Steve Irwin dies

[Zieg dil' Tulfried]

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=232667&GT1=7703

Famous animal lover Steve Irwin dies at the age of 44 by a stingray. Thoughts? Comments?

For me he was both incredibly stupid, incredibly brave, and incredibly devoted to what he did. I respect him.

[Artifex Felicis]

I was actually debating whether or not to make this thread. Ironically, I found out from VGcats. I liked the Croc Hunter, though I didn't so much when he put his baby on show with a snapping crocidile too.

Ironically, I think there've only bneen 17 or 18 fatel deaths by sting rays.

[Saxon]

I lose the pool :mad:. Damn, and I really believed he would be ripped to shreds by crocodiles. To people who actually are devoted to the 'Crocodile Hunter', I apologize, but approaching a manta ray from behind is like sneaking up on the 'Shiv Guy' from Oz.

Just sayin'. :rolleyes:

[Ithermoss]

That, and the chances of having a stingray barb pierce your heart are quite slim. I guess he beat the odds one too many times, eh? Poor guy. He did good in the world. It's a shame he's gone.

[Letho]

I agree with Ithy; if you run through a minefield, you're bound to step on one sooner or later. It's a shame though, he was one crazy motherfucker. Whoever dares to play around with the most dangerous shit in nature deserves some respect. :cool:

[Empyrean]

To tell the truth, I'm not really surprised. But I am sad - he was indeed a crazy bastard. I miss that guy. :)

[Serilliant]

I don't know quite why, but this news absolutely shocked me. I have to echo what Jack Hanna was quoted to say in the article: I always thought of him as invincible. He was quite a character and his personality and enthusiasm will certainly be missed.

[Ashiakin]

I feel the same way about Steve Irwin dying as I did about John Ritter dying. It really surprised me despite that I never considered myself a fan. Although, I always respected him in an offhand sort of way.

I do feel bad for him... From what I've read, dying from a sting ray barb to the heart is extremely painful.

[INDK]

I'm not sure if I'm all that upset or sympathetic. I don't deny he had big brass ones, but I often felt his courage bordered on stupidity. Yes, wrestling a crocodile takes guts, but he never wrestled a crocodile to save someone from drowning or for any legitimate reason other than to make money on TV. Thus, if he died doing one of his stunts, I think its a waste, but he shouldn't have been putting his life on the line that foolishly to begin with.

[Damion Shargath]

He should have cut the retarted actions and stuck to wildlife support in general. In my opinion there was not much courage in his actions, merely great stupidity and ignorance. With a woman and several children he does not have my respects for acting so carelessly, nonetheless did he accomplish a handful of good things too. I hope that in the future we have someone like that standing in for our natural environment, just...without all the demented stunts that could cost him his life within a split seconds - we all know that predator's are dangerous, no need to show us again and again.

[AdventWings]

I literally froze to my seat when I saw it the first time on the front cover of Wikipedia. And that happened yesterday.

In all seriousness, he was pretty darn crazy to be doing all those stunts and parade it on TV. But I believe he wanted to give out the message that "Predatory animals are not evil and people should not be afraid of them." To me, it's like he's playing with them and not just doing publicity stunts. Playing with them like a good friend. Really, I haven't seen him hurt those guys a single time - unlike some stunts that end up humiliating the animals or endangering their lives that I've seen.

Well, that's my two cents. Farewell, Crazy Croc Hunter.

[Cyrus the virus]

Damion, you act as if all he did in life was sneak up on creatures and harass them. He did do a lot for wildlife, gave a lot of his cash away and did a lot of his animal harassing for the good of the animals around it (or the animal itself). It's not like he was Steve-O, who is a total waste of human life and matter.

It's a shame he died, really. He had kids and a wife. Gah.

The fact I hadn't thought about him in a long time makes it even sadder.

