Apologies to a Great man...

[RodKirby]

I just watched one of the most moving tributes I have ever seen - to Steve Irwin. I feel like a real idiot I hope you all get to hear the poem "The crocodiles are crying" - says it all.

Like, I suspect, a lot of Aussies; I had no idea of his contribution to World conservation. He was clearly, much better known outside of Oz, and because we have no young children, there was no one to push us to watch him.

His "crikey" signature was (to many of us), just an Aussie cringe term and his "country" style a little "too" much.

So, if you're looking down, Steve...

Please accept my heartfelt apologies. I should have taken the time to understand what you stood for; what you did; and the difference you have made to the World.

It sure looks like your little girl has grabbed the torch

[Stytooner]

Amen, Rod. I have enjoyed watching him. Learned a lot. I would always think to myself "Now there's a guy with a passion". He will be sorely missed, but luckily for the rest of the world, he will live on in documentaries and continue to teach his stuff.

[parnelli]

I didn't see the memorial- but I see that it's on tv here in the states on Animal Planet in just under 45 minutes. (Midnight ET) Guess I'll stay up and watch it.

[TB Roye]

Watching now. He was a man full of life and it showed. What a rousing send off. Very moving it brought smiles and tears.

Tom

[mater]

I didn't see the memorial- but I see that it's on tv here in the states on Animal Planet in just under 45 minutes. (Midnight ET) Guess I'll stay up and watch it.

Darn I missed it. Maybe I will catch it later.

[jAngiel]

Anyone know when it's on again? I forgot to tivo it for the kids.

[ElRay]

Don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but from what made it here about the details, proper first aid might have saved him. Supposedly he removed the stinger and quickly bled-out. It should have been left in, stabilized and removed at the hospital.

I'm not pointing the out to detract from the man's memory, but in a hope to save a life if anybody else finds themselves impaled, which is a distinct possibility -- Remember the kick-back pictures with boards imbedded in walls?

Ray

[tuttlejr]

I have always understood that the Sting Ray barb had poison on it.

[ElRay]

I have always understood that the Sting Ray barb had poison on it.

Some have enough to make a some adults ill, but none of them are strong enough to kill. Even if they were as poisonous as a rattlesnake (or worse), you'll bleed to death in minutes and that's still faster than venom.

Ray

[jAngiel]

I read some statistic somewhere online that indicated that the majority of all chest injuries by stingrays (Croc Hunter not the first) were fatal, and they were mostly due to the toxins in the venom.

[ElRay]

That statistic could very well be true, because pulling the barbed stinger out would result in death almost 100% of the time, so it's left in for a longer period of time. Even if it is true that most of the deaths were the result of the venom, that doesn't mean that the right thing to do is rip the stinger out.

It's a similar situation to the kid who died from garter snake venom because the dad hacked the body off the snake and they couldn't remove the snake's head, so the kid got a massive dose of venom by the time they got to the hospital.

Ray

[pushrod]

Garter Snake venom!?

What kind of ****-spawned Garters you have there in Illinois?

The ones I remember messing with used to bite us all the time. Heck, I remember hanging one off each ear to scare the bejeebies out of my mother.

[ElRay]

Garter Snake venom!?

Actually, it was while we lived in NY. The snake bit a ~5 year-old, the dad killed the snake with a shovel while it was still biting the kid. They couldn't remove the head, so they drove to the hospital. The body-less head had been chomped into the kid for about an hour before it was removed. Small body size, plus long injection time lead to it being a fatal bite. Pretty tragic given that everybody was just trying to help and had no idea that the mild venom in Garter snakes could actually be fatal.

Ray