OT: the Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) is dead

[geoschmo]

I have seen his shows, although I admit I was not a regular viewer. It doesn't take being a regular viewer to see that what Irwin was doing was intentionally pushing the boundaries. He was saying in effect watch how close I can get to this animal and still get away without getting hurt.

I'm not saying he didn't take his work seriously and I'm not saying there wasn't some educational value in his shows. But a lot of it was voyueristic and sensationalistic. He sought out the most dangerous animals and tried to get as close to them as he could, cameras rolling. That's how he was marketed, and that's what his audience wanted to see. Of course since I wasn't a regular viewer I might have missed the episode where he spent the day swimming with the docile school of tuna.

I'm sure his people are going to do what they can to paint his demise as a fluke accident, one in a million, could have happened to anyone. Because doing so makes them feel better for helping him get in that situation and us feel better for watching.

It's also interesting to know that if I'm ever facing a venomous snake I can pull it's tail and maybe, just possibly it won't be able to bite me. But personally I'll stick to the tried and true method of walking away instead.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

geoschmo said:
But personally I'll stick to the tried and true method of walking away instead.

On a side note, one thing you should NOT do when facing a snake is walk away. Stand stock still, don't move a muscle, and they'll go away. IIRC, stamping on the ground may help too, but I'm not sure about that. If you stand still, the snake certainly won't perceive you as a threat (if there are snakes that see us as food, they're bound to be limited to oversized anacondas and those of the Hollywoodius genus) and they'll slither their merry way away. Walking away might prompt the snake to attack you, even though it was merely being cautiously threatening before.

[geoschmo]

Strategia_In_Ultima said:

On a side note, one thing you should NOT do when facing a snake is walk away. Stand stock still, don't move a muscle, and they'll go away.

Do you have something to back that up? Snakes aren't usually out in the open and most strikes happen because people are tromping about in places where snakes like to hide. Knowing your suroundings and walking away from those areas is the best way to avoid getting bit I'm sure we can agree. Usually the person is hit before they even know the snake is there.

But everything I've read says if you are faced with the classic "stare-down" situation the best thing to do is calmly and slowly move directly away from the snake. It will most likely want to avoid you anyway so the key is to give it the room it needs to go where it wants as quickly as possible. Of course you don't want to turn on your heels and start running away and screaming, but standing still doesn't sound like a very good idea. The snake may be feeling cornered and if you don't move they are going to make you move.

[dogscoff]

Best course of action in any snake-threat situation is to call up Growltigga and ask to borrow a killer mongoose or two...