# What's this about Steve Irwin, aka The Crocodile Hunter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358 "2004-01-02T20:30:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr\_Xadium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed655f/32.png) [@Dr\_Xadium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Xadium)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/21 "2004-01-03T01:02:12Z")
For Some reason the MSNBC video didn’t show up for me, I later caught it on CNN-- and then I saw something _worse_ than the dangling… He (while admittedly still holding the toddler) put the tyke’s feet on the ground and bounced him up and down in a walky motion towards the alligator pond, and the kid was on the same plane as the recently-fed gator… (dont’ recall if the kid was in line of sight of the croc or not) To me that was even more irritating than the dangling. I too appreciate what Steve’s done to promote awareness of wildlife, (that’s why I defend him all the time), but in this case I just want to throttle some sense into him. I don’t care how well you “know” a wild animal, it’s still wild, and hence to a degree unpredictable. Just look at what happened to (Sigfried or Roy, I forget), and those bear researchers who got eaten after spending years with the animals they were interacting with. Being creatures of instinct, there’s no telling what might set the croc off to do something nasty-- I just think it was boneheaded of Steve and ill-advised. ---
**Author:** ![nuthinboutnuthin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/96bed5/32.png) [@nuthinboutnuthin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nuthinboutnuthin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/22 "2004-01-03T01:25:47Z")
one of the most incredibly stupid, beyond bizarre things I have even seen. Is there a BABY doctor in the house??? Because, what also shocked me was the way he was slinging that ONE MONTH OLD infant around!!!:eek: At one month old, an infant cannot barely hold his head up, I was totally freaking out!!! I was so afraid he would hurt the childs neck. There is a word for this and I know what it is, but it’s not coming to me… the damage done to a child after jerking it around… anyway, APPARENTLY the idiot “mother” said the baby enjoyed it and was getting some sort of sensory thrill from it all… The woman needs to be slung around by the hair of her head for couple of weeks and see how much of a “sensory thrill” she gets out of that…:mad: I hereby volunteer for the job ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/23 "2004-01-03T02:10:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr\_Xadium \* > \*\*From what I hear (and keep in mind this is merely hearsay), his shows are banned in some parts of Australia because of his, shall > we say “cavalier” attitude towards crocs. \*\* Nah, this isn’t true. Incidentally, we have a Pit thread on the same topic: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=232787](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=232787) FWIW, there’s an indication in the other thread that many people have no problem with the video. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Peter\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/24 "2004-01-03T02:30:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Master Wang-Ka \* > **Yeah, well, Marlin Perkins always had whatzisname go up and wrestle the animal FOR him, as I recall.** That’s what I was thinking too. Jim Fowler was the assistants name, elk rider extrordanaire [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/wildkingdom/wildkingdom.htm](http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/wildkingdom/wildkingdom.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Serpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@Silver\_Serpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Serpentine)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/25 "2004-01-03T03:48:23Z")
Okay, the “walking baby” thing doesn’t sound too safe, given how fast a croc can run. But while in Steve’s arms, the croc would’ve had a hard time getting to the baby. Haven’t looked at the video, since I’m on a good ol’ fashioned dialup. I mean, c’mon. Having a dog in the house is a threat to a baby (apx 17 young children a year die from dog bites/attacks - not to mention the number who are permanently scarred). My friend’s younger brother got bitten by their dog - their pet dogs that they had for years - on the face. He has a huge crescent scar on his cheek from where the dog bit through to the point where you could see his teeth. The point is, that a lot of parents put their kids in dangerous situations _without_ knowing the risks involved. He knew and understood the risks. Not to mention that he must have a pretty good idea of how to respond to danger - how long has he been working with crocs without losing any bits and pieces? And about the wild and unpreditable animal bit, yes they are. And I’m sure he kept that in mind when doing this stunt. A lot of people don’t keep that in mind around dogs. Should he have done this? Well, no. But I’m not going to say that it was the most irresponsible thing a parent could ever do, because it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/26 "2004-01-03T03:57:00Z")
At last! Intellignent discourse about the evil croc who could have (evading handlers and Steve himself) snapped up little Bob as his very own afternoon snack. I am always amazed about the general public’s lack of understanding on the topic of animals, and animal behavior. 12 tigers trained to perform on a stage = disaster waiting to happen. 1 croc on dry land = not a big deal, if you’ve been trained your entire life about their behavior. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/27 "2004-01-03T04:11:02Z")
I can see the future New York Post headline now: **A DINGO ATE HIS BABY!** ---
