Some childhood rites of passage are awesome. Like the first ice cream cone, the first dip in a swimming pool, and the first trip to Disneyland. Some of the traditional rites of passage suck, like the first bee sting, the first broken bone, and the first boa constrictor bite. What? Yeah, I said the first boa constrictor bite. You didn’t have one of those? Then you weren’t a real kid, because that’s totally one of the most important rites of passage. At least if you’re a member of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin’s family. Steve’s four-year-old son Bob just got his first snake bite, and apparently that’s considered a pretty normal event in the life of an Irwin child.

The 4-year-old son of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin wasn’t at all alarmed when he was recently bitten by a baby boa constrictor, according to his mother.

“He picked one of them up and it bit him on the finger, and he was so proud to have copped his first hit,” Irwin’s widow, Terri, said Monday at FAO Schwarz, where she and her two kids promoted a new line of toys.

“He said, ‘I hope it wasn’t venomous,’ so I assured Robert I wouldn’t actually let him play with venomous snakes,” she added.

Irwin said 9-year-old daughter, Bindi, was first bitten by a snake when she was 18 months old.

[From the Associated Press]

Wow, that’s pretty freaking impressive. I faint if I so much as see a boa constrictor, and little Robert was chill when one opened it’s mouth and tried to see if he had a flavor. Thank God it was a baby boa. I’m pretty sure that the big ones eat people. I’m additionally creeped out/awed that Bindi had a snake noshing on her at less than two years old. It must be incredibly hard for the Irwin children’s friends to scare them like most little kids do. Hiding behind a curtain and then yelling boo? Who the hell cares, you were bitten by a snake yesterday. Telling the scariest ghost story you’ve ever heard? No big deal, a crocodile chased you through the outback last week. Then he teamed up with an insane mongoose and an uppity penguin and tried to lure you into a trap. That ghost story just isn’t going to cut it.

I’m glad Terri Irwin is sensible enough to keep her kids from playing with venomous snakes. I guess this is just one of those things that builds character in their family.

Here’s Bindi Irwin, Robert Irwin and Terri Irwin at the unveiling of Bindi’s new toy line at FAO Schwarz in New York City yesterday. Images thanks to WENN.