RE: [VFB] Sad News

[Reuven Segal]

It was discussed all around yesterday. Even with the baby incident, only the pricks keep jumping on it. It was a stupid mistake and that is all. Aussies(real ones at lest!) forgive and forget and then move on to the next beer- leave bygones be bygones.   The rays even down South(and they are much smaller than the North where he was) can reach a couple metres wing tip to tip(eagles rays etc). The barbs are very long- like whips.   An idiot he was, but a good legend to lose.   R     ______________________________________________ Reuven Segal   B. Engineering (Aerospace)- 4th Year B. Engineering (Manufacturing Systems and Management) RMIT University   5/11 Rockbrook Road, East St. Kilda, 3183 Melbourne, Victoria Australia   [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mobile: 0422 266798   -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of DonO Sent: Tuesday, 5 September 2006 2:08 AM To: vfb@troutnet.com 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