What some people will do for publicity

[Bells]

I'd always thought that parents were meant to protect their children from dangerous situations. And failure to do so would usually result in the parents facing some form of action or punishment.

Australia's crocodile hunter Steve Irwin has escaped charges after a storm of criticism erupted over him taking his month-old son to within a few feet of a feeding crocodile.

Now here we have a family who decided it'd be wonderful to introduce their one month old son to a 4 metre crocodile while in the arms of his father as he fed the crocodile with the meal of a dead chicken.

The man known internationally as "The Crocodile Hunter" was branded as reckless and irresponsible by family and children's groups for the stunt Friday at his Australia Zoo on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

Australian Family Association spokesman Bill Muehlenberg said Irwin had no right to put his baby in peril, according to the Courier-Mail newspaper.

It seems that the crowd at the zoo were also horrified by Irwin's actions and some even called the police and family services as the spectacle took place (as reported in the local Queensland paper, The Courier Mail, this morning).

Irwin was shown on television telling the crowd that his son was now one-month old, so it was "about time Bob got out there and did his first croc demo."

How wonderful! Here we have an adult with a supposedly adult brain holding a small baby dressed in white as he hand fed a 4 metre long crocodile a dead white chicken. Now had this been my child and my other half did such a thing I'd be tearing his eyes out. Not so in this case. The photo's of the incidents in the paper showed the charming Mrs Irwin watching on with a big smile on her face. Probably thinking about all the $$ that would be coming in to see daddy Irwin holding baby while feeding the animals. Doesn't the saying go that any publicity is good publicity?

Irwin said his son was never in danger.

"I was in complete control of the crocodile. Robert was tucked right in my arm," the Courier-Mail reported him saying.

Yes Steve and it is also a 4 metre long crocodile and the child you're holding is dressed in white and about the size of the chicken you were feeding him... The word idiocy doesn't even come close to describing this sad situation.

On of the photo's in todays Courier Mail showed good old Steve squatting down and making the baby walk on the grass in the crocodile enclosure and walking closely behind the dumb father was the 4 metre crocodile, probably eyeing baby Bob as another chicken.

What amazes me with this story is that the idiot won't even be reprimanded for his actions.

Irwin is best known domestically as a spokesman for the Australian government's quarantine campaign and as an enthusiastic proponent of wildlife and environmental protection.

Internationally he has achieved fame through his "Crocodile Hunter" character and the 2002 film "The Crocodile Hunter. Collision Course".

Yes and he also brings in mega $$ to the Queensland Government and the Federal Government in the guise of tourism to the area and also in regards to publicity. What an embassador for us to have. This kind of publicity will cast such a favourable light on the tourism beacon. But hey, he's Steve Irwin the Crocodile Man! Fame and now it seems madness follows him wherever he goes. Could that be why he's not facing any formal reprimands on this matter? The money he pulls into the country and the fact that he's one of Australia's most famous exports? Had any other parent done such a thing with their child, there would have been hell to pay.






Edit: Just an extra note... man these people amaze me (and not in a good way).

Mrs Irwin said her baby enjoyed the experience.

"When I put him back in the pram he had big eyes and he was smiling and it was a wonderful sensory experience for him. He dug it," she said.

He dug it?? He's one month old. How in the hell can he even understand being held 1 metre from a crocodile and dig it? I swear if my other half did something that stupid I would kill him with my bare hands and feed him to the crocodile while my child was safely behind the barrier.

 

[Tiassa]

I'll be the first to say it

And people thought the Michael Jackson balcony stunt was bad?

If I had spent a hundred days defending Michael, pointing out dumber things celebrity parents could do, this never would have occurred to me.

 

[yinyinwang]

he really took a chance.

 

[Bells]

The guy's a dick.

I watched his press conference on the news tonight and he actually seemed surprised and offended that people were shocked and upset at his behaviour.

 

[The Marquis]

You're probably putting your baby in more danger every time you take it for a ride in the car. Get a grip, people.

 

[Persol]

Do you keep hungry animals with really big teeth in your car?

 

[Tiassa]

Well ....

You're probably putting your baby in more danger every time you take it for a ride in the car.

That is generally my opinion of the Michael Jackson balcony incident, too.

But come on ... "Never too young to be croc-savvy?"

What would we say of leaving a one-month old around a loaded pistol: "Never too young to be gun savvy?"

In an ideal world in which you never trip over your own feet, perhaps the Croc Hunter has a point. And he's welcome to continue under the delusion that he has behaved properly. The thing is that it's not worth that child dying to demonstrate why he's wrong.

I just wonder if we'll see the same media reaction. Charges against Michael Jackson in the 1990s that turned out to be false cost him his Pepsi endorsement. Now, I'm of the opinion that Animal Planet is supposed to be a "family" channel. Perhaps they'll nominate the Croc Jock for father of the year.

