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Solong Steve Irwin...

He was certainly entertaining. He will be sorely missed, although I figured with a job like that, you only have so much luck...
 
The irony is that it's hard to get killed by a stingray. The poison is painful, but usually not fatal. The barb just hit in a really bad place ..

I was hoping for 'More Snakes on a Plane' featuring Steve:

"Snakes? Where? On a plane? Crikey! Let's go see!"
 
As I posted on another forum, one of my favourite episodes was when he was rushing back home to witness his wife giving birth to their first child. He stormed into the ward with cameramen and acting like he was documenting a wild animal giving birth. Totally hilarious, and something very few other people could get away with doing.
 
When critisised for holding his baby son whilst feeding a crocodile, he defended himself:
"People say, `well what if you had fallen?' But for that to take place a meteorite would have had to come out of the sky and hit Australia at 6.6 on the Richter scale like in Iran."
 
I like how Irwin reportedly just snatched that barb out of his chest like a badazz, but unfortunately, it was the only thing keeping blood in his heart, so he sort of accelerated his death.
 
I don't know why but when I heard he died it struck me pretty hard. I was just a fan, but I actually modeled a kit for my D&D game after him as a crocodile hunter way back when. I made the kit but one of my players actually came up with the idea. I've heard things in the media that "he was very entertaining" but he was a hero for a lot of people, too. I know I'll be missing him.
 
It was incredibly sad news for all us Australians, and the reaction here to the news has been nothing short of massive.

RIP Steve "Crikey" Irwin. You were the best friend nature ever had, your enthusiasm was contagious, and you will be missed by many.
 
I guess I would have rather seen him get eaten by a crock that he likes to jump on all the time then get killed by a fish, but I think everybody knew he would not reach retirement age doing what he did.

What fascinates me is that australia wanted to give him a national funeral which is generaly reserved to people who did something selfless for their country in times of war (not wrestle gators on TV).

What did this guy do outside of entertainment that warrents such a huge outpouring of affection? When I seen his father on tv talking about his son, even he said that his son didn't do anything special to warrent a national funeral (and declined it on the spot).
 
Unknown_K said:
I guess I would have rather seen him get eaten by a crock that he likes to jump on all the time then get killed by a fish, but I think everybody knew he would not reach retirement age doing what he did.

What fascinates me is that australia wanted to give him a national funeral which is generaly reserved to people who did something selfless for their country in times of war (not wrestle gators on TV).

What did this guy do outside of entertainment that warrents such a huge outpouring of affection? When I seen his father on tv talking about his son, even he said that his son didn't do anything special to warrent a national funeral (and declined it on the spot).
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Stingray is not a typical fish stupid. A stingray has a 13" spike on his tail.


He deserved a national funeral, but his dad said Steve wouldn't have wanted it, which is most likely true, because he never was a baller or jerk off.
There is no war to fight in anyone would look brave in at the moment.
Steve Irwin spent a fortune renovating the Zoo he worked for. He spent Almost all of his money on saving wildlife and preserving habitats.
He raised awareness of the danger to animals through entertainment, which is the only way to get a message out these days.

His father did not imply Steve was not important. His father implied that Steve was just one of the Blokes, and never wanted to be a rich jerk.

Steve Irwin did more for the world in a 30 minute TV show, than you will do in your lifetime.
You have no merrit to say crap about him.
He was a genuine human being who believed that animals needed a voice.
So the hell what, he wrestled gators for amusement, what they don't show on TV is him giving speeches about wildlife preservation.

You're a jerk.
 
Cool down. Everyone are entitled to their views. Many animal experts frowned upon the ways Steve Irwin presented the wildlife. It is true what you write, that the spectacular entertainment format makes a bigger impact than low-key nature movies. How many general TV channels would buy a traditional wildlife documentary and broadcast on prime time?

Steve was active in animal preservation, creating habitats and raising awareness for some otherwise less respected animals. He also indirectly promoted Australia, although he did a few episodes abroad. I think it is along these factors that his family were offered a state funeral, if they wanted it. Whether or not he spent a lot of money to renovate a zoo does not really matter for the government, other than they got a good deal of tax money from his thriving business.
 
Lets remember to be civil and respectful, both of dead people and of forum members.
 
I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau on TV exploring the oceans and loved seeing all the native life I knew nothing about. Jacques spent his whole life it seams working in the water expanding peoples knowledge of the ocean and its wildlife without resorting to wrestling them or us watching him waiting for him to get bit for a giggle.

All I was commenting on was why did somebody who got his fame for wrestling crocks deserve a national funeral, don't get pissy with me alexkerhead. And as far as a stingrays go there have only been a handfull of deaths from them since they don't go out of their way to attack people.
 
