Terri Irwin joined us during Croc Week on Thursday, June 21, 2001, for a live chat on MSN. She gave us the skinny on meeting Steve, their daughter Bindi and some of their amazing adventures together. Here is the full transcript of the conversation.

Digital Dish Diva says:
Tonight the MSN Pets Channel and MSN Live are pleased to present Terri Irwin who, along with her husband, Steve Irwin, are the Croc Hunter's Wife and the Croc Hunter!

Digital Dish Diva says:
Please help me welcome Terri Irwin to MSN Live!

Terri Irwin says:
G'Day from Down Under!

Digital Dish Diva says:
Let's start with some of those rumors.

Digital Dish Diva says:
Steve is not dead. Right?

Terri Irwin says:
Nope! Steve is alive and well and I think that's interesting because that is the most requested question — "Is Steve alive?" (laughs) We are developing a surfwear that is called Steve Lives Surfwear that will be ready just in time for Christmas.

Digital Dish Diva says:
Do you know where that rumor started?

Terri Irwin says:
I don't know where or when it's started because people have been asking several hundred times a day for the last couple of years. I'm sure it's because of the kind of work he does and working with beetles, snakes, crocodiles, they think something has killed him, but nothing has.

Digital Dish Diva says:
There are rumors about your dog, Sui, as well.

Terri Irwin says:
Our dog, Sui, is alive and well also. This year she'll be in a feature-length film. We'll be starting a blockbuster production and Sui will definitely be in it! The only thing she is doing now is watching her weight.

Digital Dish Diva says:
Like any actress would do!

Digital Dish Diva says:
Let's get to some of those audience questions . . .

Digital Dish Diva says:
Terri, you are from the U.S., right?

Terri Irwin says:
Right!

kookookerri says:
Did you have a lot of trouble adjusting to all the snakes and bugs that we don't have in the U.S.?

Terri Irwin says:
That's what I anticipated when I came to Australia, but I've found it harder to find dangerous predators than trying to avoid them. Australia is home to the top 11 poisonous snakes in the world. It's not what I anticipated, but there aren't creep-crawlies chasing you around when you come to Australia. (laughs)

Oncebittentwiceshy says:
My 7-year-old son wants to be just like Steve. We have four pet rats and three dogs. What advice can you give my son? He really wants a life filled with animals and helping them.

Terri Irwin says:
First, I think that's excellent! I hope more kids have that passion. I think you're on the right track by having animals as pets. Then it's a matter of what he wants to study in school, like marine biology. Then it comes to experience. Here we have an international volunteer program and once you have the education and experience, then your career will happen. I think the experience is the hard part because you may have to do some volunteering and it might come before your degree. We take kids as young as 16 here.

animalluver1 says:
Do you ever get upset or frustrated with the way Steve takes chances with his life?

Terri Irwin says:
I don't really get upset or frustrated when he's working with wildlife because we both believe the same as to put our life on the line to protect these wildlife. The trouble I have is when we are apart for shoots. Since we had our daughter Bindi, she can't go in high-malaria areas. So I'm more worried about things like political unrest and modes of transportation.

sugarfields says:
Has Steve influenced your talking by saying "crikey!" all the time?

Terri Irwin says:
Yeah, we both influenced each other. He'll talk about going the "whole nine yards" when he's talking about a project or "batting 1,000" and I don't think he even knows what that means. (laughs) I say things like "flat out like a lizard drinking." (laughs)

Les says:
My son wants to know how big Agro is now?

Terri Irwin says:
Agro is 15 ft. long and he weighs over 600 kilos. It's pretty amazing working with him because he could grow to be the largest reptile on the face of the Earth.

Lisa says:
Terri, what kind of diet does a captive croc eat?

Terri Irwin says:
In captivity we try to give crocodiles as varied of a diet as possible. Crocodiles only gain their nutrition from the stomach content of the animal they eat. So it's critically important to give the entire package instead of a nice fillet of beef. The nose, toes and tails are more beneficial for them. Some of the food items would include beef, chicken, pork, rats, fish, goat, and then for the small crocodiles, mice, insects and shrimp are also included in their diet.

EclipseAllie says:
Hi, Terri. The time when you almost fell off the side of the cliff my heart stopped. Have there been many of those times for you that have not been shown?

Terri Irwin says:
Mine too! There have been a few times when things have been dicey, but the cameras aren't always rolling on it. We are trying to catch more on film. It will be part of a behind-the-scenes film that we've been working on for three years. We do a lot of field study and research work without a camera with us. We've fallen off the back of a truck, fallen down a hill. Some of the things we do like watching mating habits aren't that riveting, so we don't always film everything we do.

rickuhs says:
Terri, what was it like the first time you were face to face with a croc feeding it?

