The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

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  • The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

    Steve Irwin has just died. (This isn't a joke.) Apparently he was stung by a stingray in Queensland, on the Reef earlier today. The newspapers are only reporting brief details - obviously too early for more than that. But it seems certain that's what's happened.

    He was never a big deal here. More of a joke because he was soooo ocker and more like a piss-take Australian than a real one. But I know in the US he was pretty big - whenever people heard I had holidays in Queensland, they could never understand why I didn't go to his wildlife park.

    Anyway, he had slowly become more widely liked here in the past few years (apart from the whole baby crocodile thing). It's really sad. I'm surprised - I'm actually quite sad about this. Who'd a thunk it?

    see: http://www.theage.com.au/
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  • #2
    Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

    It must be very fresh news. The entire text of the story on the Associated Press wire right now is:

    "BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - Steve Irwin, Australian television presenter known as "The Crocodile Hunter," killed in marine accident, local media report says."

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    • #3
      Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

      That sucks, though you could argue it was bound to go down like that. People that handle poisonous animals on a daily basis run a risk of being killed by poisonous animals.

      I bet crocodiles are pissed they didn't get to him first...

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      • #4
        Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

        A more detailed report is up now.

        http://www.theage.com.au/news/nation...222051494.html

        (It's only 3pm in the afternoon here, so the local media will naturally be quicker to pick it up.)
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        • #5
          Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

          Weird to think that a snake or croc didn't get the Crocodile Hunter.

          I didn't even know stingrays could kill a man. But the more I learn about Australia, the more I get the impression every living thing down there is deadly poisonous. Even kittens.

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          • #6
            Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

            I came very close to sitting on a poisonous chair once. Upon closer inspection I noticed the tag "Made in Australia."

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            • #7
              Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

              Note to self: avoid Stingrays.

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              • #8
                Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

                This sux @ss!!!
                Faster would be better! ~ Capt. Malcolm Reynolds

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                • #9
                  Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

                  Everything has to be deadly and poisonous - how else do you think so many of these species have survived as long as they have? There are more rare, unique and endangered species here than anywhere on earth. Sad but true. So, you know, when you're endangered and/or unique, you tend to get a little prickly when new species arrive in your country.

                  Jokes aside, Steve Irwin was responsible for saving/protecting whole species in this country, and was buying up and preserving massive tracts of land around the world to ensure they remain undeveloped and wildlife friendly. Not many other people could - or would - do that, so that's pretty much the end of singlehandedly saving the environment. Not many people with such massive internationally commercial backing have been as dedicated to truly ultruistic causes as this bloke. So it really is a big loss to the native wildlife here and around the world.

                  Apparently we all knew, btw, before his wife did. She was hiking through the Tablelands and wasn't contactable, but the story was already running. Gotta love the internet...
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                  • #10
                    Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

                    Yeah. At least it's unlikely she'll have Internet access where she is. Or TV. Somebody will be trying nonstop to get in touch with her, so she probably won't have to learn about this from the news.

                    Strange that both Irwin and his wife were away from home at the same time. Where were the kids?

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                    • #11
                      Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

                      The man even gets two RIP threads HERE, that's a beloved character!

                      Like I mentioned before, I was startled that stingrays even kill people. In the USA there's a tv commercial for a cruise line where the woman's talking about swimming with the rays for fun, how they feel like mushrooms.

                      Maybe I'm confusing manta rays and sting rays. Maybe if I ever met I stingray the ****** would have me for lunch.

                      Note to self: Read up on rays. Nature is red in tooth and talon.
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                      "As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world -
                      that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves."
                      -Mahatma Gandhi.

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                      • #12
                        Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

                        Definitely different from a manta ray. Experts are saying that it's rare but not impossible. Apparently it nailed him in the chest, puncturing his heart. Anyway, the natural world is lesser for it. RIP.

                        (Where's the other thread? I couldn't find it.)
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                        • #13
                          Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

                          It's a real loss. I'm sorry to hear it.

                          Now please tell me what a piss-take Australian is.

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                          • #14
                            Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

                            I meant he was like a caracature or a mockery of what real Australians are. He speaks more like my grandfather would have, and is an unbelievable hick. He used to make us all cringe because of the crikeys and you beauties, and we simply couldn't take him seriously for that reason. But he lived so isolated for so long that I've since discovered it's completely authentic and that he is effectively a throw back to our past. But with some pretty insightful forward thinking thrown in. And if we're honest, we all know someone who speaks just like him. Even if we don't actually speak to them.

                            In our country, we call it a cultural cringe and it's alive and well in 2006. Not sure Americans have that particular phenomenon.
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                            • #15
                              Re: The Crocodile Hunter is dead! Not a joke.

                              I remember the first time I ever saw Steve. It was on TV and he and Terry were in small boat at night, water infested with crocs...and she falls in! You know what he says?

                              As calm as can be...."she's in a bit of trouble now"

                              Blew my mind.

                              Thought the guy was invincible.

                              RIP Crocodile Hunter
                              May the Lord's perpetual light shine upon him and all of his animals.
                              Felicitations, malefactors! I am endeavoring to misappropriate the formulary for the preparation of saleable screenplays. WHO WILL JOIN ME!

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