Rudy Mancke Rest In Peace (Irwin: condo, school, live)

[Woodlands]

Those of you who were around before cable and streaming should remember Nature Scene on SCETV. He was SC version of Steve Irwin. He would hike through various woods, marshes and state parks discussing the flora and fauna then occasionally dive into a bush and grab a lizard or a dragon fly for a closer camera shot. Not as exciting and old Steve or even Jeremy Wade of River Monsters. But he hosted a variety of school and youth groups and provided a lens into nature for likely thousands of kid. My mother used to watch the show take note of the state forest or park and haul us out there to do our own Nature Scene. At any rate he and Joe Pinner (Mr Knozit) influenced many youth in the 70s and 80s. My condolences to his family and numerous friends that he influenced throughout his life.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/so...78/ar-AA1jBDmy

[gvsteve]

Oh man, that's sad. Only in the last few years had I discovered him from his short radio bit "Nature Notes" which I really enjoyed.

[Robeades]

He was the "mister Rogers" of the woods!

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by Robeades

He was the "mister Rogers" of the woods!

Yeah.. he was always laid back and even keel with his delivery. He was really quick.. he would grab some animal or insect then hold it open hand in front of the camera and it would sit there until he was done with it and he would put it back where he nabbed it.. I swear he must have had glue on his hands for those animals to stay in his palm unrestrained... LOL

He was like @this is the kind of place you would find a yellow bellied sap sucker.. oh look.. there's one NOW!!!@ slight tussle in the undergrowth and he would emerge with one sitting on his hand tame and basking in its sap sucking glory...

I think he knew his limits. .I do recall an episode where he came across a cotton mouth snake... I could see him sizing the snake up and the snake was doing the same and he ultimately just talked about it and moved on..LOL. Even if he could have grabbed it.. that would have sent hundreds of kids to the emergency room as kids would try to wrangle snakes because.. " rudy did it". He explained that they are poisonous and should be avoided......Message recieved and noted.. dont mess with snakes