The "Croc Hunter"...

[pbpersson]

No disrespect to the man and his work, but this really should not come as such a "shock." "You reap what you sew" and all of that.

Well....on that topic.....he had a wonderful sense of humor. Now they are getting more into his life and his outlook on things and one of the quotes they had went something like this:

"You know, one of the reasons I am so popular is because people love to watch me take these wild chances, thinking that one day I will go too far....I mean, it's not like they watch me because I'm a great speaker..."

I will really, really miss that guy.

[Yaish]

What a terrible shame. Steve was a great guy, and did a lot to bring animal knowledge to the world. He'll be missed, and I really feel for his family.

[Pour1Malt]

a shame indeed...

ai had hoped he wuid stop takin sae many chances after the "baby endangerment" issue a while back...

[cessna152towser]

Tragic. From my perspective he lived dangerously but no doubt he believed he would be able to avoid coming to personal harm. His programmes will be missed. Condolences to his wife and two children.

[David Dalglish]

I loved his programmes, but he did take a lot of chances, I feel for his wife & children.

[Southern Breeze]

His love for nature, family and his work was evident in his programs. He'll be missed.

[SSgt Baloo]

A few years ago I recall seeing a clip of Steve Irwin poking fun at himself, pretending to be bitten by a snake and saying something like "Good thing we've got the antivenin!" Then you hear one of the off-camera crew saying "it's not due to arrive 'till tomorrow!", whereupon Steve looks into the camera, declares "Crikey!", and collapses, to the audible amusement of his crew.

As far as his real demise is concerned, it truly was a freak accident. In order to penetrate Corwin's heart, the stingray barb would have had to strike a specific spot at a particular angle. If not, it would have struck a less-vulnerable organ or, more likely, deflected from a rib. I guess it was his time to go, eh?

--SSgt Baloo

[MacWage]

I am saddened by this loss. The man really knew animals and so far more than most "experts" could dream, despite how it seemed watching his shows. He knew what was dangerous on each animal, but was killed by something that was rarely fatal and a "freak" (meaning that it had a rare, rare chance of hitting just right to kill) one.

I must agree that he seemed quite cavalier in his attitude. HECK, the fist time I ever actually WATCHED him he CHASED a COBRA UP A TREE!!!! From there it hissed at him, as he talked about how dangerous its bit was. BUT he actually knew what he was doing and, in a sense, dealing with the animal in its own environment and its natural reactions to have them do EXACTLY what he intended. He worked with Crocs, snakes, and many, many, many wild animals, yet walked away "virtually" unscathed (without life threatening injuries).

I am saddened that the world has been robbed of his humor, his "cavalier" teaching methods (it got attention, yet PEOPLE LISTENED and LEARNED), and most of all that his family has been robbed of their loving father.

[Colin]

I was sad to hear of his death. Not only did he make educating people about animals fun, but he was a heck of an entertainer. Those with younger kids may have also seen him in with the Wiggles in one of their flicks. It's a sad loss.

[GMan]

Anytime a sudden death like this happens, it saddens me. At least he died happy, doing the thing that he loves to do.