Steve Irwin?

[V.aw]

I agree with alot of people on the fact that he shouldn't be free handling hots on television. However he does say this is something that should NOT be done by anyone that hasn't had the proper training. But i guess a kid would think he/she is capable of anything, and are immune to anything and would probably do it anyways.

The reason why I initially argued this is because of where iam from. Its quite difficult to locate hots to purchase, none the less to find them in the wild. I think the closest hot to me is the massassauga which is about 3-4 hours away, even if they are found!
very interesting posts, its nice to see some educated opinions other than "hes annoying, and i hate his wife!!" heheh

[Tim_Cranwill]

I'd like to see any one of you who judge him for staging his finds to make a one hour tv show and stay on budget. A few points I'd like to make...

1. If he didn't need to stage his finds, HE WOULDN'T. I've seen "selected" home movies of his where he is in the wild with his sister manning the camera and he acts NO differently.

2. His show is not only an education show, he also needs to be entertaining as well. Remember those old boring science films... I don't think they'd last 7 or 8 years on the air. So, his antics either suit your taste or not, but he's lasted longer than 99.9% of tv shows out there. That must mean something.

3. If there's any show out there that should curb their dangerous displays for the sake of children, It's the WWF (or WWE or what ever...). Think of the ration of kids who would try to free handle a hot vs the number who would try to suplex their little brother. My guess is it's like 10'000 to 1!!! You can only do so much before you have to trust that people are smart enough to judge for their selves.

And 4. I like him and if you don't, then fair enough. I hate Creed and their pathetic videos but that's just me. To each his own..

Have a nice day!!!

[Big Mike]

I recently saw an episode of "The Croc. Hunter" that I had never seen before. It was sort of a "best-of" show with old clips from over the years. A lot of personal stuff with him & Terry. He was talking in an interview setting about why he is so enthusiastic and has to "get right in there" and up-close with the animals.

His message was pretty good IMO. He explained that he wants to show people the animals close up...to get us into their world. He says he wants to spread awareness of the animals and that the ultimate goal is conservation. He wants his passion and enthusiasm to be remembered by the conservation of the habitats and animals that he is so passionate about.

Also, his show is more entertaining than 95% of the crap on TV anyway so good for him.

[tHeGiNo]

LOL alright I just had to respond to this thread. I read it, and decided I would stay out, but as more people began to slander him I had to step in . I feel, and this is MY opinion, that Steve is a REALLY great man. First of all, I really don't think his shows are staged, maybe he just knows where to look? Second, a lot of people stated he was irresponsible in the way he handled hots, and that he is displaying a bad example for herpers. Well honestly, if your stupid enough to even THINK about trying what he does, without his experience, well your stupid lol and should not even be NEAR such animals. Once I said this to my friend, she made a good point in stating little kids may try to do this. Again, if the parent is stupid enough NOT to tell their kids the danger in going near/touching these snakes, well what can I say. She (my friend) then said the kid may rebel and just really want to be like Steve, and ok I understand this. But in saying this, wouldn't that make it ok for a kid to shoot someone because he just loves the show Suprano's and wants to be JUST like big Tony? Or that it is perfectly safe to ride on the back of a bull because he wants to be JUST like the people in rodeos? I don't mean to start any conflict or anything of the sort, just stating my point *edited this part as I forgot to add it* Also, you have to realize he probably does such activities to grab the audiences attention, everything he does he has good intentions in them. Also as far as people saying he is "rude," somehow I REALLY REALLY doubt this. I mean I cannot see who someone who puts his life on the line get his point out, and who spends his whole life saving other creatures lives, could have a mean bone in their body. I just cant see it...

[OttawaChris]

I am a total croc hunter junkie!

I try and watch every day (I wish he would get some new episodes made though)

Thats one man I would love to take a trip through the bush with!

[marisa]

Who gives a crap if he stages things? Do people care about him actually finding it or the snake/reptile? I personally want to hear, and hope others hear, about the actual snake reptile and most people could care less how he got it. I like it even more because it is mostly staged. That way at least we know a whole film crew + Steve isn't tramping through the bushes trying to find one little snake for a 5 minute spot on the show.

At least people are interested now! People *LIKE* watching about corcs and snakes, people want to turn it on and stay there, people know that its possible for these animals to have a real place on this earth...I think Steve does these things, so I watch.

And I hardly doubt the number of venomous snake bites has gone skyrocketing because he free-hands, it hasn't. And personally, I have yet to hear a story "I picked up that rattler mommy because Steve did"

Marisa

[JasonBrennan]

By the way, I wanted to say for the record, that I used to like Terri as well, but stopped liking her so much when she started to imitate Steve's mannerisms. I hate that. That is the only new thing I have thought of to say....so later!

[Nanashi04]

Does anyone notice that if you watch the eppys in order, Terri gets progressivly larger? I always thought it odd... o.o;

[Alicewave]

I personally find Steve kindof annoying, but only because I watched him way too much when I was supposed to be studying and I got kinda sick of him. I totally agree with marissa that his message about reptiles is great and it's awesome to see people taking an interest in them. I prefer Jeff Corwin to the others however because I find him to be more informative than some and he has shows on all kinds of wildlife, not just reptiles. I like the variety. Steve seems to be mostly about crocs, and that's fine but I can only watch so many episodes on them before I get bored. To sum up, I like them all.

[Quakezombie]

O'shea update
I am watching a show on Animal Planet with him in Florida dealing with alligators.
So look for him on that network

[Tom P]

The only thing that I don't like about The Croc Hunter is that i saw an episode where they covered the birth of their baby!!! And then they named her after his favorite CROC!!!!

I personally like Corwin, he's pretty entertaining and he doesn't say " BY CRIKEY!!" every 5 minutes.

Tom P

[BIG SCOTT]

Personally I love the guy I think he is very entertaining but I also think he does some very stupid and unprofessional things. He aslo gives out incorrect or false information from time to time. I would love to see the statistics of how many people have been bit by venomous snakes because of his show. I don't like the fact that he is branching out into movies now, I view him as somewhat of a SELL OUT now. The thing that bothers me the most about him is the fact that he tails every venomous snake he sees which I would consider very unsafe, granted he knows the strike range of each snake and how far he can grab it on the tail before he is to close but he has had some very close calls. I prefer the pinning method when i work with venomous snakes and prefer to see people on t.v. do it the same way. I prefer O'shea to all of the t.v. herpetologist b/c he seems to be the most knowledgable and takes everything more seriously that the others he also only looks for the more uncommon or hard to find species of reptiles

[BILLP]

I like all three shows. I have meet Steve he came out to the zoo that my girlfreind works at. He is kind of a jerk. I have also been to his zoo in Australia it is pretty cool lots of reptiles.

[tHeGiNo]

May I ask how he is a jerk?

Anyone remember " Monty's Travelling Reptile Show" with the legendary Monty Krizen? That was the BEST reptile T.V. show EVER!
Also, Rob Bredl, the "Barefoot Bushman" is excellent too.

Take care!

Simon