 

[CounslerCoffee]

I would leave an unloaded gun around a child...

Another article complete with pictures:

http://www.local6.com/news/2737404/detail.html

Now, as you can cleary see from the pictures, the baby never really gets to close to the croc.

 

[Dr Lou Natic]

First of all I don't think the baby was in any danger whatsoever.
And secondly you could argue that he should have known that middle aged women would be outraged because they are stupid but you have to understand that steve would have a hard time understanding how this is dangerous. To him there is no danger, and he would obviously know best, he can only stretch his thoughts so far into the abstract. I think he was expecting a "whoa!" from the moronic public, not an "argh!".
Given time I probably could have guessed the media would find a way to make this out to be bad. But I'm a savvy worldly guy, steve is a fairly simple man. How was he to know the general public was primarily comprised of mothers who litterally keep their children in helmets and on a leash?

What is an issue and what should be discussed is the fact the media will dive on anything and try to make a big deal out of it to make someone look bad. That is an ethical dilemma, steves actions were not.

If this negatively affects the scheduling of the hilarious crocodile hunter tv series I'll be looking for blood

 

[Tiassa]

It's true

It's true. Nothing can ever go wrong if you're the Crocodile Hunter.

My father once nearly gave his arm to save my life.° He didn't think anything could go wrong, either. But wrecking a sled at Some Ridiculous Speed at Park City turned out to be the reality that day. He walked away with no broken bones but that was one impressive acreage of missing skin. Of course, what do you expect when you wrap your son up and slide along a metal track at that speed?

My cousin was once pitched off a motorcycle when he was about 4. His dad didn't think anything could go wrong. He knew what he was doing. He rebuilt that motorcycle, he knew damn well how to drive it.

But if you're the Crocodile Hunter, you never need to worry about such things because nothing will ever go wrong.

° arm/life - This is, in fact, the first time I've ever phrased it that way. Nor has he ever put it that way. But it was a good catch, a good wrap, and a nifty tumble and slide. When I stop to think about it ... damn.

 

[Bells]

Re: Well ....

Originally posted by The Marquis
You're probably putting your baby in more danger every time you take it for a ride in the car. Get a grip, people.

Yes, true. But that's why we have our children wear seat belts when they get into the car. That's why we have baby capsules and car seats to try and protect the baby or child as much as possible. Having been at several car accidents scenes where there were babies involved and having been the one to do the first aid on the people involved until the ambulance arrived, the kids in those car seats came out much better than the other people in the cars did. The reason being is that we try to limit the amount of danger that the child faces by having things such as car seats or helmets when they ride their bikes.

Originally posted by tiassa
Perhaps they'll nominate the Croc Jock for father of the year.

No, he's being nominated for Australian of the Year instead.

Originally posted by CounslerCoffee
I would leave an unloaded gun around a child...

And then scream out 'why oh why' if the child picks up the gun and hurts or kills themself or others?

Now, as you can cleary see from the pictures, the baby never really gets to close to the croc.

Errr he had that baby within 1 metre from a 4 metre crocodile and these things are huge. This is the same crocodile that actually once chased him from its pen and he ended up having to leap over the fence. Imagine if the same had happened that day? Would he have thrown baby Bob over the fence and leapt after it screaming out "Crikey that was close"? At one stage during that show he was squatting down and holding the baby under the arms and making him walk on the grass... as though the baby was running from the croc across the grass. His eyes were not on that crocodile but on the baby, which was walking a couple of metres behind him. What if it had charged? These animals aren't trained like the seals or whales at sea world. They see something that small and dressed in white and they could be thinking mmmm chicken... mmm food. It amazes me how Crikey man is always saying that you should never get close to a croc as they're killers, yet he does this. It was a media stunt. Pure and simple and he's pissed off it back fired on him... in a big way.

Originally posted by Dr Lou Natic
First of all I don't think the baby was in any danger whatsoever.

Do you ever wonder why at zoo's there are fences between the public and the wild animals? Do you wonder why the crowd were behind a fence and not in the croc pen? Why doesn't he have tours where he takes other people into the pen to feel the experience of 'being croc savvy'? That's because these things kill people. A couple of weeks ago a teen was taken and killed by a croc up north. His friends ended up having to climb up a tree and wait for hours until help arrived to rescue them, as the croc stalked them underneath the tree. These reptiles aren't people friendly, they're dangerous. Even Crikey man says so in just about every show he gives at this zoo and also on every tv show he does on crocs.

And secondly you could argue that he should have known that middle aged women would be outraged because they are stupid but you have to understand that steve would have a hard time understanding how this is dangerous. To him there is no danger, and he would obviously know best, he can only stretch his thoughts so far into the abstract. I think he was expecting a "whoa!" from the moronic public, not an "argh!".

