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Susan "Sue" Hawk is a contestant from Survivor: Borneo and Survivor: All-Stars.

She is best remembered for the infamous "Snakes and Rats" speech during the Final Tribal Council of Borneo and the grindgate incident between her and Richard Hatch in All-Stars.

Profile

Born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Susan attended Waukesha South Campus High School. Currently employed as a truck driver, she previously owned and operated a hunting and fishing camp in N.W. Ontario, Canada. Prior to that, she worked as a horse trainer and a waitress/bartender.

Susan's three favorite hobbies are hunting, swimming and fishing. She enjoys hunting birds with her dogs, Ellie and Stinky. She describes herself as motivated, resourceful, and flexible. Her favorite television shows are "The Drew Carey Show" and "Who's Line is It Anyway?" Susan' favorite feature film is "Papillion" (starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman) and she prefers to listen to 60's and 70's rock and roll music.

A perfect day for Susan begins at 2:00 AM to walk the dogs. She would be at work by 5:00 AM delivering concrete, and be home by 6:00 PM for a quick run in the woods with husband, Tim, and of course Ellie and Stinky, who would be looking for pheasants. Returning home, they would eat dinner and retreat to the hot tub for a romantic evening.

Susan currently resides in Palmyra, Wisconsin. She is a member of the Wisconsin Road Team, an organization of truck drivers that travel throughout the state to teach student drivers how to share the road safely with big trucks. Her birth date is August 17, 1961.

Survivor: Borneo

I plead to the jury tonight to think a little bit about the island that we have been on. This island is pretty much full of only two things: snakes and rats. And in the end of Mother Nature, we have Richard The Snake, who knowingly went after prey; and Kelly, who turned into the rat that ran around like the rats do on this island, trying to run from the snake. I feel we owe it to the island spirits that we have learned to come to know to let it be in the end the way Mother Nature intended it to be: For the snake to eat the rat.

—Sue Hawk's infamous "Snakes and Rats" speech


During the original Survivor season she was a fan favorite and even celebrities such as Rosie O'Donnell, were rooting for the working-class, midwestern truck driver, who presented herself as outgoing, open, and opinionated. Hawk seemed to get far in the game by using her secret alliance with Richard Hatch, Kelly Wiglesworth, and Rudy Boesch during a time when other cast members did not yet use alliances, and several even considered allied voting to be "cheating". Hawk liked being viewed as a stupid redneck during the game, and kept her intelligence hidden in order to throw off her opponents.

As the fourth-place finisher she became a member of the Jury. At the Final Tribal Council she launched into her infamous "Snakes and Rats" speech about the top two, Richard and Kelly. In her speech, she said there are only two things on the entire island: rats and snakes. Richard was a snake scouring the jungle for prey and Kelly a rat, who just aimlessly wander around the jungle trying to avoid the snake. Hawk told the Jury members that they should obey the laws of nature by letting the snake eat the rat. She also told Kelly that if she ever saw her in a desert, dying of thirst, she would not stop to give her a sip of water and that she'd like to see the vultures get her and devour her. This resulted in angering Colleen Haskell and Gervase Peterson, who voted for Kelly. Nevertheless, Hatch still won 4-3.

The "Snakes and Rats" moment is arguably the most remembered moment in Survivor history, as the season one finale was the highest rated episode of Survivor to date and it was the first time in Survivor that anyone ever expressed such bitterness and anger. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list."

Voting History

Susan's Voting History
Episode Susan's
Votes
Voted Against
Susan
1 Sonja -
2 Tagi Tribe Immune
3 Stacey -
4 Tagi Tribe Immune
5 Dirk Dirk
6 Tagi Tribe Immune
7 Gretchen Gervase
8 Greg -
9 Jenna -
10 Gervase -
11 Colleen -
12 Sean Sean
13 Richard;
Ineligible
Richard, Rudy;
Kelly, Rudy1
Voted Off, Day 37
Voted for
Sole Survivor
Richard

Note:

^1 In The Final Four, the vote ended with a 2-2 tie between Richard and Susan, forcing a revote. Kelly changed her vote from Richard to Susan, eliminating the latter.

Survivor: All-Stars

Hawk returned to Survivor in 2004 for the special Survivor: All-Stars competition.

Being a member of the dominant Chapera tribe, Hawk enjoyed a long winning streak, although she was targeted by her tribe mates for being opinionated and lonesome. Despite this, she managed to survive Chapera's first Tribal Council in Day 12.

