tolerated, and you all know better than to quote them, or respond to them in any way. I've cleaned this thread up, and if you can't play nice then this will be closed, and infractions will be handed out.

 

[catfishrod69]

He sure was an amazing guy. I even loved the movie he made. Would have loved to work side by side with him. He is sorely missed by thousands.

 

[Formerphobe]

I think growing up around the wildlife he so loved gave him the advantage over those who begin as adults. Children have a much better ability to 'tune into' animals than adults. I hope Bindi continues to follow in her dad's footsteps.

 

[PrettyHate]

come on now, just having a little fun here, I love the Croc hunter just as much as the rest of you )

Later, Tom

For what it's worth, I snickered. If that makes me a bad person I'll see you in the land of eternal flames and damnation Tom

Love to Steve and Bindi (I like that name...).

 

[The Snark]

I apologize I cannot name the videos I have as they are most likely pirated. But in there are two classic shots. One of a 5 year old Bindi carrying a secured 2 foot fresh water croc in her arms (with daddy right behind her as back up).

The other, a woman was being trained as a team leader in a capture. She painstakingly gave out instructions to the group as to who does what etc as they get the croc out of the trap. (Did that ever demonstrate the incredible detail Steve had worked out to secure the animal!) When it finally came to the team piling on the croc she made one mistake. Steve had told her he would pile on the head of the croc instead of her as it was a very large one. She was to stand back and just give directions. Well she forgot and was first on, on the head of the croc. Her being there didn't slow Steve down for a moment. He piled on top of her and wrapped his arms around both her and the croc. There is a split second shot of her face as the adrenaline pumped Steve crushes her as he makes certain the head is secured. Her eyes sort of looked like a Tokay's.

PS Bindi Sue. How many kids get their name from a croc and a dog? Classic. Bindi has been naming the crocs. Giving them official names for the wildlife service. Magenta, Mr. Muscles and Seaweed Princess to name a few.

 

[PrettyHate]

All I can think of when I hear the name is this kid from where I live who named his 5+ foot Emerald Tree Boa Bindi...

 

[freedumbdclxvi]

His enthusiasm and knowledge were amazing. I cannot even begin to comprehend the full scope of it. I mean, he wrote a species description in Varanoid Lizards of the World. I didn't realize his expertise actually went there.

 

[Cydaea]

I've read and heard a lot of criticism about him 'manhandling' animals to show them off on camera, and he should have just left them alone. I don't agree with that. While the animals may experience some stress/discomfort for a few minutes, he did use the opportunity to educate the viewers about that animal which is ultimately in the animal's (and the species as a whole) best interest.

I loved watching him on TV and I still catch reruns every now and then. I will admit to liking Jeff Corwin just a little bit more, though... so funny!

 

[Insektzuchen]

I've read and heard a lot of criticism about him 'manhandling' animals to show them off on camera, and he should have just left them alone.

I am one of those critics. This guy's entire career consisted of harassing all species of animal, crawling into their dens and nests, and disturbing their young. I still have the image in my memory when he was using his then infant daughter to taunt a hungry crocodile in order to bolster his own TV persona. He should've been charged with child abuse. Then his bravado caused him to pick the wrong animal to harass and now Steve is no more.

 

[The Snark]

Steve Irwin wasn't perfect. He was on a learning curve like the rest of us. His enthusiasm occasionally blinded him to certain things. His judgement was not always perfect. He made errors. A lot of errors.
Watching the various videos where he used his dramatized voice doesn't give the whole picture. Or a fair picture for that matter. Watch his videos where there are candid shots. Not just of him but of his entire staff. The animals health and safety was always the top priority. Not just Steve but every one of his staff put their own health and safety on the line to protect the animals. The care, concern and compassion the staff demonstrates in those candid videos are the best statement of Steve Irwin. Those people gathered around him because of his genuine concern for animals and protecting their habitats.

Steve's showmanship is what brought him ridicule. But no other environmentalist has ever been able to convey the message so well to so many people as he did. It's not a perfect world and screw ups are the order of the average day. Even though he and his staff had many foibles, Steve brought the message home of conservation and environmental protection world wide. That message far outweighed their screw ups and without doubt our world is a better place, a little more responsible and conscientious, because of Steve's efforts.

 

[freedumbdclxvi]

Incredibly well said.

 

[pitbulllady]

I've read and heard a lot of criticism about him 'manhandling' animals to show them off on camera, and he should have just left them alone. I don't agree with that. While the animals may experience some stress/discomfort for a few minutes, he did use the opportunity to educate the viewers about that animal which is ultimately in the animal's (and the species as a whole) best interest.

I loved watching him on TV and I still catch reruns every now and then. I will admit to liking Jeff Corwin just a little bit more, though... so funny!

Corwin can be funny, but keep in mind that he's pretty "hard-core" Animal Rights, and is adamantly against the reptile trade and private ownership of reptiles, and favors adding large constrictors to the Lacey Act. He totally buys into that whole "all the pythons in the Everglades are the results of released pets that got too big" mantra. At least Steve Irwin never was against the idea of people keeping reptiles.

It's really sad how much the public perception of reptiles has gone downhill since Steve Irwin's death. When his show was still in production, reptiles and people who owned reptiles got some degree of respect here in the US. I'd get a lot of questions, of course, when people found out that I had snakes, and inevitably someone would bring up the Crocodile Hunter. Now, I get more hate that anything else, from people who are convinced that my hobby is a direct threat to their children, their pets, the environment, their own safety, and I must be some sort of psychopath for choosing to keep such horrible animals. People have totally forgotten Steve Irwin and instead rely on the Federal government and groups like HSUS to provide them with "information" about reptiles and reptile owners. I can't help but wonder how far all these bans on snakes would have gotten if Irwin were still alive.

pitbulllady

 

[pouchedrat]

I did get irritated when he placed animals out there only to pretend to run across them to show them off. One that bothered me was his wife walking randomly through brush and "happened" upon a pile of baby "wild" rats. She picked some up and started talking about rats, which some of the babies were hooded and obviously just domestic rats placed there.


When I had my pouched rat, I was contacted a few times by tv shows wanting to film him. I was told they would set up a fenced in area and film him for a show on animal planet. I said no, lol... One of them wound up being "killer aliens", yeah, my boy was dead by then, but he was no killer alien, he was a cuddle bug and a sweetheart. If they caught the pouched rats supposedly running around in florida, I know PLENTY of people desperate to get their hands on them, even wild ones to breed and get the population back in captivity again.

The whole "Infotainment" thing used to irritate me... it was so much different than the wildlife documentaries I grew up watching

 

[The Snark]

The mentality problem. As a perfect example, most people did not like the Steve Irwin films where he was just chatting with his staff, making arrangments and dealing with animal care routines etc. The sad fact is people want entertainment. Far removed from reality, they want reality in pasteurized processed fictionalized doses, be it animals, violent carnage or whatever. What they don't want is up in your face truth. Close to it, but not the real deal. Reality requires conscious thinking and being responsible. As my ex said on many occasions, put a mandatory olfactory channel on the boob tubes. Let people smell an incinerated body or one turned inside out. Get a good blast of bile or ketones. And that would be it for the pandering to the baser instincts entertainment media.

So if you object to the canned domestic rats or wombats or blah blah, don't watch it. oop: sells. Makes big bucks. It's there to shove that 22 minutes of commercials in your face every hour and they could not care less about honesty or education or conservation or environmental preservation. You got what you are willing to accept: indoctrination, hypnotized for the flashy pretty little bites designed to lead you around by the nose and program you to buy a certain thing when you see a certain color in the supermarket.