A Dedication to a Life of Passion and Life well-lived: To Steve Irwin

  

  

  

  




  

  

  


How on this Earth could I call myself a JungleTart if I did not give tribute to one of the most passionate animal lovers and conservationists of our time? I would have liked these pictures to be side by side, but I have limited html skills and didn't know how to do it. But I think if you click on a pic it will get larger.

I was and am deeply saddened at the loss of Steve Irwin when I heard from my Mom today. Shocked, really. For those who don't appreciate his style of unabashed adoration of animals, well wanh for you. Many thought he was not intelligent, since he acted like a 5 year old all the time. He was in fact quite intelligent, was a champion of wild life and their preservation, bought land in several countries to act as national reserves, ran his zoo, taped shows to inspire passion in others - not to bitch or dictate at them, had a loving and wonderful family, and was bigger than life to a lot of people, even his family.

What happened to him on Monday was not only a freak accident but was a measure of the fact that he was sorely out of his element. According to some sources, his producer/friend said that if death was ever going to occur it was going to be in the ocean, a place that he is out of his element, and is hard to control, things go wrong. We all know that he could handle himself on land.

He was filming a snorkle dive with a sting ray and swam upon it accidentally, scaring the stingray who probably felt boxed in by Steve in back of it and a cameraman in front of it. It raised its stinger and it went into Steve's heart either killing him with the direct poison causing a heart attack or a rip to the aorta, a quick bleed. It is said that it was taped, including him pulling out the stinger himself, and that the tape was handed to authorities. I don't need to see this tape, but I have the feeling the disgusting aspects of the media can't wait to play it for everyone. I hope Terri gets a hold of it and puts it in a safe.

I, yes me the Tart, have 'swum' with stingrays. It was in the Caymen Islands during our family cruise and it was a wonderful experience. I was afraid to get in the water, but by the end I even kissed one. The water was blue blue coming up to our necks and the sand pure white. It's a tourist attraction that tons of people come to every year. There have been few deaths in the whole world from stingrays, I believe 3 since 1945. While I couldn't help thinking he must have 'done' something to his, the footage shows that he did nothing of the kind. It was a freak accident.

Yeah, yeah, to all the doubters, I can think of their main statement: Well, if he just wouldn't be in the water doing those things he would have been okay.

That is precisely why it is such a terrible loss. If he was afraid and never tried or worked so hard to push a worthy cause and life into our face, we never would have known him. We never would have been touched by him. It wouldn't be such a loss to lose someone that didn't seem in some ways larger than life.

I mourn him. I think there must be some fantastic stuff going on in heaven now, that they got a passionate one like him back. I don't know what heaven is like, the afterlife, but a chap like him cannot help but make it better place - look at what he did in such little time in a hole called Earth. God bless you Steve, God bless you Terri and your babies, lets keep up the good work so we can tell Stev-o all about it when we see him again!