What's great about the rumpled, khaki-clad team of Steve and Terri Irwin, hosts of
The Crocodile Hunter, is their complete lack of pretense. Make no mistake: Steve is a goofball, prone to outbursts ("By crikey!") that plant him squarely, cartoonishly, in his native outback, but he clears through the TV muck quickly, plopping his big-eyed persona behind him readily to deliver his points on the ABCs of wildlife. Mostly, it's the Cs that the Irwins dwell on--this feature's "How to Catch a Crocodile" and "Charlie," for instance. "How To" is a huntsman's field guide: for the big fellas, you set a mesh trap and clear out; snagging under-6-footers means leaping out of a boat after dark and wrangling the man-eaters to the riverbank. "Charlie" dips into more of the same--a humongous beast is wrestled into submission, except its focus is fixed on the namesake croc, who's been confined to a concrete pit all his life. From there, the hunter harnesses his weapons for a confrontation-free glimpse at some tamer creatures. "Aussie Legends" examines all you'd expect: kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas--plus possums, the curious Rufus Betong, and a wombat with an attitude. Then, with the indigenous inhabitants of Steve's native stomping grounds surveyed, it's Terri's turn. In "Pacific Northwest," she leads an expedition through the Oregon Trail, where a bison takes a dart to the rump and an elk gets his antlers sawed off. As you'd guess, the croc episodes are what make this title worth owning. That's not to say all four titles aren't solidly educational and fun, only that the swampier shows dish up more of what couch-bound thrill seekers will want to sink their teeth into, so to speak.
--Tammy La Gorce
Reader Reviews
