Croc Hunter stupidity.

**CaddyDaddy77** · 01-05-2004, 04:02 PM

Anyone else see this?
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com...t.e010421a.jpg

JAMIE TARABAY

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Despite crys of outrage from child welfare groups, crocodile hunter Steve Irwin will not face charges for a stunt in which he fed a large crocodile with one arm while cradling his infant son in the other.

Canadian Press Photo

"There won't be any charges brought against him," Terry Mackenroth, the state's acting premier, said Saturday. "The department of children's services have done what they needed to do, to contact the family and to talk to them about it."

"They've (the Irwin family) assured them that it won't happen again and I am sure that if it does they will be back in touch with them," he said.

The incident at Irwin's popular reptile park in Beerwah, north of Brisbane, was captured on Australian television, and viewers later jammed phone lines to express their outrage.

"I think he's a bloody idiot, he's addicted to the attention," crocodile farm owner Keith Cook told the Courier-Mail newspaper.

At a news conference Saturday, Irwin conceded he had been shaken by the controversy involving his son Robert.

"If I could have my time again I would probably do things a little differently," he said. "But I would be considered a bad parent if I did not teach my children crocodile savvy because they live here. They live in crocodile territory . . . so they have to be croc savvy."

He also claimed the danger posed by the crocodile was exaggerated.

"It's all about perceived danger; I was in complete control," said Irwin, flanked by his father, his wife and his five-year-old daughter, Bindi.

"People say, 'Well, what if you had fallen?' But for that to take place a meteorite would have had to come out of the sky and hit Australia at 6.6 on the Richter scale like in Iran."

Irwin has gained worldwide fame for his Crocodile Hunter show on the Animal Planet network, in which he chats excitedly about exotic and dangerous creatures - sometimes from extremely close proximity to the beasts. Animal Planet's Web site features several Close Call Clips that show Irwin getting bitten or merrily escaping the jaws of hungry reptiles.

Friday's footage on Australian TV showed Irwin feeding a dead chicken to a three-metre crocodile named Murray while he held Robert in the other hand. Murray snapped up the meat.

"Good boy, Bob," Irwin said, according to the tabloid Herald Sun. He then balanced the boy on the ground after the crocodile had retreated to the water.

Irwin's American wife, Terri, had handed the baby over to Irwin in the enclosure and giggled at the spectacle.

"It was a wonderful sensory experience for him (the baby); he dug it," she said.

Discuss.

**Honc** · 01-05-2004, 04:10 PM

My parents never taught me croc savvy.

**Telephil** · 01-05-2004, 04:13 PM

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Yeah, the chances of something happening are very small, but if my kid, (future tense of course) got hurt or died doing something I would much rather it not be him being eaten by a crocodile because I was being stupid.

**Buzzworthy** · 01-05-2004, 04:15 PM

I saw him on the Today show saying that his kids don't grow up with busy streets and such, they have crocs in their backyard.

He basically is so full of himself. And not a smart father.

**jibij** · 01-05-2004, 04:31 PM

is it any more stupid than the idiot skiing with a newborn on his/her back? i see that shit all the time and it really pisses me off.

**CaddyDaddy77** · 01-05-2004, 04:38 PM

Originally posted by jibij
is it any more stupid than the idiot skiing with a newborn on his/her back? i see that shit all the time and it really pisses me off.

If you fall skiing no one is goign to try and bite your head off, at least only figuritively.

Agreed, but mixed on this one. Neat idea but a little scary, then again I don't have kids, I try not to judge.

**The AD** · 01-05-2004, 04:38 PM

It was a stupid move, but I think charging him with child abuse would have been ridiculous. I'm not a big fan of people telling others how they should raise their children.

**Billow** · 01-05-2004, 04:40 PM

Originally posted by jibij
is it any more stupid than the idiot skiing with a newborn on his/her back?

Less stupid!

Driving 36 is more dangerous.

No big deal, just a bunch of TV drama and preconceived perceptions.

**Twoplanker** · 01-05-2004, 04:42 PM

Originally posted by jibij
is it any more stupid than the idiot skiing with a newborn on his/her back? i see that shit all the time and it really pisses me off.

Gimme a break. Is skiing with a baby in a backpack less dangerous than dangling one from your free hand while feeding a giant crocodile? Um, yes, it is.

