On September 4, 2006, the world mourned the death of our favorite animal conservationist and a fearless adventurer Steve’ The Crocodile Hunter’ Irwin. His passion for animals, along with his buoyant enthusiasm, gave him a charisma that earned him millions of fans and brought attention to the plight of countless animals. While some disagreed with his up close and personal approach, Steve’s would regularly put his life and limbs on the line to give his fans a personal experience inside the world of some of the planet’s most dangerous creatures. We saw Steve handling snakes, chasing emus, also petting lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!). And, of course, he was an expert at handling crocodiles.
However, while Steve was pretty much willing to handle (some would say harass) just about any animal in the world, he did have two that he did not like dealing with, one of which he would never dream of going near. The first animal was parrots. While it seems odd, The Crocodile Hunter, says that he’s had his fair share of painful experiences with these types of birds. In an interview with Scientific America, he explained: “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.” The other animal was hippos. Steve said that he would never dream of going near those animals, and for a good reason, they are the leading cause of animal-related deaths in Africa. In this video, Steve confronts one of the most venomous lizards in the world, the komodo dragon.
Image via YouTube
As Steve trails and gets in front of the dragon in this video, it appears that the komodo had enough of the pesky Australian and decided it was lunchtime. It chases Steve up into a tree, where he examines his boots and marvels at how the lizard’s tooth managed to pierce his boot. Steve eventually climbs down from the tree, keeping a rather wearing eye on his new friend while making a well-advised retreat.
Image via YouTube
You can enjoy Steves great Komodo dragon adventure in the video below.
