On February 9th, 2010, at the age of 21 years, 5 months, and 24 days old, I accomplished one of my top life goals: I caught a crocodile! It was an amazing experience, and I have never had that much adrenaline in my entire life! It was such a beautiful and powerful animal, and it was amazing to get the chance to experience it first hand. This is a moment I will never forget, but it would be wrong for me to not recognize one of the major sources of inspiration for my passion for reptiles and amphibians, the original Crocodile Hunter: Steve Irwin.
Steve caught his first crocodile at the age of 9, so I have some serious catching up to do :) He continued to pursue his passion throughout his life, and eventually attained global fame through his Crocodile Hunter TV show. Though his methods were often controversial, his love for animals and passion for conservation was infectious. Though his life was tragically cut short at the age of 44, he did so much for the conservation movement, and inspired many future biologists to carry on his legacy. I am so thankful for the life of Steve Irwin, and I hope that some day I may have the chance to also inspire others to love and conserve these amazing animals. Though I hope to catch many more crocodiles in my lifetime, but I'm dedicating this one to Steve.
Kinda blurry, but here's the crocodile on the bank
Me and the croc...About 4-5 feet long
Such an amazing animal!
Some of the other students getting to feel the croc
Releasing the crocodile
Steve Irwin--The real Crocodile Hunter
No idea what to say... umm... maybe... nope, still nothing!
ReplyDeleteThe only word that comes to mind:
ReplyDeleteBadass.
Genieva told me during chapel and I was like, "WHAT!" hahahah! That is freakin awesome!
ReplyDelete-Nikki Lynn
Wow way to go peter catching lizards.
ReplyDelete--Jay