Crocodile Hunter Hunts His Last Hunt

Today we learned of Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin's death—aged 44, and not how you thought it was gonna happen either. Although he tempted fate numerous times with various deadly animals, he died in a pretty bizarre way—all of the circumstances had to be “just so” for his death to have occurred.

“In the end it was a stingray that did in the internationally famous khaki-clad nature star of Crocodile Hunter fame. A run-in with the sea creature in waters near Australia's Great Barrier Reef killed Irwin on Monday...stingray attacks are typically defensive and rarely fatal--unless a barb, a jagged part of the stingray's stinger along its spine, punctures a person's stomach or heart. Irwin apparently suffered the latter fate--a shot to the heart. "He came up on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole in his heart," John Stainton, Irwin's longtime director and producer, told reporters in Australia.” [E! Online]

If you’re not a fan of Animal Planet or have been living under a rock for a few years, then you might best remember Steve Irwin from his last controversy (pictured above). He brought his newborn baby into the crocodile pit with him—in front of a crowd of onlookers. He then proceeded to feed the crocodile raw meat, whilst said infant dangled precariously in his other arm. Stupid? Yes. But the damage control he had to do post-episode proved that he wasn’t really sure what all the fuss was about. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.

Look, I’m already on the bus to hell, so don’t get your panties in a bunch while you read this... I’m not going to sugar coat this story… He was gonna die an animal-related death, the question was not if, but when. And a fairly short time ago, I said it, too. And I also said: I wanna see the tape. (Which I take back... That was a bit much... I do it all for the funny... Sometimes the funny goes too far. So sue me.)

Now, some of you might be wondering: Why such hatred for the Croc guy? I didn’t hate him... It just annoyed me to no end that someone who was supposed to be caring for (he was the head of Australia Zoo) and promoting the sanctity of wildlife would be so brazen as to interfere with wildlife as much and to the extent that he did. In his work, I didn’t see the respect he claimed to have for wildlife... I saw a desperate attempt to exploit wildlife in a need to gain personal notoriety.

This is just an opinion... and opinions are like a-holes—everyone’s got one and they all stink. Did I wish him any ill will or harm because I didn’t care for his line of work? No. Of course not... but, the fact remains: Mess with the bull and you get the horns. Life is dangerous enough—don’t f--- with nature.