Terri Irwin says:
The first time was about two years after Steve and I were married because I had to drum up enough courage. I had the feeling that I was in front of a loaded cannon that would go off at any time and would have to dodge the cannonball once it went off. It was overwhelmingly exhilarating. They are a camouflage predator and if you are near them at the water's edge they will get you. The first time I did it, I almost wet my pants, to be honest with you.

maharglib says:
How did you Steve meet and was it love at first bite?

Terri Irwin says:
Absolutely! We met when I came to Australia in 1991 when I came to talk to zoos for placing animals there. I worked with captive cougars that needed to be placed. When I went into Australia's zoo, they have an unpretentious entrance. I was surprised to see parrots and kangaroos just wandering around. I heard this voice talking about crocodiles and went over to find a man in the water with the crocodiles. Instead of talking about his accomplishments, he was talking about what passionate lovers and beautiful mothers crocodiles are. I was so impressed, and he looked SO good in those shorts. (laughs) It was love at first sight.

Digital Dish Diva says:
We have LOTS of questions about Bindi.

emiily says:
Terri, were you worried about Bindi when you where pregnant with her and working?

Terri Irwin says:
I was very lucky to be surrounded by doctors with common sense. When I became pregnant my doctor said I can do everything I was currently doing, but don't take on any more. In the first trimester, I just had to deal with not letting myself get overheated. So when I was in the tropics, I had to make sure that I kept my tummy cool. It wasn't until I was eight months pregnant that I had to stop going out on location because we were doing a documentary on sharks and we were spending 15 hours on the ocean. The banging of the boat was actually stretching my cervix with the weight of Bindi inside. Steve heard I was in labor while he was underwater. He came!

Digital Dish Diva says:
Tell us about Bindi's name, if you would.

Terri Irwin says:
That is a name of a crocodile. We were working with the Kalkadoon Aborigines. They were a very warring tribes and they had the sweetest name for young girl, Bindi. We had this crocodile and we named it Bindi. When our daughter was born we named her Bindi after the crocodile and Sue after our dog, Sui.

edenmere says:
Does Bindi love animals as much as you and Steve do? Is she fearless, or cautious?

Terri Irwin says:
I will tell you Bindi has become exactly what we were hoping for. She's very intelligent about wildlife. We were just doing some filming for Bindiwear, clothes for children, and she was modeling the fashions while playing with her Burmese pythons. She kisses them and loves them and will take these snakes around and tell people how special they are. She is very cautious of crocodiles and will always tell her daddy to be careful and to stay away from the edge. She never goes on the edge. She has learned just like other children learn about hot or cold. She certainly doesn't have nightmares. She will say she loves baby crocodiles. It's very cute!

bonnieb says:
What is your "average" day like?

Terri Irwin says:
My average is never the same, EVER! I'm either involved with running the zoo, or a conservation project, or giving a lecture. Last night I was at an art auction in Sydney to benefit World Wildlife Fund. Then tomorrow I'll be heading out to count koalas in the wild. Then I'm off to work on an expansion project in the zoo. I may be wheeling concrete or doing interview. It's never the same, but Steve, Bindi and I are almost always together and I think that's one of the most important things as we're doing these adventures.

Diswatuget says:
Terri, I have seen a clip of Steve getting bitten by a croc in the hand but have never seen the entire clip. Can you tell me how he got out of that one ? It looked like a close one.

Terri Irwin says:
I'm not sure which bite on the hand you're referring to, because he was bitten on the hand by Graham the crocodile, where the crocodile drags him in the water and then Steve got away when he let go. The film clip I think you're referring to was in March 1992, and more recently in "Captured on Camera," Steve was bitten while doing a demonstration. The alligator bit him right through the hand. He's recovered 100 percent from both bites.

dgstyle says:
Planning on having any more children?

Terri Irwin says:
Yes, we do. We're very excited about expanding our family. We're so happy about how Bindi has become so involved with animals. Children will be children and if Bindi wants to do something different I would support her fully. Hopefully between her and another child, one of them will take over at the zoo. I did promise our director, John Stainton, that I would wait until after filming so it won't be in the next year.

Digital Dish Diva says:
: Unlike sitcoms, big purses would not work hiding your belly!

Terri Irwin says:
No. (laughs) When you're jumping you can't hide that belly! When I was pregnant with Bindi I jumped into a habitat and couldn't get out!! (laughs)

Digital Dish Diva says:
Did animals act differently with you when you were pregnant?

Terri Irwin says:
The only animals I noticed acting different were dolphins and primates. Crocodiles show the biggest behavior change between a man and a woman. They never have the same ferocity with a woman as they do with a man. You can't tell from looking at them externally whether they are a male or female. But one male will fight another male to death and be much nicer to females. Sometimes they won't even attack me.

Digital Dish Diva says:
How exactly did the primates and dolphins treat you?

