Steve Irwin

[maiden_canada]

hey im wondering what you guys think of steve irwin. i hear a lot of people saying how dumb he is but i think hes brilliant. hes my only role model i went to australia and his zoo is awesome too

[B-Rep]

I think he takes un-needed risks, but interms of conservation, he seems to be doing especially well.

[Dani33]

My nephew loves him. It's given him an interest in herps, which is definately a good thing.

[JD@reptiles]

i think he can give people in interest that is safer for everyone and the animals though...

[TheRedDragon]

I think he's entertaining, but, one of these days he's going to get it from one the critters he plays with.

[Dani33]

To be honest, I've never watched the program. My nephew wants to watch some movie that he made though. Fortunately, he will learn respect for animals from me!

[imp_star]

I think he's pretty good..gotta love his spunk.. CRIKEY! lol
But my fav. is Nigel Marven.

[anacondaman]

steve irwan is a guy who knows wut hes doing but i do think hes gonna get too excited one day and make a wrong move...but if u guys wanna see amazing.. watch the bare foot bushman.... that guy fukkin sits on the bak of 16 foot crocs and friggin hugs dem and ****...I AM SERIOUS!!!... he is a true master the reptiles

[Mike177]

i know alot of people like steve irwin, but i have seen him do some REALY stupid things, like on his top 10 deadly snakes video when he got the the #1 ,witch i cant remember but i am going to assume it was a Tipan, he alowed the snake to slither up to him and lick his face, i mean MY GOD! talk about stupid. i personaly like Mark O' Shea and Jeff Corwin the best.

[T.O-SK8TER]

Rob Bredl (barefoot bushman) is my favourite, he explaine s the behaviour of animals so well. Him and his father started Australia's first crocadile farm.

[maiden_canada]

ii dont know much about mark oshea but steve irwin is wwaaaaaaay smarter / more experienced then jeff corwin, jeff corwin is kind of a p*ssy in my eyes. maybe steve will get bit by a deadly snake, but he always has anti-venom and everything prepared. i think steve is great though ive seen atleast 30episodes of his show (not croc diaries the normal one). hes said he would give his life for his crocs and i bet he actually would, i think he has the most respect for animals out of all those 3

[burmer]

I have mixed feelings about Steve Irwin. He takes chances that he shouldn't but he is more enthusiastic than most and he has really promoted reptiles in a good way.

[maiden_canada]

he would probably rather die of a snake bite then old age i bet

[Solid Snake]

i love him! me and my dad love watching it. He makes watching nature shows more exciting. Now c'mon who likes seeing the deadliest snakes from afar? At least he always mentions "never to do this" obviously i wouldn't but its good to know he doesn't encourage people to do so.

Steve Irwin ROCKS!

[NewLineReptile]

I like steve and Jeff. Mark O'shea i would not waste my time to watch him. And the Bare foot bushman i also like.

Brandon

[jaybox_reptiles]

yea but steve irwin is about the only herper on tv that has never in his life been bite by a Venimous reptile

[BWSmith]

This topic comes up alot and has been HEAVILY discussed. Here is one of the longer and more in depth threads.

Irwin Thread (http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15835&highlight=Steve+Irwin)

[Lisa]

I like steve and jeff, even though they both stage stuff. I have seen the barefoot bushman, and he's interesting but doesn't have the charisma the other two have.

There's also the nikon series which I read in reptiles magazine. in all of them I've seen free handling of venomous snakes.

[Wildkingdom]

I think Steve is great!!!! Who wouldn't give to do what he is doing?

Tammy

[Sunrunner]

I like steve he has done alot as far as ppl looking at reptiles in another light other than just boots and bags, he is a little careless though, but hey if he wasn't then would he have not just been like Mark O'shea? not that marks not good he is one of the best but he was not really t.v. material it was his crazyness that got him the rating as it was :)
Me I like Jeff Corwin alot :) He's funny as hell.

[maiden_canada]

i dont like jeff corwin, i saw him tie up a camen and everything like a 10foot camen and put it through all this stress (steve would never do that) just to show the camera his underbelly? then he just untied it and dropped it on the ground. steve never even uses a snake stick, he just brakes a branch off a tree whenever he needs one :)

[Bartman]

Steve Irwin is the greatest guy ever! He is deffinetly what got me into herping. I think, as other people have said, he would die for crocs. He loves all animals and i have never seen him do anything un-needed to an animal..other then handling but i mean like putting it through a lot of stress for nothing..if he does he takes down information that could help them in the future. Another point is that he know A LOT..the guy knows everything about every animal, reptiles and other!..anyways i think he is great and when people say hes careless i would say hes the complete opposite..he knows when he can let a snake crawl on his face or not..btw the only poisounis snake i have ever seen him do that to was some sort of sea snake that he said would never bite in a millionyears. I respect him a lot.

