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Author
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Topic: "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin killed
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted September 04, 2006 06:30 AM
You play with fire, you're bound to get burned,
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,212037,00.html
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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NASA
Knows what it's all about
Member # 177
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posted September 04, 2006 08:10 AM
I think, in this case, he wasn't "playing" with fire. He was just next to it. He was being filmed, swiming above a very large sting ray. The ray flicked its tail and hit him in the chest. The tail barb pierced his chest and stuck him directly in the heart. His bodily functions began shutting down and he was dead within minutes. Had he been hit in the arm or leg, his chances for survival would have been much, much greater. A fluke accident, for sure.
Posts: 1168 | From: Typical White Person | Registered: Apr 2003
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Tim Behle
Administrator MacNeal Sector
Member # 209
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posted September 04, 2006 09:56 AM
I didn't agree with him on all of his stands, but I'll miss him.
It was refreshing to see someone with an actual zoology background working with and talking about animals.
He did a lot of guest appearances on shows, and audience members could ask him real questions on live TV and get a factual answer.
He wasn't just an actor, he actually cared about and had knowledge of the animals that he showed us and worked with.
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Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take
an ass kickin'.
Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003
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LionHo
Knows what it's all about
Member # 233
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posted September 04, 2006 10:22 AM
Trying to remember who it was (Edison, Einstein?) who once said, "Chance favors the prepared mind"?
"Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called Ocean's Deadliest when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.
"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time."
[Reading numerous stories about this today, one stingray expert made the salient point that the barb probably went in easy, but it's the rapid pulling out the stingray does which accounts for most of the physical damage. Ouch.]
While there's certainly no lack of of idiots in this world, I always found Irwin to be an especially loathesome kind of idiot because his high-risk attention-craving stunts were targeted towards an audience of little kids on Saturday morning TV. Unfortunately, because of the "freakish" nature of this "tragic accident", he probably just became some kind of martyr to many of them.
LionHo
[ September 04, 2006, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: LionHo ]
Posts: 88 | From: Ventana Wilderness, CA | Registered: Aug 2003
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Okanagan
Budding Spin Doctor
Member # 870
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posted September 04, 2006 11:42 AM
I always expected to hear that Irwin got killed by a snake. I'm sorry to hear of his death but not surprised. He was flirting with death as a way to make a living. He seemed to enjoy it but took risks way beyond prudent. This was a sad, predictable intersection of risk and probablity.
I feared big stingrays when I was diving the California coast, because of the kind of diving I did for halibut. In low visibility water sometimes big stingrays would lay on the bottom in the surf line. I was always concerned when swimming out through surf off a beach that a surge would push me onto one and he'd hit me in the chest, just like Irwin got it. Also spear fishing for halibut in dirty water, cruising just above the bottom, once in awhile you'd find yourself within touching distance above a stingray. Even a smallish four footer has a barbed spike several inches long with thick muscle power in the body to drive it home.
[ September 04, 2006, 11:44 AM: Message edited by: Okanagan ]
Posts: 269 | From: 49th Parrallel | Registered: Jun 2006
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Buffalobob
Knows what it's all about
Member # 825
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posted September 04, 2006 11:47 AM
If you roll the dice enough times, you will lose. Addiction to adrenalin is very similar to other addictions, and the end result is, more often than not, the same.
He was fascinating to watch on TV but the risks he took were way out of line with what was needed to get the job done. He was not in the same class as "Wild Kingdom".
[ September 04, 2006, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: Buffalobob ]
Posts: 90 | From: Potomac River | Registered: Mar 2006
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted September 04, 2006 12:39 PM
Unfortunately, in the modern world, people are so far removed from the nature of truly wild animals that most people will be shocked that this happened. I've personally seen people do stupid things around wildlife that cost them, all to show someone how much they "knew". One that comes to mind was when I worked with birds of prey. My boss had told me time and again of the hazards of turning your back on an eagle or other large bird, and of the brute strength their feet possess. We had a graduate student that supposedly had years of experience handling raptors finishing up some research using birds we had on hand. On one particular morning, the state wildlife agency was to drop off a ferruginous roughlegged hawk and Gary was excited to be the one to receive it. When the biologist arrived, Gary took the box and began telling us all he knew about roughlegged hawks. What he forgot to do was keep both eyes on his bird and when he looked up to say something to the state guy, that hawk pounced on the opportunity to get a cheap shot in, and he did. Grabbed Gary right above the cuff line of his right gloves and sunk all four talons into his forearm to the tips of the hawks toes. Clamped down and wouldn't let go.
Ya know? Gary tried his best to stay calm and act like this was nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, the state guy knew Gary probably didn't tear up and grimace like that as a rule, so my boss and I stepped in with gauntlets and pliers and managed to get Gary loose. The state guy wasn't really overly impressed with Gary's bird handling prowess.
I, too, regarded this guy as misrepresenting wild animals to an ignorant public. God only knows how many people had unfortunate encounters with truly wild animals because they saw what Irwin did as something they, too, could pull off.
[ September 04, 2006, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: Cdog911 ]
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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TA17Rem
Hello, I'm the legendary Tim Anderson, Field Marshall, Southern Minneesota Sector
Member # 794
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posted September 04, 2006 03:17 PM
I watched his shows all the time untill they came to the U.S. and did a show. they would shout off about what the hunters did to the poor animals and how badd we are. Not knowing that if it was'nt for the hunters and the lic. fees there would have not been any animals for them to film in the first place ..
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What if I told you, the left wing and right wing both belong to same bird!
Posts: 5064 | From: S.D. | Registered: Jan 2006
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Locohead
World Famous Smoke Dancer
Member # 15
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posted September 12, 2006 11:49 AM
I will really miss the guy. He did lots of crazy stuff because of his desire to "possess" the critter. I think most of us do to.
I remember watching him cruising thru a swamp at night with flash lights and checking out alligator eyes. A minute later a giant water moccasin was spotted swimming across the surface. He jumped out of the boat in water up to his waist and raced off splashing to get the snake.
Forget the snake, you'd might not even get me out of the boat for a Million dollars.
In my eyes he was someone very good at what he did. I'd never juggle fire but I like watching guys that do. I loved watching Michael Jordan and I don't even like basketball. I can even remember watching an old lady make candles that was awesome at it and I actually enjoyed it. I just really like watching guys that are really good at what they do. I'll miss him for sure!
edit: TA17, i've just learned to look past all that crap. There are a lot of really great animal shows with idiotic agendas. I just love the animals and learning about them. It really is a shame that most idiots of that sort don't realize that you can love animals and still be a passionate hunter!
[ September 12, 2006, 11:54 AM: Message edited by: Locohead ]
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I love my critters and chick!!!! :)
Posts: 2219 | From: CO | Registered: Jan 2003
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