Terri Irwin says:
They were curious of me. They would all come around and look at me. Wild dolphins would come closer than normal and captive dolphins were so inquisitive that the trainers sometimes wouldn't let me in there. They told me the dolphins became so excited. There was a concern about it affecting the unborn child.

Terri Irwin says:
No, it wasn't a visible thing either. I wore a loose shirt and people in a restaurant wouldn't even know. They just thought I put on more weight. Primates would bring their young and sit right down with me. I don't understand it, but it was amazing. With the orangutans they showed a lot of interest in me, but only the experienced mothers.

nana1234567890 says:
What was the scariest thing that you and Steve have been in?

Terri Irwin says:
It's hard to be asked that because it's almost literal that a week doesn't go by that there isn't a life-threatening situation. So it's hard to pick one. For Steve it was a trip to Africa where he fell down into an embankment with sharp spikes on a bush. He didn't think anything of it until that night when his arm started turning black. He went back with some Kalahari bushmen and showed them the plant. They said they use that to dip their spears in the resin from this plant. He asked them what they do when they get poked by this and they said "We die." He thought that was it. He toughed it out and that was the scariest for him. For me I was filming in a crocodile scene and I fell into the water and went into the deep murky water. It felt like hours but was only minutes. When I got to the top, I tried not to splash because that would have attracted attention. I was just waiting until the crocodile's teeth came around my legs, but that was perceived danger because I anticipated the croc biting me, but it probably wasn't even near me. What you see is very edited because Steve is swearing a bunch at the motor. Steve actually deals with reality well, he doesn't project fear.

Terri Irwin says:
Steve always says, "Whatever you do, keep rolling!" I tell him "They aren't going to show it if you die." (laughs)

kyla says:
Out of all of the places you have traveled what is your favorite?

Terri Irwin says:
My two favorite places in Australia are Simpson Desert in Queensland and Tasmania. In the U.S. it would have to be the Pacific Southwest. I grew up in Oregon and loved it.

Julie344 says:
What's Bindi's favorite animal?

Terri Irwin says:
Hands down would have to be snakes by a mile! She has everything at the zoo like wombats, camels and Tasmanian devils. Nothing attracts her like snakes. She saw her first venomous snake and she did everything right. She said "Look Mommy, there's a snake."

Terri Irwin says:
It was a Western brown and Steve picked it up and told her all about it and we let it go.

Terri Irwin says:
We say we feel sorry for the guys when she starts dating because she's a Leo, born in the year of the tiger and was named after a crocodile. (laughs)

CrokHunter says: What was Bindi's first word?

Terri Irwin says:
Bindi's first word was "Mom" and we thought it was funny because Australians say "Mum," so the Australian kids kind of pay out on her a bit (make fun of) because she says "Mom." I think it's sweet now because she calls me "Mama." It's kind of old-fashioned.

Digital Dish Diva says:
What does she call Steve?

Terri Irwin says:
She calls Steve "Daddy" or Steve-o. (laughs) I'll ask her "Who's that?" and she'll say "It's Steve-o!!" It's very Australian. They put an "O" at the end of everyone's name. (laughs)

frogflower says:
What is your favorite animal?

Terri Irwin says:
My favorite animal is a cougar. I've worked with them for about six years in the U.S. and I find them predictable and spiritual. They are amazing when you sit with them and look into their eyes, it's almost spiritual. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. I think it's amazing that they are such an amazing predator, but in a captive way they are so affectionate and will show affection.

sweetmbh says:
Wow, what is it like to have a doll made of you? How does Steve feel about it too?

Terri Irwin says:
Ya know, it's a very weird experience. When they first made the action figures the company said they went over the top with the Terri doll. They said it was a Pam Anderson in khaki. We had a good laugh. The faces are lasered on the new toys coming out. Bindi likes to play with them and make Mom and Dad do things like putting them to bed. We were in a hotel room and she was asking about Daddy, and I told her that he was in Australia, and she came back with the doll and said "No, here's Daddy!" So it's very comforting to be able to take Daddy along with her. (laughs) She can pack him along in a suitcase, just squeeze his tummy and he talks.

BeckytheHunter says:
Hi Terri! What is the most you like about your job?

Terri Irwin says:
I think my job is great to help people understand how important all the different animals are and to be able to help people understand about conservation. People ask me what they can do — just don't purchase illegal products. There are so many illegal trades. When you get an arctic fox coat, you don't know if it was a farmed animal or not. If we go to a restaurant and a wildlife animal is on the menu, we will quietly tell the manager why we won't eat there. We need to step well away from purchasing wildlife animals.

Digital Dish Diva says:
Terri, this has been a tremendous evening. Thank you for joining us during Croc Week on Animal Planet!

Terri Irwin says:
Thank you!