Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know there is a wide range of opinions about Irwin - I actually like the guy. I was watching a rerun of one of his shows and he was spending a day with Air Force Rangers in Florida. He found about 10 snakes in what seemed to be no more than a 24hr period. I know there is more going on there than just him going out and spotting snake after snake, but what do think? Are there like 30 people walking a grid and then they set up the scene for Steve when they spot one? Do they plant snakes? Does he just have an unusually good sense of where snakes are? Does anybody out there have any insider information? I'd love to hear what people think.

Jake

I can only speak to what I have seen. I was visiting Bob Applegate's place five or six years ago and saw a mitchelli in a cage which I would have thought nothing more of until Bob mentioned that it was the snake used in one of the Steve Irwin episodes where he apparently goes on safari in San Diego County. The snake was either found or donated to him, then offered to Steve for his taping purposes. Bob joked about how cold the day was that they filmed, hence its lethargy. Most likely, it's a similar scenario in other places where somebody from his organization arranges to have these animals available beforehand.

I know exactly which episode you are talking about! Is that particular snake calm and hand-trained? It seemed unusually gentle when he handled it, it didnt thrash, rattle, squirm, or bite. Just let him lift it.

I am sure that he finds some of the snakes in the field, but for practical purposes, the snakes are planted at the time of filming. It would be too inefficient to primarily hunt while filming, especially for the more difficult species. It is very obvious to me that the snakes are plants. In one of the southern AZ episodes, he was driving at about 40mph when he shouts "Crikey, look there!" He then runs about a half mile into the desert where he finds a Mojave rattlesnake in a wash. This is after about 2 film stops. Gimme a break! He does a good job of fooling the non field-herping public (99.9% of the population) and overall provides some good information. His sensationalism is irritating at times, but I think that he helps portray herps in a positive light overall.

FH

Is that the episope where he flips over the fence, and snags himself. I remember thinking that there is no way he spotted that snake. I love the show, and believe it's serves a good purpose in educating the general public. My hat's off to him, I'd love to be able to herp the places he goes, but I certainly wouldn't let an Australian Brown kiss me in the face.

I recall one episode where he found two fer de lances. I dont see why they would plant two different snakes of one species on the show, so Im guessing at least one of those was a find in the wild. That was one of the times that I said at least some of this show has to be real.

I went on a shoot with one of these guys with a popular reptile TV show some of you may watch . My buddy , was called a few weeks in advance to supply some " FINDS ". They also find some on their own with the help of several locals.