The Risks in Animal TV

What's the worst workplace hazard you've experienced? For many of us, the toughest it ever gets is the threat of catching a co-worker's cold. We work in climate-controlled offices, close quarters, but not super dangerous. An errant paper cut might be the worst thing we encounter, but that's hardly going to impact our day in a meaningful way. 

However, imagine the perils around every corner for professionals who work with animals. If you're not frightened already, maybe being on camera is enough to make you lose your cool! While onscreen animal wrangling may not face the dangers experienced by, say, construction workers or firefighters, it's still a treacherous profession. 

Marlin Perkins: A Veteran of the Animal Kingdom's Most Dangerous Denizens

For over twenty years, Marlin Perkins brought the hairy and scary into our living rooms as the host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. While he aimed to educate viewers— rather than, say, shock them— anybody working with animals is subject to their wild nature. Spread that risk out over two decades, and you're very likely to encounter your fair share of close calls. 

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Perkins' Nearly Fatal Reptile Encounter

In a 1985 interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Perkins recalled one of the most frightening miscalculations of his career.

The first time he experienced a truly dangerous snake bite, Marlin Perkins found himself on the wrong end of a cottonmouth moccasin, and he described the intense pain as "like a bee-sting magnified 100 times." He was rushed to the hospital, where his condition quickly deteriorated. His breathing became labored, and his kidneys began shutting down. His pulse nearly disappeared, and his pupils stopped reacting to light.

Marlin Perkins Thought He Might Die

"My goal was to stay alive," said Perkins.

"Despite my physical condition, I had to fix my sights on relaying symptoms to Dr. Stanley so he could save my life. When I felt a heavy weight on my chest, I knew the respiratory center in my brain was paralyzed."

Luckily, the doctor knew what he was doing, and Perkins lived to tell the tale.