Steve Irwin Got Bit by a Snake on Live TV — But What He Told His Cameraman Was Truly Unexpected
Starting from the age of six, Steve Irwin dedicated four decades of his life to creeping in wild jungles and wading in deep waters to meet eerie, glistening creatures. Nicknamed “Crocodile Hunter,” Irwin encountered one of the most venomous reptiles during his lifetime. And even though he had his share of deadly encounters, the reptilian venom never really got hold of him. This was until 1991. While filming a weekly segment for a kids’ show at a local TV station near Australia Zoo, a diamond python coiled around his neck unexpectedly gave him a love bite. Footage of this episode, shared by @DecaffinatedBoy on YouTube, has amassed more than 5 million views.
The resurfaced footage shows Irwin standing on the set with a long, gleaming silver-grey snake coiled twined around his neck. As he spoke, the slender reptile slithered all around, crawling across his shoulders, shirt, and neck. “As you can see, he won’t bite because he can’t eat me. I don’t scare him, so he won’t bite and he hasn’t got venom,” Irwin told the show’s host standing beside him.
Then, while he was explaining some more informative bits about pythons, he suddenly slowed down his speech and murmured, “Umm, he is biting my neck,” he said to the host while chuckling. Clearly taken aback, the host looked at him, expressionless, as if he had offended her by making such a bad joke. But then he said, “I am serious.” The host kept looking at him, unable to decide what to do. But while the cameras flashed his pictures with a smile still lingering on his face, the cameramen asked, “What do you do?” Irwin asked them to zoom the camera on his neck.
The camera panned to reveal the close-up shot of his neck. The lustrous silver reptile had its mouth clipped to Irwin’s neck, somewhere close to his chin. “Oh my God! Look at that,” someone exclaimed behind the camera. “Did that hurt,” another voice asked. Irwin slowly pulled the snake’s mouth and releasing his neck, answered, “No.” With a calm smile, he apologized to the host for the interruption. The fact that he maintained his cool while the serpent was trying to dig its fangs into his flesh, is just one of the instances due to which people consider him legendary.
Throughout his lifetime, the wildlife hero handled zillions of tree-dwelling snakes, rattlers, and iridescent lizards. In his documentary, “Crocs Down Under,” he was seen wrangling with a giant saltwater crocodile. While treading through Indonesian forests, he found himself getting chased by a gigantic Komodo dragon up the tree. For his fearless enthusiasm and immense love for wildlife, the Australian crocodile hunter is celebrated by people around the world, especially those who watched the tragic news of his death in September 2006. His fans couldn’t believe that he died after getting stung by a stingray.
In another documentary clip shared by Animal Planet, Steve Irwin was filmed driving through a forest road with his wife Terri. All of a sudden, in the middle of the road, he pulled the brakes and jumped out of the car where a spotted black cobra was crawling. As he picked up the snake with its tail, the reptile nearly pounced upon him. Nonetheless, with his unrivaled knowledge of snake behavior, Irwin charmed and pacified the reptile, ultimately dropping it in the safety of the forest. “Even though he tried to kill him, I saved him,” Irwin said in the documentary. That’s what he did his entire life with a lionhearted proclivity for wild animals.