Steve Irwin would take off sprinting full speed towards the deadliest snake, and he’d dive in the water and grab a deadly crocodile by the tail without blinking. Steve Irwin’s afternoon nature shows on Animal Planet did more for animal conservation than any other TV programs of the past several decades. I think it goes without saying, but Steve Irwin was the mother fuckin’ man, and the world today isn’t as great as it was when Steve Irwin was alive.
Steve Irwin tragically died on September 4, 2006, after being stung through the heart by the barb of a stingray. So, obviously, this isn’t new footage. But, for reasons unbeknownst to me various websites have started writing about this old clip from Steve Irwin’s Most Dangerous Adventures where Steve talks about one of the two animals he was genuinely afraid of wrangling…Spoiler alert: the first animal is hippos, the deadliest animal in all of Africa. The second animal Steve Irwin was afraid of is listed below.
Hippos are scary as hell, so Steve’s cautiousness in approaching crazy ass hippos is totally warranted. The second animal that Steve’s afraid of? It doesn’t make nearly as much sense. In this old interview with the Scientific American, Steve Irwin discusses the second animal he’s afraid of handling:
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: To keep the TV program diverse, you obviously have to look at lots of different animals. Are there certain ones that you aren’t comfortable with?
STEVE: The only animals I’m not comfortable with are parrots, but I’m learning as I go. I’m getting better and better at ’em. I really am.
SA: What did you say?
STEVE: Parrots.
SA: No way!
STEVE: Yeah, for some reason parrots have to bite me. That’s their job. I don’t know why that is. They’ve nearly torn my nose off. I’ve had some really bad parrot bites. (via Scientific American)
Steve Irwin’s son has begun making a name for himself in the world of animal conservation and television. He’s appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon several times and is raking in millions of views on YouTube, so it’s nice to know that the Irwin Family legacy is still intact with Steve’s kids. (h/t UL)