**Author:** ![Reader99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@Reader99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reader99)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/28 "2004-01-03T04:37:53Z")
Just saw the video on television. It may not have in fact been as dangerous as it looked. Irwin held the baby well away from the croc when he was holding out the chicken with his other hand, and he actually had to wave and shake the chicken to get the croc’s attention. The croc wasn’t very interested in food. And when he “walked” the baby on the ground the croc was a good distance away, facing the other way (and of course he had just been fed). I have seen other films of his demonstrations that show other handlers strategically stationed around the enclosure. He wasn’t in there alone. And of course these are captive animals. They don’t have to hunt; food is literally delivered to their mouths, and that’s how they expect to get it. But if it wasn’t actually dangerous, it sure was stupid. If Irwin had slipped and fallen on the wet ground, the whole equation would have changed for the worse. Even if he had squeezed the baby and pulled him away to keep him safe, that action itself could have injured him, as poster above noted. The really scary thing is that he said he wants his kid to get used to being around crocodiles. WHAT!? So when he toddles off on his own at the age of two or three he can go try to pet the big croc? Don’t most parents teach their kids to stay away from strange DOGS? It also looked pretty miserable that he needed to put the kid on public display that way. He could have proudly introduced his family to the audience, had them sit in a place of honor, and then gone about his show by himself. I’d hate to see charges placed, but I hope the cops take him around the corner for a serious heart-to-heart discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/29 "2004-01-03T08:19:15Z")
Steve falls by himself, he maybe kicks the croc in the eye and jumps to his feet and gets away. Steve falls with baby, gets distracted in putting himself on the bottom of the pile, and who knows what happens. It’s one of those situations that has a 1/1000 chance of being dangerous, considering his experience, but if the child was hurt on that one time, you’d really, really, in an incredible way, regret doing it, especially since you didn’t have any decent reason for it at all. It hadn’t served any real practical purpose. The only real reason I can think of for this is that Steve just wanted to have the story to tell his male child later. He had a girl first. ---
**Author:** ![danixa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@danixa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danixa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/30 "2004-01-03T10:51:49Z")
Has anyone ever gotten scared that his eyeballs might pop out of his head? ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/31 "2004-01-03T11:11:11Z")
Around here we have alligators instead of crocidiles. People think it is fun to feed alligators on the golf courses marshmallows, I agree. The only problem is sometimes golfers get near the water and the gators thinking, snacktime, mistake white shoes for marshmallows, after all they are only dumb animals. I am assuming alligators and crocidiles are similar in intelligence based on appearance and I think one could easily mistake a baby for a chicken especially in close proximity.:wally ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/32 "2004-01-03T11:52:47Z")
Wouldn’t a bigger issue be teaching the kid that it is okay to play in the crocodile pen? ---
**Author:** ![auliya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90db22/32.png) [@auliya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auliya)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/33 "2004-01-03T13:05:52Z")
Amazed at this comment “Well Bob’s one month old now, so it’s about time he got out there and did his first croc demo” What!!?? Steve Irwin elicits mixed reaxtions here - either cultural cringe or admiration for how he has made a fortune being a caricature. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/34 "2004-01-03T14:11:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KidCharlemagne \* > \*\*I can see the future New York Post headline now: **A DINGO ATE HIS BABY!** \*\* The Post came up with “What’s Austrailan for idiot?” ---
**Author:** ![Lorenzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4da419/32.png) [@Lorenzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorenzo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/35 "2004-01-03T18:23:24Z")
Paraphrase of a quote from Steve heard on the radio this morning: It wasn’t dangerous, but based on the reaction, he wishes he might have done things differently. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/36 "2004-01-03T19:11:59Z")
I doubt the kid was in any real danger, but it was pretty stupid from a PR standpoint ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/37 "2004-01-03T19:26:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by a35362 \* > \*\*Jacques Cousteau and Marlin Perkins never had to wrestle with animals to teach us about them. \*\* “While Jim wrestles the 30-foot anaconda into the burlap sack, let’s look at this message from _Mutual of Omaha_!” Don’t worry, folks! I’m sure Steve has lots of insurance on Bob. ---
**Author:** ![Crimson\_Teardrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a5b964/32.png) [@Crimson\_Teardrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crimson_Teardrop)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/38 "2004-01-03T21:20:16Z")
In my opinion he knew what he was doing and he felt safe and confident or he wouldn’t have done it. You can take a baby down the street and it’s at risk of a dog biting it. If you’ve ever seen his show on Tv you might have seen him take his baby, wife and dog out with him while hunting snakes and crocodiles and god knows what else. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/39 "2004-01-03T23:07:20Z")
We were at the zoo in Jackson, MS last month and they were trying to feed the gators chicken. I say trying because the gators were so overfed they wouldn’t take the chickens even when the handlers tapped them the nose with them. And one of the handlers stuck his hand, with the chicken, in the water to try to lure the gator over to eat it. So I suspect that croc was probably equally overfed and underinterested. All that being said, Steve Irwin was an idiot. Just the way he was holding a one-month-old was unsafe, and there’s no excuse for going out of his way to put the child in harm’s way. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358/40 "2004-01-04T10:58:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reader99 \* > **I have seen other films of his demonstrations that show other handlers strategically stationed around the enclosure.** That reminds me. IIRC, Roy Horn might have been able to defuse the situation that nearly killed him, if not for one of the animal handlers overreacting and provoking the tiger. But perhaps I’m not Ring C? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-about-steve-irwin-aka-the-crocodile-hunter/222358.md?page=3)