Exactly...I dont understand why he catches so much flak..is he a little nutty? absolutely..but if you dont like his style...noone is forcing you to watch. I personally find him amusing...and think he has tons of experience dealing with those crocs..hell, from what I understand, he was raised the same way..his dad had him dealing with crocs from the time he could walk. I think if he even had thought for a second that he couldnt deal with it with his kid with him..he wouldnt have done it.
i seriously can not believe people are defending the guy putting his baby in reach of a freaking crocodile...i have nothing against the guy, personally...but geez... how far can we take the, "it's just his business" when dealing with kids argument?? ridiculous. yeah...it's his business to get into the freaking croc pit...but it's not his business to subject someone else to that danger who can't make the decision on their own. going into a croc pit is not...i repeat, not...normal behavior...it's dangerous, and the slightest slip up can cost you a limb or your life...as adults we can assume that risk all we want...but i can't put my son in that kind of risk and then calmly say, "oh, i knew what i was doing...i was in total control." unbelievable i'm even typing this.
Wow. I entered this thread expecting everyone to berate Irwin. Instead, like others have mentioned, I am horrified, mortified, and shocktified to see people defending this man's actions. Though I don't have children, don't want children, and don't like children... I find his actions to be disgusting, abhorrent, and perhaps even criminal? (Others with more knowledge of the law can debate that one)
the guy is an idiot.......even before he held the baby in front of a croc....this was a STUPID,STUPID decision he made.....who wears ass-hugger shorts with boots?
This is right up there with Michael Jackson holding his baby at a balcony almost having it slip from his hands.
What a freakin' idiot...First of all, a 1 month old can barely hold his own head up and here this jackass is practically shaking the sh*t out of the baby...Anything for pub...
He's an idiot. Here's his defense... "I will continue to educate my children and the children of the world so they don't go into the water with crocs." Irwin said his father took him into a crocodile pen when he was a baby, and it was important to teach his children about their surroundings. "We live in the middle of Australia Zoo," he said. "When I was a very small boy, my dad did the same for me. "In fact, when I was nine years old, he let me jump, restrain and capture my first crocodile." But that's a month-old baby he's holding... not some 9 year old or 3 year old. What is a month-old baby going to learn from this experience. The kid probably can't even hold his neck straight, much less understand anything more than the good feelings he gets when attached to Mommy's breast, and this moron is "teaching" him about crocs? It's a crock.
Would someone explain to me how this is more dangerous than the pet-dog example, which undoubtedly has had more child injuries deaths than any crocodile stunt ever has?? And the argument that it is normal for people to have pet dogs where it isn't normal for people to walk into crocodile enclosures so the sample size of injuries isn't even close to comparable doesn't hold with me. If there is the possibility that a pet dog can mess up your child, as there was the possibility with the crocodile, then people shouldn't have pet dogs and young kids at the same time and all people who do should have their children taken away from them and be called out as unfit parents
Actually, I'm no child expert, but given that you are still developing the basics of a lot of future thought processes, etc. atthat young age, it could be argued that visuals, sounds, human and animal contact and/or interaction would be just as important, if not more so, at that age. Look, it probably wasn't smart for him to do this where it was video-taped, but I see no problem with it at all. I also find it interesting that few people who were actually at the event found it to be offensive as there was much clapping and cheering going on. And, I truly believe the man knows exactly what he's doing and may be one of the best crocodile experts in the world. I don't see the risk as being any higher than the risk of a baby, for example, accidentally being dropped by a proud father who's a cook and is showign a baby his kitchen for just a few mintues for the first time, falling onto a sharp knife or a hot stove.
Hmmm....you can be pretty sure that if the Croc Hunter lived here and performed that stunt here he would have already said bye-bye to the kiddos.
Is this a serious defense or am I missing sarcasm? If he drops that kid, the kid is dead. 100% of crocodiles would gladly snatch up a 10 month old child as quickly as a chicken. If I drop a kid in front of my dog nothing happens. Less then 1% of dogs are actually violent. (by the way I wouldn't let a dog near my infant either)
I don't see why sample size doesn't hold. More dogs than crocs as pets...more opportunity for them to go nuts. And as for the dogs vs. crocs argument, you keep ignoring the human element. The argument is that Steve Irwin with a croc is about as safe as an average person with a pet dog. Now, having said that, I don't agree and I think Croc Hunter is complete and ******* idiot for doing this. As someone else pointed out, danger directly from the crocodile was not the only source of potential injury. Irwin was bouncing around a lot as he did this, only holding on to his kid with one hand. Had the croc done something unexpected, Irwin might have been fully capable of dealing with it without injury...had he not been using only one arm and attempting to hold onto his baby. His baby being only one month old, I doubt he is an expert at playing with crocs while holding an infant. All in all, the risk involved is way too freaking big considering the only reward is entertaining a few onlookers who might or might not have been as mortified as some of us are.
He wouldn't even have to drop the kid. If that croc went for his legs the Croc man is going down, baby and all. In another second that croc could have been munching on the baby. It's his baby but that was a stunt waiting to go bad.
Pet dogs can be as dangerous as Crocs - even with a gunshot to the head... (w/ pic) http://www.local6.com/news/2740322/detail.html
But it doesn't hold because it is people who are choosing to make the dog sample size bigger. I can't eloquently say it, but why would it matter if there are 1,000,000 cases or only 1,000 - what matters is how likely the child is to get hurt in that given situation. That's the point that you can argue, with the human element coming into play, which is what I've been arguing - Irwin is just as safe, imo, with a croc, as an average person with a dog.
WOW...Are you kidding me? How many people take their 10 month old child to feed any animal? "It's time to feed the dogs, bring me 10 month old so I can take him in the kennel with me." Yep, not to long ago, a couple of "parents" were okay with decapitiating their three children. They new their knives. Just because the parents are ok with it doesn't make it right. That may help to explain your defense of his actions. Watch out for those knives. They can jump at you and if the baby slips out of your hands, they will snatch you up and eat you. Let's compare apples to apples. Irwin is not an average man handling crocs. He is supposed to be an expert. If a croc expert drops a child in front of a croc, what will happen? If a dog expert drops his child in front of a dog, what will happen. If a cooking expert drops his child in front of an oven, what will happen. If a White collar expert drops his child in fron of an elevator, what will happen.
WOW...Are you kidding me? How many people take their 10 month old child to feed any animal? "It's time to feed the dogs, bring me 10 month old so I can take him in the kennel with me." Right, except in actuality many many people just let their infants and dogs "play" together.
I don't know if this has been brought up in this thread, but to anyone defending Irwin for his actions, I have 3 words... Siegfried and Roy. I believe both are/were professionals at their trade as well.
