Austin Stevens anyone?

[TWGarland]

Austin Stevens!, I personally love the guy (in a very hetero way )!!!!!!! I just read one of his books and he's lead a pretty crazy life! plus you can see he loves his reptiles, although one thing you could say is that he really p***'s some of them off!
Just wondering what you all thought of him and the show snakemaster? (that show name makes me laugh)

For those of you who havent heard of him check it out www.animal.discovery.com/fansites/austinstevens/austinstevens.html

and then gimme your opinion

 

[TWGarland]

by the way try clicking on the left hand side menu where it says
"Up close gallery: Video" and then watching the gila monster clip, so funny! :crazy02: :wavey:

 

[Dave123]

I also like him. I have seen many of his series "Austin Stevens Snakemaster" shows and even his specials like the "7 Deadliest snakes in Africa".

In that show he was going all over Africa to find and photograph the 7 deadliest snakes. It was a great show but a few times he was so stupid. I think two times he was bitten...one of which he was in the hospital for a while. The first one that he was bitten by was a sidewinder...it was a very little one and I could see it coming.

He wanted a picture of it striking so he was going to touch the tail and try to get the picture...lets just say he didn't get his shot there! The snake just turned and easily bit his finger. He said it was just a scratch and he was fine.

He is pretty careless but he is pretty cool!

 

[snakewispera snr]

I had a chance to meet Austin a few months ago.

It was an invite for my son, so I went with him. I didn't know what to expect of him , as he is a **T.V. star**,and other **stars** I've met have been anything but stars. As it turned out, he is a really nice guy. He talked with us for over an hour, explained how he made his programmes (nothing like I thought), and was really funny(he still got the jeans that the retic bit, and the King cobra, only the second time he handled one, a very funny story). I have the biggest respect for him now. He invited us to a snake handling he was going to perform a few days later..
he may seem a bit gung ho, but in reality he is so switched on, I can't big him up enough.
MIKE

 

[Tinycritters]

by the way try clicking on the left hand side menu where it says
"Up close gallery: Video" and then watching the gila monster clip, so funny! :crazy02: :wavey:

Tickle, Tickle, Tickle!!! :roflmao: then he puts him down and says he's really upset now. LOL wouldn't you be! too funny

 

[Jimmy Johnson]

He may be a very nice guy and he obviously loves what he does....but he ....well...for lack of a better descriptive..is senseless.
when he did the series about the seven deadliest snakes in Africa or whatever it was, he was bitten by two different venomous species. Not good odds at all..bitten by two out of seven.
I saw him almost fall off a cliff once and in that instance he dropped his camera. He didn't really need to do what he was doing. If he hadn't been on camera he probably would have just gone around.
He tethered his horse too close to an area while he was looking for an extremely large brown snake. The horse was obviously nervous and wanted to be a long way from there but Austin just ignored the horse.
Screw the horse, I've got to get my picture.
He almost drowned himself wrestling with a python or anaconda in a water hole.
He jumped off a ledge into another water hole to grab a gaboon viper. Granted they are fairly docile, for a large venomous species, but he had no idea what else was in the water hole or just what the disposition of that particular snake would be.
Talk about Steve Irwin agitating animals.

 

[Hawkin']

Yeah,he's a little over the top,but I think most of it is for the show.Same thing with Irwin they have to play it up for the camera and the money.Like Irwin saying" I'd give my life for this croc" give me a break,and if he meant it he should have been put in a loony bin :crazy02: !!!! They both stress the animals way to much,all for a good TV show.I think Irwin was a good actor and alot of people fell for his whole "I love these animals more than life" routine. I'm sure he loved his work and the animals,but I think he played it up just a little too much.Out of them all I think Corwin is the best.Get them on the snake stick,botta bing botta boom,have a look at them and turn them loose.No jumping around like an idiot,trying to tail them,because he is "A friend of the snake".It's funny to watch him with a hot snake,he's s******* his pants the whole time,because he has respect for what they can do.