[Ayithe Solete]

Great guy, defo will miss him. :(

[Kai]

does anyone see the irony in his death?

the guy used to prod rattle snakes with a stick, climb into holes with them, hell i bet he has even wrestled with a croc or two. what i am getting at is that he spent most of his time with predeter like animals

and along comes a usually docile manta ray, does not go out of its way to cause harm, and bang, right through the heart.

its always the timid quiet ones you gotta look out for ...

he was a good man, and i respect him for what he did ... shame i think the irony makes it seem like a joke

[Letho]

He should have cut the retarted actions and stuck to wildlife support in general. In my opinion there was not much courage in his actions, merely great stupidity and ignorance. With a woman and several children he does not have my respects for acting so carelessly, nonetheless did he accomplish a handful of good things too. I hope that in the future we have someone like that standing in for our natural environment, just...without all the demented stunts that could cost him his life within a split seconds - we all know that predator's are dangerous, no need to show us again and again.I have to disagree. Cyrus has a point here. Sure he earned wads of cash from doing these stunts, but he did some good as well. And he wasn't just careless. If you or me tried to pet a rattle snake or let a deadly spider crawl up our arm and we died from the sting, then you could say that someone was careless. He knew what he was doing. He was just unlucky.

[Raelyse]

He's a farking legend and I love him so much. I'm going to miss him.

[Arvis]

Want to know whats even more ironic?

Apparently he was supposed to be filming for a show called something like "Ocean's Deadliest Creatures", but it was cancelled. So, instead, he went out to film for his daughters kids show...

It was really a one-in-a-million sorta thing. Him and the cameraman cornered it by accident, then bam, missing all the ribs, and into the hart. It was caught on tape too...

[Damion Shargath]

Damion, you act as if all he did in life was sneak up on creatures and harass them.


He should have cut the retarted actions and stuck to wildlife support in general.

Please...do read carefully what I say. I know he did a lot for wildlife preservation, he should have stuck to that instead of going apeshit with dangerous animals on his show.

[Saxon]

Not to steal anyones thunder here, but I want to pose a question that I snuck up on my family with :D. Before I do that, I want you to keep in mind that they said or so I've heard, his death was instantaneous :rolleyes:. Being the arbitrary fellow I am, I began to wonder what exactly was Steve Irwin's last thought before he bit the bullet. I hope those of you who are greatly pained with the dare devil's demise don't think I'm trying to minimize the tradgedy of his death, but it does make you wonder :o.

What do you folks think passed through the Crocodile hunter's mind as he met his maker?

[Damion Shargath]

Maybe his wife and children? How they will fare without him. Something in that direction possibly.

[Vorin]

Please...do read carefully what I say. I know he did a lot for wildlife preservation, he should have stuck to that instead of going apeshit with dangerous animals on his show. You do realize it's that apeshit that made him popular, and without it he would never had had the money, power, sway to help animals. He didn't shove his thumb up assholes for christ sakes. He knew what he was doing. He taught people through he actions.


He should have cut the retarded actions...I'm sorry, that was just bothering me.

[Arvis]

Well, it wasn't exactly instantaneous. His manager was saying that he got stung in the heart, then ripped it out himself, and went into cardiac arrest.

[Ther]

I had actually been dreading for the better part of 7 years now that something like this would happen, but it was still one of the most shocking events I've really ever heard of. I was a huge, huge fan of his (watched all his shows, the movie, even did some academic work on his television series) and was really saddened to see him go - he was definitely one of my top 2 or 3 favorite television personalities.


I apologize, but approaching a manta ray from behind is like sneaking up on the 'Shiv Guy' from Oz.

It's really more of a freak accident...I've seen many, many documentaries, as I'm sure you have, where people have done the same thing.


he never wrestled a crocodile to save someone from drowning or for any legitimate reason other than to make money on TV

I'm assuming that you think pooring millions and millions of dollars into wildlife funds and charities and establishing a world-class zoo isn't a "legitimate reason" to do what he did? The man didn't have expensive tastes, he certainly did have expensive dress, and he was just as friendly off the air as he was on it.

