The Crocodile Hunter

[The_Munchmaster]

Is it just me or does anyone else wish one of those snakes or crocs, that he (Steve Irwin) keeps harassing, would bite the annoying twat badly enough to keep him off the TV?

[Torneyboy]

Ha ha...He is an Icon down here

He is great for tourism ..he owns a Zoo in Queensland that is a real drawcard as well as his TV stuff..

[Guest lazyphil]

i find his enthusiasm and passion for nature and crocs etc reasuring in a world where there is a lot of disrespect for it, smashing it to pieces, he can get a bit excitable at times though....on the whole imho it makes good tv (i saw him get bitten by some lizard once chasing him up a tree, and it certainly made me laugh!!)....now give me the co-ordinates for the location in the Oz jungle where I'm a celeb get me out of here' and i'll try and get a cluster bomb airstrike (oops, not enviomentaly friendly but this is exceptional circumstances!)sorted....FUCKWITS!

[liquidflux]

He's been bitten a few times.

 

I find him pretty funny. Watching him spot something and shoot off up a tree or jump in the water is always good for a laugh. He's got some major cajones to deal with those animals.

[gobbledonk]

Munchmaster,

 

Ironically, Steve's star seems to have largely faded here in Oz - at least in terms of TV exposure. We got the Croc Hunter series before they became big OS, then he went off the film the movie, now I think he's content to use his profile to pursue his conservation aims. A lot of the 'serious' conservationists dont like Irwin, but he its difficult to deny that he can influence a lot more people than the tree huggers (politicians and general public alike).

 

On the other side of the fence, a lot of people in the Far North would like to see crocs (among other species such as buffalo) culled, simply because they seem to have lost their fear of humans and are now in record numbers across the top end. We need to put ourselves in the tourists shoes - imagine visiting Alaska and seeing them shoot Grizzlies simply because they posed a threat to humans ? I believe that any cull would risk a huge backlash overseas.

 

Prior to Irwin, we had a severe case of 'cute and cuddly mammals rule' in this country, and everything else was seen as secondary - sharks are still suffering from that mentality, and I'm hoping that he'll throw his weight behind their conservation. I dont want to get on the wrong side of anything with teeth (including women ..), but I dont want to see them driven to extinction either.

[ALHOLK]

Hi!

 

His programmes do have an instructive quality though. No we know up here in the north that all you have to do to subdue a dangerous snake is to hold it by the tail and say " it's alright mate". Of course we still have to learn the Aussie accent otherwise it most likely won't work.

 

regards

 

ALHOLK

 

P.S. I would love to see him hold an 8 meter anaconda by the tail and say "it's alrigth mate".

[liquidflux]

You also have to tell the snake how gorgeous she looks.

[gobbledonk]

I would love to see him hold an 8 meter anaconda by the tail and say "it's alright mate".

 

Have you seen the doco with the *completely insane* husband-and-wife team who wander through the marshes, feeling for Anaconda with their bare feet (!), then wrestle the beast into their land rover ? I particularly like the laconic way hubbie says to camera 'If my wife loses control of the tail, the snake would constrict me and I would die'. Very reassuring.

 

Back to Irwin - several of his TV stunts have been shown to be stage-managed and even 'faked' via clever editing, but I'm in no doubt that he's crazy enough to do pretty much anything with animals. There is such a thing as being *too* cocky, tho ....

Irwin snake bites Logies guest

 

::

[ALHOLK]

I thought tha only applied to snakes that work in gogo bars.

[sayjann]

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