 

[tbtusk]

i agree with you hawkin, Corwin does seem to be a little bit better with the animals and charms his views anyway, but, although I haven't seen many of Stevens' shows, I don't think he's too bad. I'm not sure what I think about Irwin, But I do think he did an incredible job showing the general public how amazinf reptiles are, and I'm sure he helped out all reptiles by stressing a few.

IMO Corwin is the best with the animals, but I don't have anything particularly bad to say about Stevens or Irwin, and I loved Austin Steven's shows, how ever few I saw. I enjoyed Steve Irwin's as well.

 

[Pat GC]

I have to agree with Jimmy!!!! When I start rooting for the animal to make a hit, I know the human is irritating me!!! And Stevens and his ilk irritate me a whole lot!!!!

Pat

 

[Plissken]

I'm not a big fan. I don't like the way he grabs and manhandles the terrified reptiles. I've never liked the sort who make the poor snake strike at them over and over and over again.

I also think he's reckless. In one programme I saw he had a venomous snake on a stick and holding it up and he was well within the creature's strike range.

He's clearly passionate about reptiles but eh. His programmes don't do a lot for me. :shrugs:

 

[jub_jub_bird]

I'm Sure he's a lovely bloke but, erm, he does my nut in!


The programmes are 'entertaining', but unlike the Irwin programmes (which were more for the conservation too) they are just for entertainment IMO.
:shrugs:
Kat

 

[TWGarland]

IMO any program in the Irwin, Stevens, Corwin vein about wildlife on TV holds conservation value. I admit that Stevens ENTERTAINS whilst doing this, but surely the point is to reach a wider audience :shrugs: hey it works on me

an individual snake possibly being stressed for wider conservation purposes doesn't bother me, if indeed he does stress them, but i can also see why it may bother others,


snakewispera, i am sooo jealous :sobstory:

 

[snakewispera snr]

Guys calm down, you obviously didn't read what I said.. The programs wasn't made the way I thought,( which is the way your thinking). I'm not going to explain Austin Stevens to you as I'm not him, but after talking with him I realised he wasn't the guy I thought he was (which was an annoying ass ).
As it is, your only speculating, as no one as yet said I know him and he's a git, it's only an opinion you have from T.V. ( T.V.'s not real, sorry to burst your bubble).

And you can name as many as you want from one to ten, but, Rob Bredl is the best of the lot.

 

[Jimmy Johnson]

read the first post

The first post asked for our opinions.
So we gave our opinions.
why should we calm down. We all just simply gave our opinions. we weren't arguing, we weren't ranting or raving, we simply gave our opinions.
We just feel he takes too many risks. We can easily make that judgement by what we have seen on TV. I saw him bitten by two out of seven venomous species during one series. I'll take your word that he is a wondefull person and a delight to converse with. I don't doubt your word and I don't think anyone else does either.
BUT, we can easily form opinions by what we see on his shows.
I'm sorry but this wasn't acting it was real.
He REALLY did get bit by two venomous species while filming The Seven Deadliest Snakes of Africa.
He REALLY did leave his horse too close to where he was working with a large brown snake.
He REALLY did almost fall off the cliff losing his camera in the process.
He REALLY did have an extremely hard time wrestling with the anaconda in the water hole.
He REALLY did jump in the water after the Gaboon Viper.
so, why are we not allowed to form opinions on these things we see?
we weren't foring opinions on his personal life or his character.
We were forming opinions on how he acts on HIS shows.
so, should we calm down or should you?

 

[Plissken]

I just can't see with programmes like his what they actually teach the Joe public about reptiles, except that they strike a lot when disturbed and should always be seized and whipped around by their tails. :shrugs:

I'd much rather see a snake being a snake. He doesn't have to seize the thing, juggle it for the camera and make it repeatedly attack him out of fear.

I can't really see how he's helping reptiles, and I can't really see how he's helping the public fear/misunderstanding of snakes through education, which is what I'd like to see from these programmes. Just my opinion.

 

[snakewispera snr]

The first post asked for our opinions.
So we gave our opinions.
why should we calm down.
BUT, we can easily form opinions by what we see on his shows.
I'm sorry but this wasn't acting it was real.

so, why are we not allowed to form opinions on these things we see?
we weren't foring opinions on his personal life or his character.
We were forming opinions on how he acts on HIS shows.
so, should we calm down or should you?

