Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Responding to the thread below, I was about 8 years old, and had only had garter snakes, box turtles and local frog and salamanders as herp pets when I saw this photo in a TFH book.

I was so entranced with this photo. I made myself a promise at that wee age that I would have indigos one day.

I was 25 when I acquired my first specimens.

Dean, i had a similar story in that when i was 8 i watched Marlin Perkins hold a huge couperi on his t.v. show (yeah, i'm old!)and told my parents that someday i would have a pet indigo; at the time my collection consisted of a ball python that i still have today, a bullsnake, a garter and various frogs/toads/salamanders that i caught...and, it wasn't until i was 30 when i acquired my first indigos....but it was worth the wait.

Ok I admit it! I know who he is and have also watched his show for many years in GERMANY even! Yes, I AM an old guy too, LOL! I was just having a little fun. . .

But yes, my first "Dry" (pair of erebennus), I got when I was 26. I have always wanted a plumed basilisk as a young boy, then changed to snakes shortly thereafter. Then, I saw my first LIVE Indigo in the Jacksonville, FL. Zoo. This led to the dream of wanting one for many years, which finally became a reality -

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Zee

Man, I used to watch that show every week without fail. All we had was one black and white TV so everyone had to watch the same thing (or go do something else), so we all got to choose one program every week that was "our" show and we got to see it every week. Wild Kingdom was "my show".

I remember thinking that Marlin Perkins had the worst teeth in television. They looked like they were made of wood, which was OK since even George Washington had wooden teeth (or so I was told at the time), but it seemed like the network could at least afford to have them painted white.

It seemed to me that Marlin Perkins never really did anything except talk. He had this flunky, Jim Fowler, who did all the work for him. Jim Fowler didn't seem to me to be the brightest bulb on the tree. You'd hear Marlin say something like "Now Jim is going out into that muddy river and he's going to wrestle that 18 foot Salt Water Crocodile into submission, while I sit here under the tent and sip on this Dry Martini". And what did Jim do? He trotted his stupid butt down into the river and grabbed that big old crocodile (or Anaconda or Hippo or whatever) and nearly got himself killed...every week. You'd think that would get old for Jim after a while. I think after about the 3rd week, I'd have tossed Marlin's old crusty butt into that river and drank his Martini.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

LOL!

I grew up watching that show with my dad every week too.

In Marlin's defense, he didn't always sit back and watch Jim do the work; How about the time he nearly got drowned by the anaconda?

Eric
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If Jesus is your co-pilot, you'd better change seats!

>>LOL!
>>
>>I grew up watching that show with my dad every week too.
>>
>>In Marlin's defense, he didn't always sit back and watch Jim do the work; How about the time he nearly got drowned by the anaconda?
>>
>>Eric
>>-----
>>If Jesus is your co-pilot, you'd better change seats!
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Now, THAT was comedy. I think that's why he started drinking and quit wrestling the animals....
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

My most vivid memory of WILD KINGDOM was Marlin getting drenched by the anaconda.

Jim Fowler was Perkins' go-fer, but there was another guy too. He'd always run around barefoot. I think he was South African or something. Anyone else remember that guy? The only memory I have is him jumping on a horse to track something down.

Doug T

>>LOL!
>>
>>I grew up watching that show with my dad every week too.
>>
>>In Marlin's defense, he didn't always sit back and watch Jim do the work; How about the time he nearly got drowned by the anaconda?
>>
>>Eric
>>-----
>>If Jesus is your co-pilot, you'd better change seats!

Doug Taylor Reptiles

Dan or Don Blocker or Brocker comes to mind, your right he DID have sort of a south African kinda accent, he was on the show in the later years if memory serves me correctly.

I reckon if I saw any episodes of that show now it would be like watching re-runs of the Brady Bunch..... great for the 70's but so cheesy now you'd wanna dip your tortilla chips in it..... LOL

Can anyone else think of the guys name???

Cheers
Dean

Man....I remeber watching that show also. they had huge tracks of black and white photography.

But the cool thing was MARLINS MUSTACHE....you just know that puppy had to be greased and crazy glued to stay up there in place,,,hiding some teeeth that looked like wooden tent pegs!!

Now that we have shown our age(s)

Who among us remembers(Drumroll please)

*************DAKTARI!!!!!*************
With Clarence the cross eyed LION!
Now that was a GOOD SHOW....action packed, and they even attempted to use snakes of the same species as the ones on the show(If they mentioned a python, they used a python, but not always the one that they named.."

Show yur age...

LOL

Fred Albury

I have very sketchy memories about that show...I keep seeing lions.

