Comment Tribute to the Croc-man (Score 1) 1004
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/01/02 /australia.crocodileman/index.html
According to the sources I've seen about the incident with Steve Irwin and his child (like the one linked above), he never dangled the kid over a crocodile pit; he had him tucked snugly in one arm while tossing some food to a croc with his other. Irresponsible? Maybe, but seemingly not from his point of view and certainly not to a point where it could be construed as "dangling" his infant son over any crocodile pit. If you take your child out to play in the fenced-in back yard with the sometimes ill-tempered but much loved family dog, would a bystander be accurate in saying that they saw you shove a kid into a frenzied dog pit? That may seem like a leap; but is it really, for a man who seemed to feel as comfortable and confident around crocs as the average canine expert would be with dogs?
Most of us have never had experience with crocodiles in the wild; compound that with the mental image that they bring to mind for many, of a traditional reptilian monster from any given horror flick, and his perceived "offense" tends to look much worse than it may be. With all of his experience with dangerous wildlife, I doubt Steve Irwin felt he was putting his child in any danger. I mean, how many Crocodile encounters do you need to walk away from before you feel like you can handle them in a given situation? 50? 100? 1,000? The point is, Steve had a lot more insight into the nature and capabilities of crocs than most of us do.
All of that being said, I concede that he was likely a bit overconfident when dealing with nature's wild critters. I guess that's part of what I liked about him. He made things like crocodiles and scorpions seem much less monstrous and was always eager to show us the beauty and simplicity of nature. It's ironic though, that it was a freak accident that killed him in the end, especially considering how rare a lethal Stingray attack is. There are what, one or two stingray deaths each year? So says the news media, if I recall correctly. Considering his daily lifestyle and career, his eventual death always had a strong likelihood of being caught on film, so it could easily have been a whole lot more painful and graphic than it was.
Personally, I thought the man was a pioneer, in that he was able to make nature shows interesting AND entertaining, guaranteeing that I would watch the show longer than the typical 5-10 minute period that I would usually allow for something like National Geographic. My college roomates and I watched the show regularly, back when it first started on TV.
Sorry for the long-winded reply. I guess I needed to pay a final tribute to the Crocodile man.
/salute
According to the sources I've seen about the incident with Steve Irwin and his child (like the one linked above), he never dangled the kid over a crocodile pit; he had him tucked snugly in one arm while tossing some food to a croc with his other. Irresponsible? Maybe, but seemingly not from his point of view and certainly not to a point where it could be construed as "dangling" his infant son over any crocodile pit. If you take your child out to play in the fenced-in back yard with the sometimes ill-tempered but much loved family dog, would a bystander be accurate in saying that they saw you shove a kid into a frenzied dog pit? That may seem like a leap; but is it really, for a man who seemed to feel as comfortable and confident around crocs as the average canine expert would be with dogs?
Most of us have never had experience with crocodiles in the wild; compound that with the mental image that they bring to mind for many, of a traditional reptilian monster from any given horror flick, and his perceived "offense" tends to look much worse than it may be. With all of his experience with dangerous wildlife, I doubt Steve Irwin felt he was putting his child in any danger. I mean, how many Crocodile encounters do you need to walk away from before you feel like you can handle them in a given situation? 50? 100? 1,000? The point is, Steve had a lot more insight into the nature and capabilities of crocs than most of us do.
All of that being said, I concede that he was likely a bit overconfident when dealing with nature's wild critters. I guess that's part of what I liked about him. He made things like crocodiles and scorpions seem much less monstrous and was always eager to show us the beauty and simplicity of nature. It's ironic though, that it was a freak accident that killed him in the end, especially considering how rare a lethal Stingray attack is. There are what, one or two stingray deaths each year? So says the news media, if I recall correctly. Considering his daily lifestyle and career, his eventual death always had a strong likelihood of being caught on film, so it could easily have been a whole lot more painful and graphic than it was.
Personally, I thought the man was a pioneer, in that he was able to make nature shows interesting AND entertaining, guaranteeing that I would watch the show longer than the typical 5-10 minute period that I would usually allow for something like National Geographic. My college roomates and I watched the show regularly, back when it first started on TV.
Sorry for the long-winded reply. I guess I needed to pay a final tribute to the Crocodile man.