Sorry about the calm down, its a catch phrase from Harry Enfield and chums. The Liverpudlians say "calm down calm down" at every statement made to them, it's a joke..Maybe it only works in the U.K.
as for the shows, like you say your forming opinions on how he ACTS. Animal Planet paid him to make a program for them, they told him what they wanted and he supplied it. Remember the helicopter scene, where he fell into the river and he was filmed being washed down stream from about seven different angles at about seven different points in the river until he managed to get to the side half drowned, right in front of the camera.There was only one camera crew so how was that possible. I'll tell you its called television and yes it was acting and yes it was real as far as he went in the water.Like I tried to point out, the shows were made differently to the way people think.
You are allowed to post your opinion if you want, we all are It's just I thought people might like a different slant on the program and read between the lines next time they watch Austin Stevens.
He's in talks at the moment with Channel 5. If it works out he will be making another set of shows. they may script it and tell him what to do they may not. He who pays the piper calls the tune is the phrase that springs to mind here.
And as for stressing out the animals. How many time have I read posts on here "my snake bites" and the advice is,"get hold of your snake and even if it bites keep hold, it'll soon calm down". smacks of double standards a bit, don't you think.
MIKE

 

[Plissken]

And as for stressing out the animals. How many time have I read posts on here "my snake bites" and the advice is,"get hold of your snake and even if it bites keep hold, it'll soon calm down". smacks of double standards a bit, don't you think.
MIKE

I think there's a world of difference between gently holding a nervous captive than seizing the tail of a wild snake, grabbing it behind the head, repeatedly poking a foot at it to make it strike for the camera, jamming its fangs in to a jar to take its venom, etc etc. (all of which I have seen in his programmes.) This guy isn't taming his pet cornsnake, he's taking on terrified wild creatures for no other reason than for the cameras that are watching.

I handle my snakes. I don't MANhandle them. :shrugs:

 

[snakewispera snr]

I think there's a world of difference between gently holding a nervous captive than seizing the tail of a wild snake, grabbing it behind the head, repeatedly poking a foot at it to make it strike for the camera, jamming its fangs in to a jar to take its venom, etc etc. (all of which I have seen in his programmes.) This guy isn't taming his pet cornsnake, he's taking on terrified wild creatures for no other reason than for the cameras that are watching.

I handle my snakes. I don't MANhandle them. :shrugs:

I think the best thing here is to agree to disagree.
Some of you obviously have a diffrent opinion. I'll stick with what I know, you stick what you think.
MIKE

 

[ssmith_1187]

I'll stick with what I know, you stick what you think.

Mike, there's no need to be condescending over a difference of opinion.

Regards,
Steve

 

[Jimmy Johnson]

hey Mike

was he bit or bitten (never sure which is correct) by two venomous snakes while filming the series? YES
it's not a matter of how we perceive what is shown. It happened. There is no disputing the facts. He was bitten.
Does he harass the animals to get the specific pose he wants for his pictures? YES
It is a fact. You can see him doing it.
Like Steve said...there is absolutely no reason for the condescending attitude.
You might know he is an excellent person but we know for a fact that much of what he does is simply that...just what he does. That's the way he is.
Are you trying to say it was just "television" when he was bitten?
Are you trying to say it was just "television" when the horse was almost paniced when he tethered it too close to where he was harassing the brown snake?
I don't doubt for one second that they put that snake there "for the show" but the poor horse was too damn close. That was REAL.
Did he let those two snakes bite him on purpose for the "show"?
NO, he screwed up. It was not staged. You just don't stage bites form highly venomous snakes.
So, no matter what you think you know, you can not explain these instances, and many more, away as simple programing. There is a definite disregard for safety...for himself and for the animals.

do I watch his shows? Yes
Do I doubt he is a wonderfull person? No
Do I see a serious lack of respect and caution? Yes

So, show me/us that what I say is only speculation and supply your own knowledege as to the true facts of these events.
I am seriously curious as to what we have missed.