Mike South On Steve Irwin

[gonzo]

09/05/2006

Fucking With Animals:
I am rather appalled at the outpouring of concern over this Steve Irwin character, yes he was likeable but truth is he was a moron who was doing a disservice to the world and I am amazed he lived as long as he did.
You see I am a true nature lover, an outdoorsman and someone who understands animals.

In nature, and that includes underwater as well as on land you are one of three things at any given moment. You are predator, or you are prey or you are irrelevant. Many larger animals like stingrays, manatees, porpoises and the like have few if any natural predators, to them a human is just another animal so long as it isnt acting in a threatening manner. They simply prefer to just keep a safe distance.

A few animals will intentionally stalk and kill a human, crocodiles, some sharks under the right circumstances and polar bears.

Animals dont have feelings, they don't have compassion and they don't want to be cuddled or loved or ridden. Outside of domesticated animals all animals see any attempt at contact as an immediate threat.

They do understand sex, hunger and fear and they will kill in response to the last two, mother nature has given them a myriad of way to protect themselves and every single one will do so when it feels fear.

Mr Irwin was guilty of being a threat and he got what was long overdue. But moreso than that he was guilty of being stupid and of projecting human qualities onto animals and in doing so to lure idiots all over the world into believing that most of the world around them is filled with animals that are perfectly fine with human contact. A sort of world filled with stuffed animals that you can touch and ride and cuddle with.

That ain't how it works.

Your dog or cat only tolerates your contact because in years of domestication it now fully depends on you, it is no longer a part of nature but is your slave. It cannot live without you.

As a lifelong outdoorsman and avid sportsman I grew up understanding these things and as a predator I never take what I do not use and everything else, I leave alone. If you go into the woods or the water remember your place. Look, don't touch.

If you need to feel superior to an animal by riding it or touching it go home to your horse or your dog, otherwise just observe and learn and leave only your footprints.

If you hug a crocodile, or a stingray or shark or whatever and you end up dead...don't expect me to feel sorry for you, had I been that stingray I'd have killed the dumb mother fucker too.

http://www.mikesouth.com

[Trev]

You've got to hand it to him, he's hit the nail on the head... Irwin was lucky to make it this far in life.


GRHS.

[MikeSouth]

apparently most of the people on the lesser webmaster board do not share your opinion that I hit the nail on the head

[JR]

Originally Posted by MikeSouth

apparently most of the people on the lesser webmaster board do not share your opinion that I hit the nail on the head

he made a living out of tempting fate. you can only do that for so long. i dont think anyone that juggles knives for a living deserves sympathy for killing themselves while doing it. i dont think the inevitable occuring is "a tragedy". but... what do i know? i have been accused of being cynical before.

[Trev]

Originally Posted by JR

he made a living out of tempting fate. you can only do that for so long. i dont think anyone that juggles knives for a living deserves sympathy for killing themselves while doing it. i dont think the inevitable occuring is "a tragedy". but... what do i know? i have been accused of being cynical before.

No, I think you are yet again - right!

[Hammer]

So Mike, why don't you give his widow and his two small children a call and tell them that their husband and father was a fool and got what he deserved, asshole.

[Trev]

Originally Posted by MikeSouth

apparently most of the people on the lesser webmaster board do not share your opinion that I hit the nail on the head

I heard on the tv in the background yesterday that he'd been killed, I turned and said to Toni (my wife) that it's been 20+ years of lucky escapes, she agreed...

Fuck with the wild and you will die...

[Useless]

Originally Posted by Trev

Fuck with the wild and you will die...

It's not as if Irwin was bringing harm to these animals. The man was one of the greatest conservationalists EVER and his objective was to teach us all about the beauty and danger of the wildlife he interacted with.

[Useless]

Originally Posted by MikeSouth

apparently most of the people on the lesser webmaster board do not share your opinion that I hit the nail on the head

They must be smarter than they look.

[sarettah]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Animals dont have feelings, they don't have compassion

While I have very little argument with MS's post I feel that I have to point out that the quote I pasted abve is quite beyond arrogant.

To say that animals have no feelings and then in the next paragraph say that they act out of fear is an oxymoron.

Anger, fear, happiness, sadness and even compassion are all emotions that many animals display.

I have observed wild animals using logic (not instinct, logic) to solve problems. To claim that they do not have feelings and that seeing feelings in animals is "humanizing" them is a misnomer.

We are animals. To expect that we experience things differently than other animals is to place us in some higher order and is the basis of most religion and most of the illogical, cruel things that are done to other species by our own.

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by sarettah

While I have very little argument with MS's post I feel that I have to point out that the quote I pasted abve is quite beyond arrogant.

To say that animals have no feelings and then in the next paragraph say that they act out of fear is an oxymoron.

Anger, fear, happiness, sadness and even compassion are all emotions that many animals display.

I have observed wild animals using logic (not instinct, logic) to solve problems. To claim that they do not have feelings and that seeing feelings in animals is "humanizing" them is a misnomer.

We are animals. To expect that we experience things differently than other animals is to place us in some higher order and is the basis of most religion and most of the illogical, cruel things that are done to other species by our own.

Exactly.

When my dog is in a happy mood I invite anyone to try convincing him he's really NOT in a happy mood. He'll tear you to shreds. If that ain't a bonified mood swing I don't know what is.

[Peaches]

Originally Posted by sarettah

I have observed wild animals using logic (not instinct, logic) to solve problems. To claim that they do not have feelings and that seeing feelings in animals is "humanizing" them is a misnomer.

I was reading in the Smithsonian today about monkeys taking unripe fruit and putting it out in the sun and checking it later. If it hadn't ripened, they didn't eat it. Seems logical to me