I skied a run with my 1 year old in a backpack last winter. I figure that the drive to the mountain was much more dangerous than the skiing. What do you think would happen that makes me such an idiot and pisses you off so much?

**Billow** · 01-05-2004, 04:47 PM

Originally posted by Twoplanker
Gimme a break. Is skiing with a baby in a backpack less dangerous than dangling one from your free hand while feeding a giant crocodile? Um, yes, is

I would let Steve Irwin feed a crocodile with my hypothetical kid in hand before I let you ski with he/she on your back.

**The AD** · 01-05-2004, 04:48 PM

Originally posted by Twoplanker
Gimme a break. Is skiing with a baby in a backpack less dangerous than dangling one from your free hand while feeding a giant crocodile? Um, yes, it is.

I skied a run with my 1 year old in a backpack last winter. I figure that the drive to the mountain was much more dangerous than the skiing. What do you think would happen that makes me such an idiot and pisses you off so much?

I think this pretty well summarizes it: in both his case and yours you were doing something that had the potential to injure your child. You both evaluated the risks and determined that it was safe. Maybe more people would perceive the risk from the croc was greater, but was it? I sure don't know.

**jibij** · 01-05-2004, 04:52 PM

i assume that steve has enough experience with crocodiles to know when and when not to stand in front of one. unless you're on the hill by yourself, you have no idea when/if someone might plow into you. you have a decent chance of surviving the blow. your baby has a slim chance of surviving it.

but... that's just me. i agree that people should, for the most part, be able to raise their kids as they see fit. i certainly am not a fan of additional laws.

**INDY GS** · 01-05-2004, 04:57 PM

because we all know that 1 month old babies need croc savy, as well as needing to look both ways before crossing the street!

I could care less what he did with his kid, I wouldn't do that to my son.

It is THE PARENTS RESPONSIBILITY to have the croc savy, and I believe that of anyone this aussie idiot has it. case closed.

now how 'bout britteny spears getting hitched? now there's news.

**Twoplanker** · 01-05-2004, 05:02 PM

Originally posted by jibij
i assume that steve has enough experience with crocodiles to know when and when not to stand in front of one. unless you're on the hill by yourself, you have no idea when/if someone might plow into you. you have a decent chance of surviving the blow. your baby has a slim chance of surviving it.

but... that's just me. i agree that people should, for the most part, be able to raise their kids as they see fit. i certainly am not a fan of additional laws.

So your're sticking with the statement that a baby in front of giant crocodile is less dangerous than me skiing with my baby in a backpack? Amazing.

I have enough experience to evaluate where other skiers are to virtually eliminate the possibility of another skier hitting me. Been skiing for a long time and no one has hit me yet. Steve Irwin has been bitten by a variety of creatures though.

Just for kicks, I found this quote on his site: "I've been injured more times than you can poke a stick at. I've recently had shoulder surgery. Three surgeries on my knee. I've got scar tissue on scar tissue on my hands. But you know, I've never had a real serious bite from any animal. I have never been bitten by a venomous snake or hospitalized. I've taken a few bites from non venomous reptiles but its always been my mistake, not the animal's."

I'm not looking to argue about this, just thought it was interesting.

KQ · 01-05-2004, 05:10 PM

A friend of my family accidently backed over his 2 yo and killed him.

The world is a dangerous place but we can mitigate some of the hazards by taking precautions. Remember - if something happens, no matter how it happens, you're going to have to live with the consequenses.

(Just food for thought).

**CaddyDaddy77** · 01-05-2004, 05:13 PM

Originally posted by KQ
A friend of my family accidently backed over his 2 yo and killed him.

The world is a dangerous place but we can mitigate some of the hazards by taking precautions. Remember - if something happens, no matter how it happens, you're going to have to live with the consequenses.

(Just food for thought).

OMG!! That's horrible, I can't imagine what he went through.

**jibij** · 01-05-2004, 05:19 PM

Originally posted by Twoplanker
I'm not looking to argue about this, just thought it was interesting.