I was very young...I think you one or 2 on me Fred. I was cb in March of 1968

>>Man....I remeber watching that show also. they had huge tracks of black and white photography.
>>
>>But the cool thing was MARLINS MUSTACHE....you just know that puppy had to be greased and crazy glued to stay up there in place,,,hiding some teeeth that looked like wooden tent pegs!!
>>
>>Now that we have shown our age(s)
>>
>>Who among us remembers(Drumroll please)
>>
>>
>> *************DAKTARI!!!!!*************
>>With Clarence the cross eyed LION!
>>Now that was a GOOD SHOW....action packed, and they even attempted to use snakes of the same species as the ones on the show(If they mentioned a python, they used a python, but not always the one that they named.."
>>
>> Show yur age...
>>
>>
>>LOL
>>
>>Fred Albury

***removing teeth from glass on the end table beside rocking chair, placing them in mouth so I can speak clearly***

Yep, I remember Daktari. That came well after Wild Kingdom, though.

Hey, I watched the following shows in their original runs:

My Three Sons
Father Knows Best
Highway Patrol (with Broderick Crawford)
The Andy Griffith Show
Car 54 (Where are you?)
Route 66
Sing Along with Mitch
I Love Lucy
The Young Rascals
The Honeymooners
George Burns and Gracie Allen
The Lone Ranger
The Virginian
Wagon Train
Have Gun Will Travel (Paladin)

I can probably think of more as soon as the Alzhiemers subsides a little....
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dang...I cant even remember al of those..even with the increased doses of Viagra I put in my morning tea

*As for the teeth..I still have mine, though the coke bottle thick glasses.....they are a comin soon....*

And lets not EVEN discuss the *DEPENDS* issue.

Thats just downright embarrassing........

Kinda like my spelling....

muahahahahahahahah

Fredrick albury

...it keeps me from rolling out of bed in my sleep.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

that was the funniest post i've heard in a while. todd hughes from corpus christi, texas. w.c. in '62 so i can relate to M of OWK and daktari. count me in on texas indigos. i watched one in blue sunning last sunday and a 6' male get a drink the same day. alas the front is here and they will be down for a while. merry christmas all.

I can still hum the opening music - played on an African "thumb piano".

Funny thing though - shows about herps that we see on TV today blow everything done back then out of the water, yet people like Erwin get lots of flack for the great shows they bring to TV. Any of us who remember watching these old shows just hoping for a couple shots of some herp - any herp, would have to admit, if suddenly a full color Steve Erwin suddenly showed up when we tuned in we would have been astounded. Now we whine about them...

History:
Program:  Daktari
Broadcast History:
First Telecast: January 1966
Last Telecast: January 1969
"Daktari" (a Swahili word for "Doctor" was a spin-off from the 1965 feature film, "Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion."  Scenes of The Wameru Study Center for Animal Behavior in East Africa were filmed at Africa, U.S.A., a wild-animal park in Soledad Canyon, CA.
http://www.mortystv.com/showcards/daktari.shtml

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Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, which premiered on January 6, 1963, took viewers to the far corners of the world and studied wild animals in their natural habitats.

Hosting duties were handled by Marlin Perkins, who was joined by several field correspondents, including subsequent hosts Jim Fowler and Peter Gros. Wild Kingdom was seen on network prime-time television until 1971, at which time it was syndicated on the Mutual of Omaha National Syndication Network.

http://www.wildkingdom.com/history/brief.html

An aside. I met a guy who helped Marlin with that TV shoot. He said by the end of it the snake was close to complete heat exhaustion, could barely crawl. He said he was very disappointed watching the production take precident over the snake's health.

I'm sure nothing like that would ever happen today

And I must be older than you guys since my earliest visions of Indigoes come from black and white photos in Ditmars, etc. For some reason those early black and white photos had more punch then the flood that came afterwards - in the 80s, 90s. I suppose that probably has more to do with me then the pictures themselves!

Or maybe not...

'member that photo of the indigo by the log????????....my first experience was when i was 8 at hass' maima serpentsumthin place....great animals.........

...of Snakes and Snake Hunting and The Keeper and the Kept.

