Steve Irwin?

[Lisa]

Steve stages his "finds" too.

[BoidKeeper]

I too think that a lot of Steve’s shows are staged and I don't always agree with his methods. There is no denying however that he has done almost more than anyone else to raise awareness about reptiles.
Cheers,
Trevor

[katev17]

I remember an article in the Ottawa Citizen questioning whether or not Steve was a phony or whatever... It really annoyed me at one point because the writer said that Steve only ever does a noble thing once in a while like relocating a croc once in a blue moon... A lot of people don't know what Steve is up to while not on the air, he has an entire program for Australian wildlife. While I love watching the shows where he's got the reptiles on, I really respect how he loves and respects every animal, no matter how big or small. His enthusiasm always keeps me interested and I think that people need to realize that the show isn't his whole life. I've talked to a girl who used live in Beerwah and she said that whenever he was out and about, he was always so lively and cheerful, saying hi to everyone and anyone. She said that the locals grew tired of his cheeriness... Of course, as someone else said that was just third person info, but as you can see there's a lot of contrasting opinions.

As for Jeff Corwin, I can't stand the guy... I know somebody said that Steve treats the snakes like they're toys, but at least, unlike Jeff, he doesn't hold all of the snakes he catches by the head, letting the rest of the body dangle... (I've seen this on 3 different occassions...)

Well that's just my opinion, of course I might be biased seeing as I'm going to Australia to work at Steve's zoo next year Lol, oh well, I think it's going to be an experience and a half, even if Steve IS fake or whatever.

Have a great day, guys
Kate

[katev17]

PS - Omigod I forgot to mention how much I can't stand Terri! Haha she annoys me to several levels... She should stick with her wildcats, which is about the only thing she actually knows about.

[Lisa]

He showed on his behind the scenes show that he stages his "finds"

[Dom]

lol Terri . man oh man .. she does annoy me as well .. and she aint the pretiest thing that ever walked the eartha s well lol

[Jaylyn]

I've heard "rumors" about Steven Irwin cooling some snakes considerably before handling them. If its true - puts me right off.

And Jeff Corwin is much easier on the eyes.
Gives alot more information, too - though not all of it is gospel.

Jaylyn

[Ryan]

Irwin is at least entertaining, Corwin is an idiot I can't watch that guy. I really want to see O'shea but I have never been able to find his show anywhere, does anyone know what channel it is on?

I can't see Irwin cooling snakes before he handles them, I honestly believe he loves the animals even if he is pretty stupid with the venemous sometimes.

[jason h]

lisa accually that behind the scense show was the behind the scense of the making of his movie where he did stage the catches for multiple takes as well as he had more than one of each animal so as not to put to much stress on them and he did have a cooling truck for the snakes and monitors as he had to have them out in the open for extended periods of time(ecspecially the monitors that he was chaseing in the beginning of the movie)as this took many different angles and takes to get just right while running the entire time.so the cooling trucks gave the reptiles a brake from the mid day heat.

[Andy_G]

Steve Irwin seems like a fool to me, but I like watching anything about snakes, so when he has snakes of any type on his show I watch it.

Jeff Corwin seems to be a little rough with some of the animals he finds. His show also at times seems to be rigged.

O'shea I have never seen.

[Edwin]

I have only seen O'Shea on those ads in Reptiles magazine.

I really liked Steve Irwin for the first couple shows, but then his idiosyncrasies started to grate on my nerves. Also, he does not always show herps.

Jeff Corwin's shows are pretty good to watch, rigged or not. Personally, I would prefer to watch rigged shows than shows where catch absolutely nothing.

[paul_le_snake]

u tell em rach, i met mark once and he sounded very drunk, but wasn't. he has a great love for reptiles so that goes a long way in my book. steve is ok, but getting boring he does do some wacky stuff with crocs but as said b4 his snake handling leaves a little to the imagination.
cheers
paul

[JeffT]

He's great, if people pay more attention to HIS facts on reptiles more than the news they might be more understanding of these critters.

[paul_le_snake]

trouble is, is that his on screen antics detract from his vast knowledge. ppl see him tail all these deadly snakes and could make then think it is that simple
cheers
paul

[JasonBrennan]

Well, let's at least be a little fair here. Sure, he handles the snakes in a manner that makes it appear "easy" to the general public. However, he DOES say, over and over agian, that no one should ever attempt to handle a venomous snake, or any snake for that matter. There is only so much a person can do on a show about animals (besides giving the warnings that it is very dangerous). I think he also gets very......what is the word I am looking for.....enthusiastic (sp?) about what he does. But, that is a large part of what has made his show a success (after all, you DO have to sell the show to advertisers to get the funding to make the shows.....who wants to advertise on a boring show that no one will watch???)

I would jump at a chance to go work at Steve Irwins zoo in Australia. I would sell my house and move there in a New York minute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, just try to keep in mind that most of the people that are watching these shows are not really "into" herps like we all are (here and on similar sites), but rather are the people that just like to see unusual things. Hell, we like to watch Cops too (some of us do!), but we don't want to hear a long lecture on the laws that are being enforced. We just want to see the action. Only the people that are paticularly "into" herps care that much about the real information about the specific animals.

This is just my opinion, so take it for what it is.