After a game-changing twist, where a rival tribe Saboga lost a special Reward Challenge, and their members to be transferred to Chapera and to the other opposing tribe Mogo Mogo. Chapera chose Rupert Boneham and Sue's fellow Borneo cast-member Jenna Lewis to join the tribe, much to Sue's delight. Sue's confidence was completely shattered during the following Immunity Challenge, where they were to traverse a series of balance beams. Her Borneo tribe mate Richard Hatch (a member of Mogo Mogo) rubbed up against her while naked during the challenge, leaving her totally distraught, despite her tribe winning the challenge. At the subsequent episode, Hawk seemed to become more and more angered, embarrassed, and upset over the incident. At the next Reward Challenge, Survivor host Jeff Probst made a passing reference to the incident, which prompted Hawk to respond with a very angry speech, accusing Probst of making light of something that Hawk viewed as harassment. Due to the nature of the show, Hawk's competitors were unsure how much of her emotion was real and how much was part of the game. Despite the fact that Hatch had been eliminated on the prior episode, Hawk claimed that "her mind left the game 24 hours ago" and decided to remove herself from the stress of the game in order to be with her husband again.

Voting History

Susan's Voting History
Episode Susan's
Votes
Voted Against
Susan
1 Chapera Tribe Immune
2 Chapera Tribe Immune
3 No Tribal Council
4 Rob C. -
5 Chapera Tribe Immune
6 No Tribal Council
Quit, Day 17

Post-Survivor

Sue and her husband currently live in a 60-acre (240,000 m2) ranch near Clever, Missouri.

She competed with fellow Borneo and All-Stars contestant Richard Hatch on the short lived game show Dog Eat Dog.

Trivia

  • Sue is the first contestant ever to cast a vote at Tribal Council.
  • Sue is the first contestant to be voted out after a revote caused by a tie.
  • Sue is the third person to quit from the show, following Osten Taylor and Jenna Morasca.
  • Sue's "rats and snakes" speech became widely memorable as the first time any juror had expressed bitterness and anger towards the finalists. Since Survivor: Borneo, many jurors have done the same and berated the Final 2/3.
  • Sue was a member of the first successful alliance in Survivor history consisting of herself, Kelly Wiglesworth, Richard Hatch, and Rudy Boesch.
  • Sue's luxury item in Borneo were Tweezers.
  • Sue Hawk and Dirk Been are the first two contestants from Wisconsin.
  • Sue is the first and only contestant to quit specifically because of an event involving another contestant.
  • Sue was known for her poor spelling when casting votes (i.e. "Souna", "Derk", "Grechen", "Jeanne", and "Gervis").

References

External links

Survivor: Borneo Castaways
 B.B.
Pagong
S1 bb t
 Colleen
Pagong
S1 colleen t
 Dirk
Tagi
S1 dirk t
 Gervase
Pagong
S1 gervase t
 Greg
Pagong
S1 greg t
 Gretchen
Pagong
S1 gretchen t
 Jenna
Pagong
S1 jenna t
 Joel
Pagong
S1 joel t
 Kelly
Tagi
S1 kelly t
 Ramona
Pagong
S1 ramona t
 Richard
Tagi
S1 richard t
 Rudy
Tagi
S1 rudy t
 Sean
Tagi
S1 sean t
 Sonja
Tagi
S1 sonja t
 Stacey
Tagi
S1 stacey t
 Susan
Tagi
S1 susan t
Survivor: All-Stars Castaways
 Alicia
Chapera
S8 alicia t
 Amber
Chapera
S8 amber t
 Colby
Mogo Mogo
S8 colby t
 Ethan
Saboga
S8 ethan t
 Jenna L.
Saboga
S8 jennal t
 Jenna M.
Mogo Mogo
S8 jennam t
 Jerri
Saboga
S8 jerri t
 Kathy
Mogo Mogo
S8 kathy t
 Lex
Mogo Mogo
S8 lex t
 Richard
Mogo Mogo
S8 richard t
 Rob C.
Chapera
S8 robc t
 Rob M.
Chapera
S8 robm t
 Rudy
Saboga
S8 rudy t
 Rupert
Saboga
S8 rupert t
 Shii Ann
Mogo Mogo
S8 shiiann t
 Susan
Chapera
S8 susan t
 Tina
Saboga
S8 tina t
 Tom
Chapera
S8 tom t

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