“BE CAREFUL, JIM”

One of the most enduring memories I have of my childhood and early teens is of a television show that brought me so much joy and taught me so much. Each and every week I would sit down to watch this wonderful show, eagerly anticipating what far away country we would be visiting. I spent many a happy day learning about nature, other countries, other peoples, and gaining the utmost respect for the world around me. This show was Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom” hosted by Marlin Perkins. It had to be one of the best shows every produced.

The show visited every corner of the planet. It featured almost every imaginable type of animal. We all learned so much from Marlin and his show. I can still remember some of the episodes just like I watched them last week. I also remember Jim.

Jim was Marlin’s sidekick. I don’t know if I ever caught Jim’s last name. If you could do what Jim did you didn’t need but one name. Everyone was going to know you. I don’t know if I ever wanted Jim’s job. I do know I liked watching him and all the things he did on the show.

I think now we can be relatively certain about a couple of Jim’s character traits. He was fearless for sure. He had to have an undying allegiance to Marlin. And his mother must have dropped him on his head one too many times when he was a youngster.

I can also envision a few things that went on when the show “Wild Kingdom” was being formed. When news of the show reached the Mutual of Omaha CEO he must have been more than happy to agree to underwrite such a fine show. When the job Jim would perform was mentioned to the CEO the first words from his mouth were, “We are not going to insure him!” Some other insurance company carried Jim’s insurance.

I also don’t think Jim was informed ahead of time what he was going to be doing each week. He was just to show up at the airport for the trip to the next show’s destination. I think if he had known what he had to do beforehand he would have never gone with Marlin to do most of these shows. If someone had told you ahead of time you had to rush an ostrich nest to grab one of the eggs you would have not made the trip. So Jim could not have been told what he was to do ahead of time.

I will give a few examples of what I mean. The exact details of the programs may have escaped my memory, but I think you will get the picture with my examples.

Now picture this. The helicopter swoops down low over the Serengeti. A herd of three million wildebeest are roaming over the vast plain below. Marlin is sitting next to the pilot. He will narrate the action. Jim is sitting in the back hanging out of the door with a camera. Marlin says, “The herd of wildebeest are making there way toward their ancestral home. More than ten percent of them will die on the journey. Lets get a closer look.” When Marlin says this you expect the helicopter to drop down lower to get a better view of the animals. Then Marlin says, “Jim will now drop out of the copter and onto the back of one of the animals with his camera to give us a better view of the action.” If you watched closely you could see Jim in the background with that “look” on his face as if to ask “I am going to do what”. The next thing you see is Jim falling from the helicopter and toward the back of a wildebeest. In the background you hear Marlin’s voice call out, “Be careful, Jim”.

The bad thing for Jim about this whole ordeal was the producer back at camp looking at the film. I can hear them now, “We are going to have to shoot this scene over again. The lighting was all wrong. We’ll do it again tomorrow.” Or can you imagine Jim hurling from the helicopter only to miss the wildebeest and crash on the ground. They would have to land and pick Jim up and try all over again.

I think I recall one show about the capture of a cheetah. The plan was going to go something like this. A dead carcass of an animal would be placed on the ground. A huge net was placed to the side of the carcass. When a cheetah ventured over to the meat two sidewinder rockets would propel the net over the cheetah and it would be caught in the net. Jim was to being creeping up to the cheetah and secure the net after it entrapped her. Marlin was standing behind a very large tree as the drama unfolded. Jim was behind a much smaller tree ready for action. A cheetah finally comes along and spots the carcass. It immediately begins to move in that direction. As it gets nearer the carcass Jim creeps from behind his tree. When the time comes the rockets are fired. Jim is closing in on the cheetah fast. It was all working to perfection, except for one thing.

Only one of the rockets fired! Only half the cheetah is caught in the net. It is trying frantically to get away. It would have probably have just run away if it could have escaped except for one small fact. Jim has now run up to within 10 feet of the cheetah. Now lets take a hard look at what is going on. The cheetah is half caught. It’s trying to protect its catch. Jim is too close. What does Jim do now? He has to stay and fight. He has to get the other part of the net over the cheetah. The cheetah runs seventy miles per hour. Jim can run about ten. So he has to stay and fight. About this time you hear Marlin voice from the background, “Be careful, Jim”. I could not bear to watch. Jim must have made it though because he was on the show the very next week.

Another one I think I can recall clearly is the show where Jim is going to help us film and study the bald eagle. The setting is in a California redwood forest. The trees are all 600 feet tall. A bald eagle has been spotted with a nest at the very top of one of the trees. As the show begins Marlin and Jim are standing under the tree looking up at this magnificent bird in her nest. Marlin begins, “To better study the bald eagle and her young we must get a closer look at her nest and environs. Lets watch while Jim climbs the tree to tag the eagle and check out her eggs.” Jim has that “look” again. He dutifully climbs the tree with a tag and a camera. He climbs all the way to the top and is met by an enraged mother eagle. Jim frantically tries to get the tag on the eagle all the while getting pecked and clawed by this large bird. During the height of the fray you can hear Marlin call out from below, “Be careful, Jim”.

These are just a few of the wonderful stories I can remember of “Wild Kingdom”, starring Marlin and Jim and a host of animals the world over. I am pretty sure Marlin has died and gone to that animal heaven in the sky. I don’t ever know what happened to Jim. I will bet one thing though. Wherever he is right now he can still hear Marlin call out to him, “Be careful, Jim”.