By the way it's The Miami Serpentarium. The guy's name is Bill Haast. I didn't get to go there for the first time until I was in my 20's. I've probably been there 12 or 14 times. I think he relocated to the West Coast of Florida (maybe Punta Gorda?) and closed to the public, though.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yeah I had lost my copies of Kauffeld's books, but easily found some on Amazon.com for like $8. ea shipping.
On Bill Haast, he still lives in FL and I assume (hope!)has recovered from his bad bite (last year?)
Our herp soc. plans a trip to his place when he can accomodate us. It's been years since I talked with him myself, but hope to soon. As a kid, the Miami Serpentarium was a mecca to me, but my visits were never as frequent as I'd have liked. Why do parents never understand they need to drive you 200 mi to see snakes???
I do have a VHS copy of the last trip the SHS made that I pop in now and again.
Indigos were a big part of my early herping for sure 'til they became listed.
:Mark

Do you guys know or remember Cookie the crocodile from Haaast's place? She killed a man

dad dropped in the enclosure??

Well, it didn't quite go down like that!
Actually, the kid was about 9 years old. He was standing on the retaining wall of the enclosure and fell into it. Cookie seized the kid by the chest and slammed his head into the retaining wall. then went into the pool, only 2' deep.
The father jumped into the enclosure and tried to pry Cookies mouth open. Bill shot Cookie later that night..
OH,
Bill is now in Punta Gorda, FL currently operating the Miami Serpentarium Laboratories, on an 80 acre spread. Unfortunately, the facility is closed to the public.
If any of you visited the old Miami Serpentarium, on Old Dixie Hwy (US 10) and remember a skinny, freckled face kid giving tours on the weekends, then we may have met!

Jeff

If you were there in the '70s and early '80s then we almost certainly crossed paths.....

Do you remember when Bill had to fly to Monroe Louisiana to to be a transfusion donor for a guy named Randy Lee? He was nipped on the thumb by a Krait...you know, drunk...trying to tube feed it to impress his girlfriend....he ended up on a TV show called "That's Incredible".
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was there from '76 - '79, so we may have crossed paths. Small world it is!
I don't remember Randy Lee, but I do remember Bill being flown by private jet, by a State Dept. official, to a jungle village in Venezuela, to give blood to a young boy who had been bitten by a coral snake, can’t remember the exact species which bite the kid though, but he managed to pull through.
Bill logged a great number of miles, in order to donate blood to snake bite victims worldwide and he would never accept a dime for doing such, he always paid for his own travel expenses to boot.

Jeff

I thought Bill Haas just died a few months ago...
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Carl W Gossett
Garage Door Herps
Monument,Colorado...northern territory of the Great Republic of Texas

No, as far as I know he's still kickin'. I think he's about 95 or so now. You might be thinking of Roger Conant who did pass away several momnths ago.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

He's 94, and still hurdling the retaining walls of his outdoor enclosure from what I hear!

Jeff

And I thought I'd seen them all. I certainly woulda remembered an Indigo. Years later I knew a guy that worked @ the Calgary Zoo who was big cat keeper (he also imported a lot of reptiles into Canada back in the early 80's), HE had left a job at the St. Louis Zoo to take a paycut to work in Canada & claimed that the ole geezer Marlin was a TOTAL SOB to work with. Mind you he used much more graphic names that the 'Web-massah' would edit if I quoted it in here :-o There was often multiple personel problems at the Zoo & there were some pretty colorful stories as to how the animals in each episode as well as the camera & road crew were treated all due to 1 old fart that Mutual of Omaha Insurance was flying all over the world. Animals would be kept sedated for days until filming conditions were just right. There were all kinds of stories about several animals dying or being injured beyond repair at the hands of 'Educating the world' The Camera Crew & various other subordinates ate moldy bread or whatever local natives would share which could range from raw seal meat right down to live grubs while good ole King Marlin ate good food on Mutual of Omaha's tab. (Whoever made the comment about him sipping Martinis in his Tent WASN'T far from the truth)Most reptiles were kept in refrigerated conditions so they were mellow on camera. The going joke at the Zoo was the only subordinate that liked Marlin was 'WK' the Chimp... they had a relationship like that of Micheal Jackson & Bubbles (WHO'S your DADDY WK?? Come sit on Daddy's lap )

Now I thought my buddy @ the Calgary Zoo was a bit disgruntled & could be stretching the truth a tad. BUT my best friend's brother flew the Chopper for an Episode taken up here in Newfoundland in the late 70's said pretty much the same thing. I also personally knew the Game Warden that assited Marlin & his newer flunky (pretty certain it wasn't Jim). Both those guys claimed that Marlin treated THEM & his staff like dirt & would call them names that would make a drunken sailor blush with shame. It had to be 'his way or NO WAY'

Oh well.... watcha gonna do?? Guess he wouldn't get away with treating animal AND co-workers today with what was permissible in 70's...just thought I'd share this little story it's much more entertaining than 'T'was the night before Christmas'....... Rest in Peace Marlin.. WK still misses you... LOL

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Dean