Steve Erwin A Fake?

[Zoe]

How interesting would the show be if 90% of it was him prowling and trying to find a snake to show the camera? It's called editting, they cut up what they film to make something exciting and entertaining also for people who aren't huge herp fans.
Though I don't always agree with the way Steve treats the animals (like the episode in which he kept dragging a pissed-off cobra out a tree...), he does teach conservation and appreciation for wildlife, and obviously does a lot of work in the field saving animals.

Terry has GOT to change her hair, I must say.

Zoe

[Snake Lady]

The way I see it we can not forget that he needs ratings to keep his show on the air. So he needs to catch the attention of ppl.

Now I have seen him use hooks on many occasions.
I have also seen him back away from some snakes cause he knew it was a high risk just for a camara
Who know how many logs he turned and repeted that line B4 finding the snake he was looking for.
And we were not the one stoping a common brown in his tracks with our bare feet at (9 years old)

And kids want to grow up and be like him it is up to the parents to watch the show with there kids and say ''you see
he is a pro. and you can not do that yet you need to go to school to be like him'' when the 18-20 year old gets to university and starts to learn all the proper methods he/she will be able to meet steeve Irwin and say ''you were my Idol man but you are just crazy.''

steeve has a collection and he is doing what he needs to do to keep in thriving. In the process he educates ppl.
why complain? He is just doing what he has to do.

[BAZ]

I think Steve Irwin has done a lot for herpetology and to make people appreciate reptiles more. So what if a lot of the scenes are set up... it's show business too you know. Gotta make it entertaining to keep people glued to the sets. Kids love him and I think thats his main target audience. These kids will grow up to appreciate reptiles like he does and maybe they will become the next David Attenboroughs. I personally would rather watch Mark O'Shea, Jeff Corwin (thats one funny bloke!) and there is this other guy Bredle who calls himself the Barefoot Bushman. But you gotta give Steve his props for what he is doing.

You can have world respected people like David Attenborough watching Komodo Dragons through binoculars talking about them and then you have Steve pulling a hook out of ones mouth and being chased up a tree! lol. You gotta admit.. it's entertaining and when I am entertained I learn more and I appreciate more.

I agree with Zoe.. what the hells up with Terry's hair? bloody hell! Looks like she walked out a of a 1970s trailer park!

[Bryce Masuk]

As many have said its a show business if you dont have much of a love for reptiles but dont mind watching some nut case nearly get killed you will watch the show and learn and hopefully respect the animals I think its great steve respects the animals enough to nearly get killed by them so people will respect them and save there land he doesnt do it for money I bet he lives areasonable lifestyle and puts the rest into the zoo because zoo's always need more money

[snakelover111]

cranwills right

[jpaulson]

I applaud Snake Lady, because she hit the nail on the head, so to speak. It is all about ratings.

Why do people watch racing? For the wrecks, of course. Why do we watch open-heart operations on TV? To see the grossness from a safe place. Why do we watch horror films? The list goes on.

Lets admit it, people. We love Steve Irwin because he is so crazy, and each minute that goes by, you anticipate him getting nailed by a rattler or a croc. We FEED on this! The fact that he does this with some of the most dangerous creatures on this earth, in an educating way, just adds to the uphoria.

BW, you may not like some of his handling techniques, and I can understand that, knowing you and what you try to do to re-educate the public, but I still have to give him credit. He has found his "niche", and is working it well. He helps with conservation, zoos, education, and general knowledge. But, lets not forget one thing. He has been doing this for awhile now, handling all these animals, and he is still alive. You can edit all you want, but those ARE his hands on these cobras, mambas, croc's, and komodos.

[Gregg M]

Barr and O'Shea, Now those are two of the biggest idiots I have ever seen....... Barr gets bit on the face by a boa and uses trebbel hooks and barbed spears to catch crocs....... Not to mention he uses steal cable for top jaw ropes..... And now for O'Shea........ Even though he has a less "set up" show than the rest, I can not stand to see the way he manhandles snakes...... I thought he was going to pop a cobras head off one night....... He is also big on bragging about how many times he has been envenomated........ Like it is cool to be bitten by a venomous snake or something........ But I think the biggest reject out of all of them is that photografer that did the show on the deadly snakes of Africa......... He managed to get himself bitten twice in the same show by hot snakes and decided it was a good idea to jump on a swimming Gaboon viper........ I think Steve and Jeff are the best out there........ Hey my nephew would not pick up a wild garter in my yard because Steve said not to pick up snakes like he does....... Thats what he told me when I told him to grab that snake........

