As the host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, Marlin Perkins may have found himself in front of a camera for a majority of his career, but his priority was always the animals he worked with.

"I never think of myself as a television personality," said Perkins during an interview with the Associated Press. "I'm a zoo man, an animal man."

In the same interview, Perkins explained that his outdoor appreciation was a love affair that began early in his childhood.

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"I've always been fascinated by nature," said Perkins. "When I was a little boy on a farm in Carthage over in southwestern Missouri, I used to follow the plowman and collect what he turned up - toads, earthworms, grubs, a nest of baby mice. I always went home with my pockets full. My parents were very tolerant."

After the death of his mother, Perkins went to live with his aunt. There, he began taking care of wild snakes, which his guardian was less than thrilled about, as you might imagine.

"I kept them in boxes under the house, in the crawl space," said Perkins. "When she found out about it, she raised hell. Not just snakes, I also kept possums, raccoons, turtles, baby coyotes, frogs, anything I could find...I moved them to the loft in a barn across the street. I didn't tell the owner. Instead, I showed up every day to help him feed his mules. I threw the hay down from the loft, and at the same time, cared for my pets."