Given time I probably could have guessed the media would find a way to make this out to be bad. But I'm a savvy worldly guy, steve is a fairly simple man. How was he to know the general public was primarily comprised of mothers who litterally keep their children in helmets and on a leash?

Errr no. Middle aged men were just as horrified by his actions as the middle aged women. And you're right. He was expecting a 'whoa' from the crowd. To him he was probably thinking woohoooo more people coming in to see this kind of thing and therefore more money. No publicity is bad publicity. His daughter was also taken into the crocodile pen as daddy fed the croc when she was a baby. However she was in her mothers arms near the fence where they could jump to safety if the need arose.

My cousin's kids love his show and they are huge fans. She and her husband took them there last year and were fairly shocked to see the daughter Bindi lying in a pool near the crocodile pen behind a fence as the mother was telling the crowd that they did this to get the croc riled up for the show . She apparently kept saying "oooohhh white meat" as the croc lurked near the fence eyeing the kid. My cousin's husband was standing there saying "what the f*ck??" as this was going on. But all are agreeing that this stunt takes the cake.

And yes, Steve is a simple man. Simple minded. The public who were horrified at this does not just comprise of middle aged mothers who keep their kids in helmets and on leashes. I haven't spoken or heard one single person in Queensland say anything in support of his stunt. We've all see him and his daughter playing with snakes and lizards and other wild animals that grace our country. But putting a one month old baby in such a dangerous situation was wrong. He may have been in control but the fact remains that this animal is not a trained pet. It's wild and it's big and a child dressed in white and is the same size as a chicken, held in the arms of the man who is usually feeding him a white chicken... well things can and do go wrong. You can never be in absolute control of any situation, especially one like this. He's had to jump the fence so many times during his shows to the public as the croc would charge. A stunt like this could have ended very badly as he had no way of knowing for sure that the croc would not charge him that time.

Sure the media have jumped on this, and the media are like a pack of huns. All he could say was that he wished now he hadn't had the media there for this. So that kind of shows that he was in it for the publicity and now he's upset that the publicity did not go his way. But regardless of whether the media were there or not, the people who were there at the time watching the show were shocked enough to call the police as he had the child in there with him. And the show won't be taken off the air. He might be saying that he's sick of it all and wants to just walk away, but in the back of his mind he's probably thinking how many more people would now be tuning into his show to see if baby Bob gets in any more action shots.

 

[CounslerCoffee]

Huh?

And then scream out 'why oh why' if the child picks up the gun and hurts or kills themself or others?

I said unloaded. Really, if a child can pick up a gun and shoot itself (Without any bullets in the chamber), then pigs must be flying out of my ass.

 

[Bells]

Re: Huh?

Originally posted by CounslerCoffee
I said unloaded. Really, if a child can pick up a gun and shoot itself (Without any bullets in the chamber), then pigs must be flying out of my ass.

LOL sorry, I thought you'd said loaded. I do apologise for misreading what you'd written.

 

[CounslerCoffee]

Yes, true. But that's why we have our children wear seat belts when they get into the car.....

Doesn't matter. A car can flip over and then kill everybody in it, that's The Marquis' point.

Errr he had that baby within 1 metre from a 4 metre crocodile and these things are huge. This is the same crocodile that actually once chased him from its pen and he ended up having to leap over the fence.

I would imagine, that like any other father; he would of protected the child to the best of his abilities. Probably saving the baby in the process.

These animals aren't trained like the seals or whales at sea world. They see something that small and dressed in white and they could be thinking mmmm chicken...

Crocs don't think. And they're only ready to feed when one, water is churning, and two, the smell of blood is around.

. A couple of weeks ago a teen was taken and killed by a croc up north. His friends ended up having to climb up a tree and wait for hours until help arrived to rescue them, as the croc stalked them underneath the tree.

This incident took place in a controled enviroment.

She apparently kept saying "oooohhh white meat" as the croc lurked near the fence eyeing the kid.

Crocs are color blind.

 

[Tiassa]

That would be me.

LOL sorry, I thought you'd said loaded

That, Bells, would be me. But I was being rather quite sarcastic at the moment.

 

[The Cager]

Of what I understand, crocodiles are indigenous to Australia. I sincerely doubt the man would let that crocodile have his child for lunch, but rather teach his children about those creatures from an early age. If the child is taught that those monsters are around and taught their nature on what the are and are not apt to do, their child will have a much better perspective of those crocodile, thus be in a better position to protect themselves of those creatures.

If one wants to go to the other extremes, the guy can live a much more sheltered life by moving out of a country where such creatures are not around... but if it's not crocodiles, it can be alligators, cougars, bears, wolves, etc.

It's all about teaching his children to respect nature.

That's all and may God help us to understand...
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