[jpaulson]

Lets not forget Dr. Brady Barr, from the National Geograhic Channel. I think he is the best one out there, now.

[DavidBeard]

Screw them all, I am the best. Oh man I rule.

[Gregg M]

LOL David............

[shaggybill]

No offense to anybody, but alot of you are condemning Steve Irwin, but you hold up Bill Haast as a god. I know that Bill Haast isnt on television everyday, but he still does his thing in front of tons of people at his shows.

Another thing is that Steve knows what he's doing. He grew up with these herps from day one and he knows how to handle them and when to back off. And I am having serious doubts that his snakes are venomoids. Thats just another urban legion that some moron whos jealous that he isnt as good as Steve made up. Some people have a way with animals that the rest of us cant have and Steve is one of the people. Wrestling crocs isnt as dangerous when you grew up with a dad like his and you practically lived with the crocs and know their dispositions. And I think he does a pretty good job of telling everybody that they should not do this and the only reason he can is because he is a professional at what he does.

I think what he does is absolutely awesome. Who cares if he finds the snakes first and then turns the cameras on. Thats not that big of a deal. Its a way of making the show run more smoothly. Nobody wants to watch 3 days worth of the crew walking around lifting logs while looking for snakes.

Anyways, thats my opinion. Feel free to disagree...

[mk-ultra]

first of all i think steve is doing a great job ... like he said in a lots of episodes all he wants to do is show us how beautiful these creatures are and that they are worth fighting for . he is not telling anyone that its a good thing to own a spitting cobra at home ... he is not telling anyone that snakes make good pets . he is just showing us what those snakes are . OK sometimes the way he handles some snakes can be really wild but lets not forget that some time he manage to calm down some really dangerous and aggressiv snakes . some will say HAAAA this is fake its impossible to do that with this species but who are you to say that anyway , probably none of us ever encountered a cobra in the wild so who are you to say thats not a good way to handle these species ... that is just the way he learned and he actually never got bitten . Once on the jeff corwin show they had a local guy with them to show them how to catch a king cobra with your bare hand ... he just puts his hand on top of the head of the cobra and push him down to the ground and then grabbed it ... that seemed really wild and crazy but the guy really seemed to know what he was doing and jeff was looking at him like WTF this is crazy but from my point of view it was a really good way to catch that snake but again none of us knows how these species respond to human in the wild and as for myself im not crazy enough to try to do all that stuff with venomous snakes after seeing what these guys are up to . so that is why i like steve cause he knows what he is doing and i can see some species of snakes that i will never be able to own and i also think that its not a good thing to criticise something that you dont know

like it or not thats my opinion

[stormyva]

Is Steve Irwin a fake, who knows, but what about a fake Steve Irwin?

But really... I think Steve has done what he has set out to accomplish and that is bring herps in general to the forefront and bring about an awareness that was not there before he came along. Something else to ponder on.... maybe the crazy handling techniques he uses are to keep him on the tips of our tongues.... look at most herp sites and you will find that the longest running posts, like this one, are ones about Steve and his handling techniques.

[BWSmith]

Once on the jeff corwin show they had a local guy with them to show them how to catch a king cobra with your bare hand ... he just puts his hand on top of the head of the cobra and push him down to the ground and then grabbed it

Just as a side note, (in case anyone was wondering how that worked), King Cobras have a social structure and are very intelligent. The males combat for females. The dominant male pushes the head of another male down to show dominence. I have heard from many experienced King keepers that they have had to slap the males on the top of the head about once or twice a year and they calm down because they see the keeper as the dominant male. If the Cobra is dominant, woe behold the man that opens that cage! Just a little FYI.

[shaggybill]

Thanks for that little piece of info, BW. I always wondered why that was the "best" way to catch a King Cobra, according to that Indian guy who did it. However, if I ever encounter one, I think I'll just stick with my hook...

When I saw that episode, I couldnt believe my eyes. I thought that guy was nuts but I guess he knew what he was doing...