I don't think that Unknown_K was particularly disrespectful or out of line. Steve Irwin wasn't Jacques Cousteau, but that's a good thing .. Jacques bored the crap out of many of us.

Steve might have wrestled crocs for attention, but what he did with the attention was commendable as well. Just not up to the level of a state funeral. He was a national hero, yes. As it happens, his family declined the state funeral so it really doesn't matter.

But like I said, respect the living as well. That includes forum members. ;-) I've had my numerous occasions of being snippy with people as well, and I think a good way to handle posting is to ask yourself would you say the same thing in front of the person directly over a drink? Email/writing isn't perfect .. we're missing a lot of non-verbal cues. Let's keep it civil.
 
As a matter of fact, the production Steve was in process of making was a co-op with Philippe Cousteau, which I suppose is a sibling to Jacques. They're making a movie called "Ocean's deadliest", but the sting ray was not even considered to be pictured.

According to Steve Irwin's wishes, the movie will now be finished without him. I also read that Terri, the widow, will continue another program idea where their eight year old daughter gets acquinted with non-dangerous animals such as tropic fish, small lizards and nontoxic snakes, hoping that one day she will take after her father (in some way).
 
The reality is he didn't really wrestle gators (to my knowledge or remembrance) ala Crocodile Dundee. And he didn't do it alone. The effort was to *often* save crocs from their circumstances. He was a tremendous individual. I can hardly believe it's happened. According to People or whatever I was reading last night, the kid's show may never air (?). His daughter will undoubtedly follow in his footsteps though. It's truely a shame that this dude had to have his life ended like that, and at such a young age with young children. He was understandably an eh "hero" to alot of people. I'm not always for the theatrics either, but this guy busted his hump in his life's work. I do have alot of respect for him.
Having said all that, there was one episode where he and his wife were chasing cats out of talllll trees, and catching them in nets as they hit the ground. Regardless of whether felines "belong" in Australia or not (of course like so many other species they were brought there and weren't indigenous), they're still entitiled to respect. If you have to deal with a problem animal, find some other way to do it. Don't take it out on them. Kind of along the same lines, people who hunt solely for sport piss me off to no end. I'm getting to know the people in this area where I've migrated too (NE PA) and I like them alot generally. But some of the people I work with for instance will shoot something as soon as it sticks it's head out of it's hole. The damned things are struggling to survive just like people do, and they have emotions like us also. You're ignorant if you can admit it to yourself. But I digress.
 
Chris2005 said:
Kind of along the same lines, people who hunt solely for sport piss me off to no end. I'm getting to know the people in this area where I've migrated too (NE PA) and I like them alot generally. But some of the people I work with for instance will shoot something as soon as it sticks it's head out of it's hole. The damned things are struggling to survive just like people do, and they have emotions like us also. You're ignorant if you can admit it to yourself. But I digress.
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What about 'sport hunting' which serves the dual purpose of vermin control, ('round here we call it 'varmint huntin', the only 'pure-sport' type of hunting I've ever engaged in) especially in areas where the natural predators (wolves, coyotes, wild cats, etc) have long since been exterminated? If man has upset the balance of nature, it's up to man to do whatever we can to restore that balance (preferably, by re-introducing predator populations into those areas). When the overgrowth of certain species becomes adverse to the interests of man, we must defend ourselves. (Surely, you don't expect rats, f'rinstance, to be given equal status to say, a lovely peacock or sum'n)?

--T
 
no I don't expect rats or carnivores to take over. Just that around here for instance there are still bobcats, coyotes and whatnot. I can't see killing something for pleasure, and the vast majority of hunters, at least the morons I've met here in the northeast, kill for the sake of killing. Like turkey shoots and canned scenarios. I'm not a naturalist to that extent, and I don't particularly believe in reintroducing anything where they've been eliminated (don't know if it's true, but have heard that wolves will indiscriminately kill up to 100 sheep in a single night. Maybe you can confirm or deny. Others have said it's bull. I know housefold cats which are near and dear to my heart absolutely DO kill indiscriminately just for fun).
I just remember the testimony of some ranger/game warden type dude over in Africa. When he was young he said he used to hear elephants off in the distance crying as they died (even of natural causes presumably). He said it reminded him of the way he'd seen humans die. I'm not here equating the two, but there's something missing in the soul of someone who takes pleasure in killing something. Though I do realize people were raised differently and whatnot. I'm not trying to come across as judgemental, it just seems to be a crime the way some people carry on. And I'm an advocate of gun ownership. I just don't believe children in particular should be reared to kill for sport.
 
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