Unless you’ve had your head up a Wallaby’s ass, you’ve already heard the news of the Croc Hunter’s demise. When word of Steve Irwin’s death hit Australian Prime Minister John Howard, he interrupted parliament to pay tribute:
“We mourn his loss, we’re devastated by the tragic circumstances in which he has been taken from us and we send our love and prayers to his grieving family,” he said.
Can the circumstances of his death really be deemed “tragic?” This wasn’t some kid on summer vacation who was frolicking in the ocean and got attacked out of nowhere by a stingray. This was a man who made a living pissing off deadly animals. I don’t think it’s tragic; I think it’s just. People get killed all the time by wild animals. Why not him? His nickname wasn’t “Crocodile Observer,” it was “Crocodile Hunter.”
I know I sound callous (so what else is new?) but you have to understand: for two years I had to listen to every hack comic in the country do their impression of the Croc Hunter. And I assure you the pain from that was a lot more excruciating than from a lousy stingray.
sleepyrn wrote:
Yeah, pretty callous, but hey, it’s expected. And i agree is part and parcel of his “job description.” He and his family and friends HAD to know that sooner or later (and probably sooner) some wild animal was going to get him. Duh!
Alas the pain from a stingray barb is, I understand, some of the worst pain imaginable – on par with a kidney stone (8 out of 10 in my book) or childbirth(9 out of 10). But I assure you that the croc hunter felt no pain if it is true that the barb pierced his heart. Were the other comics THAT painful?
Suzi wrote:
Steve & his family are conservationists at heart. The crocodiles that are caught are realeased into less populated areas, or taken to his zoo, where they are looked after. Steve is himself, not an actor, he’s real & passionate about his beliefs. His death is a tragedy, for animal conservation, in Australia & worldwide
Jenée wrote:
Yes, they were THAT painful. All of them.
1girl4martinis wrote:
Congratulations! You just won the prize for Funniest Blog Headline Ever.
TzakShrike wrote:
I have to agree with this commenter (Suzi).
Steve Irwin was a philanthopist, something there are surprisingly few of these days. And I commend him and mourn his loss for that reason (along with a few others).
However, having done an “I’m Feeling Lucky” search on “people are idiots” to find this, I’m pretty upset to find that the person reading this is an idiot too… after all, it WAS incredibly unexpected for… well, two reasons I guess, but ignoring the “He’s so great at it” or whatever one that I don’t give a crap about… I find that Steve Irwin’s death was INCREDIBLY unexpected as he now goes down in the history books as only the third recorded person ever to die from a Sting Ray. It’s just that unlikely.
Jenée wrote:
Steve Irwin’s death by a stingray blow was unexpected. But his death coming as the result of an altercation with a wild animal should not have been. Luckily it was the stingray that did him in and not that crocodile he was feeding while holding his baby a few years ago.
BTW- There have only been three stingray deaths in Australia. But there have been at least 17 worldwide in the last decade alone.
Mrs. Honest wrote:
Actually Steve Irwin was more of a preservationist than a conservationist. There is a difference. He did not agree with the hunting of animals to allow the rest of the herd to flourish but rather keeping every animal so that eventually they ran out of food, water, place to life, etc. There is a happy medium between hunting and preserving a species, I just don’t think he knew that.