Steve Irwin attacked by vicious animal
One of SkeptiSys’ Halloween posts, contained a series of amusing costume photos . Among those was a photo of Bill Maher dressed as Steve Irwin (see here) with a stingray through his chest. Little did I imagine at the time that the hostile reaction to that one photo would include insults and occasional threats of violence to Bill Maher and me.
Apparently, some Steve Irwin fans are crazy vengeful – even mutilating and killing random stingrays as payback for taking down their idol. Strangely, some wackos took revenge on unrelated stingrays in Queensland – perhaps to give other stingrays the message ‘don’t mess with Steve Irwin’. How the other stingrays will get the message without radio access, is known only to those Steve Irwin fans.
For those loons that took the time to vent their hostility at me, and for any readers interested, I want to make some points.
1. Other than the allegations of putting himself and his family in danger, I know of no bad words ever said about Steve Irwin. It does no good to pretend people think badly of Steve Irwin, and then react angrily to your pretend world. Making light and humor out of his (not completely unexpected) death attempts to create good feelings and in no way impinges on Steve Irwin’s personality or achievements. Steve is still perhaps one of the most beloved men. His fans, however, need better representation.
2. Everybody here at SkeptiSys strongly discourages anyone from doing anything Steve Irwin did. It was very dangerous, and Steve was very lucky to live as long as he did. Do not try it for yourself or you too will become a Halloween costume. We do have respect for Steve Irwin and others that sacrifice their lives for our entertainment, but would prefer you to be safe.
3. Humor (in combination with some drugs) will always be the best medicine for pain and sadness. If the humor misses, go on the the next joke – it is only a failed attempt to make someone smile. Or you can make death threats, if you are a violently insane chucklehead.
4. Be more creative with your death threats. Almost every threat I receive has some repetition of: f-ck, ass hole, and bastard. Are you trying to bore me to death? Just once I would like to read:
“hey jizz gargling rodeo clown! Steve Irwin’s final deep sea fart bubbles are funnier than a Bill Maher monologue. I also have some bad words about your Mother, but the pending lawsuit over the syphilitic genital puss sores she gave me and my pet kangaroo prevent me from commenting.
Yours truly, Steve Irwin’s biggest fan”
SkeptiSys 
Norm MacDonald! Sometimes you forget all about people or stuff, and then when you see them again a bunch of funny memories come rolling back. Jim Leyritz? Norm’s the king!
The rest of the post made me laugh as well. Sorry you’re being plagued by people willing to kill over you being an “accomplice” in insensitivity concerning the death of one of “their own”. This is exactly why they say truth is stranger than fiction. Bill Maher would probably love to have you on as a guest if he knew about this, so it’s potentially your stepping stone to the top.
Personally, I hope you live to be 110 or something, as long as Bill James keeps writing, and when it’s your time to go you end up suffocating during a marathon facesitting session with one of Vicky Bullett’s granddaughters.
Comment by urbanshocker — November 24, 2008 @ 10:02 am
Thanks for my first live-long threat! Vicky looks even better today than years ago when she was thrusting her butt into me (I think the kids call it ‘boxing out’)
I am still much more upset by spam than death threats.
Comment by skeptisys — November 26, 2008 @ 9:18 am
All kinds of humor is good but there are limits. I feel that depicting Irwin in any way with a Stingrays stinger sticking out of him is in poor taste. With that said I am not going to wish you would die a vicious death or make death threats against you or Maher.
What I will say is that despite the dangers that Irwin put himself through, his love of all creatures was very good for young people. Our creatures of the earth deserve respect and they should not have us putting species in danger and ruining natures natural order. Sometimes it takes a special person like to Steve to truly reach the hearts and minds of the uneducated or uncaring. Steve also rarely tried to handle or get near any animal or creature without having an understanding of what he was dealing with. When he did not have a strong knowledge he brought others who did have that knowledge.
Can you honestly say that you imagined Steve would meet his end swimming over a stingray? What happened to him was a freak occurrence that people who take fewer risk may have had happen. Divers swim with and around Stingrays all the time. This was just unfortunate.
The kitty picture with a toy Steve Irwin may offend some but I don’t find that crossing the line since it is actually somewhat paying a tribute to Steve. Your other description does imo cross the line though.
Comment by Garrett — December 8, 2008 @ 11:21 pm
Quote: (We do have respect for Steve Irwin and others that sacrifice their lives for our entertainment, but would prefer you to be safe.)
Steve in no way condoned what he did to be done by just anybody. Steve had years of training by being in and around all kinds of wild life and learning about every creature he handled. What he did by taking some risk was show the magnificence of Gods creations so that people would be compelled to follow his message to protect all wild life. Steve was more than just some sensationalizing entertainer. To think otherwise just means that you never really watched the man. You simply formed some quick opinion about his insanity. You were wrong.
Comment by Garrett — December 8, 2008 @ 11:39 pm
Thanks for the comments, Garrett.
1. When you write: “All kinds of humor is good but there are limits.”, I do not know to which agreed-upon ‘limits’ you refer or if you speak of your own individual limits. If you mean we should not write or say anything that may offend some people, you are suggesting communication be very limited indeed. It is surely not a given that there should be limits to what people say at all. Perhaps limits on when and where they say it, but not what is said. In a civilized society, expect to be offended many times each day. I know I am. Any talk of censorship offends me greatly.
2. “Can you honestly say that you imagined Steve would meet his end swimming over a stingray?” No, I thought it would be a snake but I was way off. The point is that the person most educated and learned in dangerous animal behavior could not survive it, so it is dangerous for those of us with less knowledge. I recall taking a botany course, and my professor told us that the foremost expert in mushrooms had died from eating poison mushrooms. Oops.
3. Steve was popular because he was entertaining, not because he was a teacher. There are people in classrooms who teach about animal behavior that never get their own tv show. I thought it was in the pursuit of a more entertaining show that he risked his life. I do not think anyone seriously questions Steve’s sanity, but if I told people I was going to be near crocodiles I would expect them to call me crazy. Figure of speech, I guess.
4. The photo I posted created a forum for Steve Irwin’s supporters to tell people of his good work. Is it simply because you do not like the pic that you cannot acknowledge the benefit? So much will be lost if our instinct is to self-censor.
Comment by skeptisys — December 9, 2008 @ 12:12 pm
like the picture up there it is cute sorry about steve i am a animal lover to i would do anything for an animal
Comment by alexis murphy — November 23, 2009 @ 9:17 am
Did one of Irwin’s crazed followers break through the three ring circus of security surrounding SketiSys once and for all?
It’s been a long time since you posted. It ain’t easy being a Nets fan, I know, but dem Balmer Oryuls haven’t been winners since 1997 and I’m still online.
Comment by Bartolome Fortunato — December 29, 2009 @ 1:15 pm