Crikey..............................

22Feb.1962- 4Sept. 2006

In the early afternoon of 4 September 20064 , Steve Irwin was fatally stung in the chest by a stingray off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia while filming an underwater documentry
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A few years ago while watching television with my kids, we stumbled across the “Crocodile Hunter”, Steve Irwin. Here was a man that wasn’t scared of anything that crawled, slithered, or swam. Just about everything he chased had sharp teeth, and knew how to use them. My kids and I were instant fans.

Upon hearing of Steve Irwin’s death I was saddened. It’s simple, there are too many punk-assed men on television. Steve-o would be driving down a road and see movement in a mud hole, jump out of his land rover and dive in. After a considerable amount of splashing, low and behold, He would have12-15ft of crocodile in the full nelson.

I remember one episode where Steve was using himself to demonstrate how effectively a spitting cobra could spit. Wearing a pair of sunglasses he took quite a few shots from a very pissed off cobra. The camera work was superb, you could see the venom collecting on the glasses and the parts of his face that weren’t covered by the glasses. Needless to say the venom burned his bare skin.

Television used to be filled with men like Steve Irwin. Men like Jacques Cousteau, Marlin Perkins and Jim fowler. Men that got down and dirty taking life threatening risks doing their jobs of showing the public the world of animals and their surroundings. Who really gave a damn about whales until Jacques Cousteau filmed them gracefully gliding in the ocean? How many children born in the 60’s and 70’s did these men and others inspire to appreciate the sometimes delicate ecosystems in nature, and the need to preserve and protect it?

So long Steve, Crikey……… we are going to miss you.

Later’