----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 9:07
AM
Subject: [VFB] Sad News
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
