Susan "Sue" Hawk was a contestant on 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?" Her 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

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 launched into her "rats and snakes" 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, and 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 "rats and snakes" 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

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 tribemates 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 them and to the other opposing tribe Mogo Mogo. Chapera chose Rupert Boneham and Sue's fellow Borneo castmember Jenna Lewis (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 tribemate Richard Hatch (a member of Mogo Mogo) accidentally rubbed up against her, 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.

Statistics of Susan Hawk
Longevity
Seasons competed	2
Total number of days	53
Challenge Wins
Tribal wins	11
Individual wins	0
Total	11
Tribal Council
Total votes received	7
Exile Island
Times exiled	N/A
Redemption Island
Days spent at Redemption Island	N/A
Duels won	N/A

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 16

Post-Survivor

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

Gallery

Borneo

Susan Hawk, as a member of Tagi.

Susan's first vote in Survivor Borneo.

Susan's evil expression, after Sonja was voted off.

Susan at the reward challenge, day 13.

Sue gives her famous jury speech about "Richard the snake and Kelly the rat".

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All-Stars

Susan "Sue" Hawk is a member of Chapera.

Sue quit, upset about the incident with Richard

Sue says goodbye.

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Trivia

• Sue is the first contestant to ever 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 "rat and snake" speech became widely memorable as the first time any juror had expressed bitterness and anger towards the Final Two. Since Survivor: Borneo, many jurors have followed in Sue's footsteps 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.

References

External Links

Survivor: Borneo Contestants
B.B. Andersen · Colleen Haskell · Dirk Been · Gervase Peterson · Greg Buis · Gretchen Cordy · Jenna Lewis · Joel Klug · Kelly Wiglesworth · Ramona Gray · Richard Hatch · Rudy Boesch · Sean Kenniff · Sonja Christopher · Stacey Stillman · Susan Hawk

Survivor: All-Stars Contestants
Alicia Calaway · Amber Brkich · Colby Donaldson · Ethan Zohn · Jenna Lewis · Jenna Morasca · Jerri Manthey · Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien · Lex van den Berghe · Richard Hatch · Rob Cesternino · Rob Mariano · Rudy Boesch · Rupert Boneham · Shii Ann Huang · Susan Hawk · Tina Wesson · Tom Buchanan