[VFB] Sad News

[DonO]

Woke up this morning to hear the news about Steve Erwin a.k.a. The Crocodile Hunter.   You'd think the critter that would have gotten him would have been one of those giant crocodiles, or a maybe shark or brown snake.  I would have never guessed a stingray, much less a barb through the heart.   Coming from a background of a Louisiana childhood filled with swamp critters, I appreciated Steve's love for animals, and his feelings of stewardship.  Although my interaction with much of the wildlife 40 years ago was "If it tastes good, kill it and eat it" (and everything tasted good with enough ketchup- according to my grand-dad), I, like most others, have overcome that survival gene and can watch what used to be dinner slip away unharmed.     I've always enjoyed Steve's 'antics' (compared them to my 'Dr. D' side), and always appreciated his skills in dealing with dangerous creatures, as I had a pet 5' alligator, many snakes (some poisonous), and ran a trapline out in the spillway swamps.    It will be interesting to see how his death is treated in the news over the next week, with the controversy over the 'feeding giant croc w/baby' incident.  They played the Larry King interview this morning with him after the incident, so this is still fresh on people's minds.   They also said he died very quickly, as the barb poison was injected directly into his heart.  I guess that's a better way to go that the alternatives that he faced all of his life.   Don