I WANNA ARGUE!
i really could give a shit about steve irwin.
i just hate seeing baby's, barely able to hold their heads up, bouncing down a crowded slope on mom's or dad's back. it's waaay more risk than i'm comfortable with.
i watched a mom take off her baby-filled backpack last season at WP just in time for the chair to knock her and baby over. mom was barely able to ski herself and she's got her freekin' kid on her back.
just last week i watched from the chair as a dad, on slopes that were as full as i've ever seen them, and in near-zero temps, zigzag through the crowd with a tiny baby in a backpack. the baby's head is bouncing and his face is beet red. just doesn't make sense to me.

**Twoplanker** · 01-05-2004, 05:35 PM

Originally posted by jibij
I WANNA ARGUE!
i really could give a shit about steve irwin.
i just hate seeing baby's, barely able to hold their heads up, bouncing down a crowded slope on mom's or dad's back. it's waaay more risk than i'm comfortable with.
i watched a mom take off her baby-filled backpack last season at WP just in time for the chair to knock her and baby over. mom was barely able to ski herself and she's got her freekin' kid on her back.
just last week i watched from the chair as a dad, on slopes that were as full as i've ever seen them, and in near-zero temps, zigzag through the crowd with a tiny baby in a backpack. the baby's head is bouncing and his face is beet red. just doesn't make sense to me.

Ok, we can argue if you like.

Saying that an activity is unacceptably dangerous because you saw someone doing it stupidly is not a very convincing argument.

I am a fairly skilled skier. I was skiing slow and controlled on a groomed slope with little traffic with Mom lending an extra set of eyes. I used a backpack that provides body and head support. I wasn't skiing fast, dropping clilffs, or getting inverted.

It's not risk free, but it can be done with an acceptable amount of risk. Why do it? Because I think exposing a very young child to a variety of stimuli is important. At 2, my kid can take a bump and not always piss and moan about it for an hour. I attribute that to allowing him to experience a lot of different things, sometimes uncomfortable, and learn that he does not have to be afraid of everything. More importantly, I wanted to share an experience that I hold very dear with my son.

Hey, I'm not saying I'm right, but I am saying that it's less dangerous than playing in the yard with Monster Lizards.

**jibij** · 01-05-2004, 05:41 PM

that's the point of the whole argument... it seems bizzare to us for a man to stand in front of a crocodile with his baby. it seems far less bizarre to him because of his experience. it also seems bizarre that inexperienced skiers would take their baby skiing with them. it's less bizarre if the parent is experienced. one is really no more or less stupid than the other given the experience of the adult involved.

**Twoplanker** · 01-05-2004, 05:49 PM

Originally posted by jibij
that's the point of the whole argument... it seems bizzare to us for a man to stand in front of a crocodile with his baby. it seems far less bizarre to him because of his experience. it also seems bizarre that inexperienced skiers would take their baby skiing with them. it's less bizarre if the parent is experienced. one is really no more or less stupid than the other given the experience of the adult involved.

OK, to be honest I wasn't really that shocked by Irwin's antics. I think he has played up the danger of being in the presence of crocs so much that we think it is life threatening, when it really probably isn't that bad, considering these are captive crocs, etc.

I'm sure most people shouldn't do it, but I'm sure that you would, in a matter of seconds, be able to recognize when an adult is skiing safely with a child on his back. Just like you can differentiate a good skier from a poor one.

Can we both agree that this is, in fact, more dangerous than feeding crocodiles or skiing with babies?

http://cache.eonline.com/News/Photos...son.111902.jpg

I also agree with Tap. PB&J mmmmm guuud.

**meatdrink9** · 01-05-2004, 05:50 PM

I would say that Steve Irwin's injuries probably came from "pushing it" with the crocs and his own boundaries. I'm sure he feels this particular experience was well within his boundaries. Twoplanker probably has a number of injuries from skiing incidents when he was "pushing it", but his skiing with his child weren't pushing it moments. Both events viewed from outsiders can be criticised, but what isn't criticised these days. All that said...I was raised on the gas tank of a motorcycle in the mountains of Northern UT (sometimes we'd stop so I could catch rattlesnakes).

**jibij** · 01-05-2004, 05:56 PM

Originally posted by Twoplanker
Can we both agree that this is, in fact, more dangerous than feeding crocodiles or skiing with babies?

http://cache.eonline.com/News/Photos...son.111902.jpg

yes... having a freakish, womanly, pedophile for a father IS more dangerous.

Tap... peanut butter and jelly on lightly toasted bread pisses me off!