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In hindsight, TV in the 1960s and 1970s wasn’t exactly a barren wasteland, but nature shows were few and far between, especially good ones like “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.”

Today Marlin Perkins probably seems hokey — I can’t judge, seeing his segments as I do with eyes colored in nostalgia — but the film holds up extremely well, especially if you factor out the whole “tell a story” approach they had to use back then.

Here, for example, we have a Canadian lynx interacting with its predator guild members: feliforms (the cougar) and a whole host of caniforms.

This is exactly the stuff of evolution that has shaped cats and other mammals down through time. Plus it’s fun to watch!

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For the first time, I noticed how the lynx sort of paddle-walks with those long legs — another adaptation for snow.

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Okay, the sound effects are totally phony. But that videography captures the cat’s true nature.

Meanwhile, in Zion Canyon…

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Farther north, in this next segment, they follow a dispersing male on his perilous journey into maturity:

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Speaking of maturity, back in the day we had a meme of Marlin’s assistant Jim Fowler getting clobbered by various wildlife on camera.

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Not without reason.

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Yes, everyone is cheering for the poor elk.

Still, we all loved Jim. And this is how he’s remembered today.

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Perhaps this is a re-post, but I like what the old elk-jumper says at the end. It wasn’t a cliche then, and it is still bottom-line truth today.

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