You guys aren't seeing the casual/proportional relationship between his documentaries and his philanthropy and wildlife advocacy.

What's also tragic is the fact that, if you were familiar with his work, you'd have known that he was someone who usually took all the precautions he could in the water (with creatures other than Crocodiles) - when being around dangerous sharks he was always in a cage, for example.

[Alexander]

At least he died doing something he liked. It could have been worse. It was quick, and what pain he felt didn't last too long.

[Sighter Tnailog]

Matt's already quoted it, but I think I'm going to do it again anyway.


he never wrestled a crocodile to save someone from drowning or for any legitimate reason other than to make money on TV

I usually agree with you Shyam, but on this point what you're saying is bullshit. Complete, unmitigated bullshit.

Just from watching his show, I saw him pull rattlesnakes off of highways with moving traffic -- not because he wanted money, but because he cared that the animal might be hurt. He entered mudpits where crocodiles had gotten trapped, despite danger to himself, in order to save them. He had a deep passion for what he did -- and he did it for years before he started making money for it.

Steve Irwin did what he did because he loved animals, not because he loved money or danger. If he did things that you would never try, that doesn't mean he's a deranged madman; he was an expert in his field and more qualified than ninety percent of people to do what he was doing. He was exuberant, passionate, and he cared. If that makes him look crazy, so be it; but I'd rather have passionate people in this world than have sane people without vision.

The best words I've heard for this were said by the 15-year old son of whichever anchor filled in for Anderson Cooper on CNN last night -- "Dad, it's like Micky Mouse just died." I really liked Steve Irwin. He came across as one of the most genuine and enthusiastic voices for conservation I've ever heard.

[Elrundir]

I pretty much agree with Serilliant on how this is something that I almost never thought would happen. Even though the guy wrestles with crocodiles and prods rattlesnakes... or perhaps because of that... I just never thought I'd actually read about his death, except maybe in like 20 or 30 years. Then it would be more of a "Wow, he had a good run, it's sad to see him go" type of thing.

Either way, it was a very sad thing when I heard of his death. Admittedly I didn't follow his work all that closely, but I knew of it, and anyone who does as much as he has done for the animal kingdom will always have my respect. It just so happens that he also showed us a side of that kingdom that most people would never have the balls to explore.

[Empyrean]

There've been a lot of pictures circulating on deviantART in memory of Steve. This one is my favorite (click to enlarge):

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/39232473/

I think he would've liked that. :)

[Roscar Palidyne]

What do you folks think passed through the Crocodile hunter's mind as he met his maker?

"Fosters tastes like kangaroo piss!!!"

There's not much else I can add that everyone else hasn't said yet. Great guy, idiotic maneuvers, all to keep a shirt on his and his family's backs and teach the rest of the world about the animals he cared about so dearly. You just knew that as soon as he started that Crocodile Hunter show, he thought to himself "Hey, this is gonna get me killed.". Maybe not "Hey, im gonna die by a manta ray's barb right in the chest, crickey!", but who would suspect that silly little manta ray anyway?

More importantly, he was also proof that something good can, in fact, come from Australia.

[streak101]

Steve Irwin Steve Irwin
The tides are now turnin'
Escaping the dangers you had fun
But this time you had nowhere to run
The Stingray its tail mighty and fierce
your brave heart it did pierce.
Now rest now rest
You've done the very best
Oh the stories they'll weave
when this realm you leave.

Major props to the crazy crocodile hunter

[Krugor]

What do you folks think passed through the Crocodile hunter's mind as he met his maker?

"Dude, my autographed photographs will so sell for 7540 dollars on Ebay now!"

Seriously, you won't believe the prices on Irwin stuff on Ebay these days...

[streak101]

Originally Posted by Saxon
What do you folks think passed through the Crocodile hunter's mind as he met his maker?


Either "I'm dead!" or "Did I leave the stove on back home?"