[V.hb]

Why on earth do people keep creating these posts?? All they do is end in stupidity.. Theres way to many ways to look at this hobby to ask a question like this. Steve, Jeff, Mark etc all look at the hobby in their own way, and their show is done in their own style... Knocking any of them usually ends in conflict.... in one way or another..

[MouseKilla]

I have heard the criticism that Steve and Jeff stage stuff. I would say that it's just that kind of show. It's not a show about field research it's about just showing the animal and learning a bit about it. I don't expect them to find a wild animal for the show, if they have to stage finding the animal so that we can see what it looks like and where and how it lives that's fine with me. It doesn't take anything away in my eyes.

No one I've seen can handle snakes and anticipate their moves the way Steve does. Who else free handles a 10 foot, angry black mamba?

[Jayson]

Reguardless of our opinions about any of these TV hosts, if it were not for them, our hobby would not be what it is today.
They have done alot for conservation and awareness of reptiles.

[BWSmith]

steve never even uses a snake stick, he just brakes a branch off a tree whenever he needs one
Exactly why I can't stomach his show.

Who else free handles a 10 foot, angry black mamba?
Again why it boils my blood.

[killer Cichlidz]

Awsome topic! I prefer to watch all of them and some of them will have exciting and interesting topics n herp hunts.

Although I believe Steve n Jeff have great shows, Mark really is the true herper, in My opinion.

His stuff is not staged and he is a real go getter. Jeff, well, his more of a comic than a herper.....lol

Steve just rules, very exciting show, very informative, and honestly, that guy would die for that Croc he loves so much.

Staged>>>>>>people have questions about that, well I think Steve and Jeff's shows are staged because of the simple fact that crew members are always at the scene before they are Steve or Jeff is even there. Mark and his camera man>>>>>run like hell to get to that snake or whatever it is that he is searching for.

Lu

[chas*e]

He educates people about reptiles so he is OK by me...like his methods or not

[Wuntu Menny]

Stevo blows...

WM

[JoeBradley]

yea but steve irwin is about the only herper on tv that has never in his life been bite by a Venimous reptile

I heard that this statement is no longer true. I do not remember if it was Jim Harrison or Roark Anderson that told me he got hit by a king brown not long ago and had to have antivenom. I have found no documentation to back this though.

[SCReptiles]

Irwin has done more to advance our cause then anyone else. He is often criticized for now knowing his stuff, but that is bunk. He is one of the top herpetologists in the world. He keeps his comments on the level of his audience, which is very wise. If people couldn’t understand what he was talking about, then they would lose interest in what he was saying. He free-hands snakes and jumps over sized crocs, but that is what elevated him and his show. What he does captures people’s attention! I think herpetology has expanded because of Irwin, conservation is higher, and our future as keepers is safer because of him. Most of the world has watched him at one time or another. As all of you know, we are losing rights to keep reptiles almost daily. Think about it, the next generation of lawmakers will have been raised watching this guy and if you don’t believe that is an ace in the hole for us, then you are insane.

[Lisa]

As for people free handling snakes because they saw Irwin do it and getting bit, all I can say is that it's the hand of Father Darwin at work. Survival isn't just for the physicaly fit, but the mentaly fit too. If they're stupid enough to play with a venomous animal after they've been told not to then they deserve to die.

[munchy]

my hero

[Mike177]

ii dont know much about mark oshea but steve irwin is wwaaaaaaay smarter

I SEROULY doubt that. mark has spent his herpotoligy carer studying anamals and writing books about them, i find marks shows to be much more interesting myslef because I rather watch for information that watching some guy dance around like an idoit. Also dose steve even have anykind of collage degree? not that its is a factor that judjes how smart you are but im pretty shure mark has his Ph.D. i can see why people like steves shows but it alwas amazes me watching what he does.

[BlkMambaVenom]

I prefer Jeff Corwin or Nigel Marven. They both seem to know what they are talking about and I do not think Jeff or Nigel take as many "stupid" risks as Steve does. Plus, to me, when I watch Steve... I feel like I am in 3rd grade by the way he and Terri talk/explain things. I guess thats why i do not watch his show much.
Brittany

[Bartman]

I dont think it matters at all whether you went to school or anyting..its about the hands on experience you;ve had with the actaul animals...i agree that they do explain things like were dumb but the point of there show is to try and teach people who know nothing about these animals..he states that in almost everyshow(irwin) People like us who have read, kept, and worked with reptiles or other animals when he explains stuff it sounds dumb because we already know that..get my drift :) I have never seen mark so i cant say anything about him but going to school means nothingabout how much you know about something imo...

[maiden_canada]

steve irwin grew up with his dad who was exactley like him, so he learned tons of stuff from his dad, and also steve lived in the wild for either 2-3 months or 2 years im not sure which one, but theres no way mark oshea has more overall knowledge of animals then steve. maybe about ''some'' snakes but definatly not smarter then steve, haha steve is crazy he even named his daughter after his favorite croc bindi and his dog suie = bindi-sue

[Mike177]

but going to school means nothingabout how much you know about something imo...

not that its is a factor that judjes how smart you are