RIP Crocodile Hunter

[Beachcomber]

Steve Irwin was killed yesterday not by a crock, but by a stingray. He was swimming with some (above them in the water) and one of them apparently zapped him with its stinger right in the heart. I have done that myself, it's a surrealistic feeling to just float along in a group of rays beneath you. But I won't be doing it again!

[cincygreg]

Apparently, they were taping this and he pulled the barb out right before he died.

He did a lot for conservation and for education about animals.

Seeing them at the aquarium as these graceful creatures, you wouldnt think that this could happen. They seem so peaceful as they swim around.

[Lew]

I really hated to hear what happened. I don't know, I liked the guy. Let's put it this way- prior to him, it wasn't like I would be caught dead with something like Animal Planet on. But since I first watched him, it piqued my interest a little. Again, not that I'm Mr. Naturalist or anything, but I am more interested in it now than I used to be, and I would credit a lot of that to Croc Hunter.

You know, it always seems to work this way. I mean, heaven forbid Paris Hilton would ever go swimming with rays (or Tom Cruise, or Ryan Secrest, or Terrell Owens). Nope, they'll live forever, while we lose good people way too early.

[cincygreg]

Hard not to like the guy.
Sure, he was kinda goofy and did some crazy stuff, but he did bring a lot of attention to the animal world and got more people interested in it (ike you LEW).

[Lew]

If nothing else, Croc Hunter raised the bar big-time as far as our animal shows go. Remember Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdon, where Marlon Perkins would narrate from the safety and comfort of the studio while Jim told us about the dangerous giraffes from the safety and comfort of his jeep? And then Johnny Carson came along and would bottle feed a baby chimp and it was all cute. And then Letterman came along and had parrotts that could program a VCR and we thought we'd seen it all.

Nope. All of them are wussies when it came to Steve Irwin. In his world, it wasn't even getting it done unless you picked the cobra up by the end of its tail and swung it around like a jump rope. May he truly rest in peace.