Former Canadian fishery officer, Randy Nelson has collected a bookful of short stories describing game wardens’ encounters with animal and plant poachers across the United States and Canada. The array of descriptions displays the rampant disregard of rules and regulations by illegal collectors and hunters along with the inherent peril that wildlife managers are exposed to. Hunting regulations are imposed to maintain the sustainability of plant and animal populations and yet there are groups of individuals who either for profit or ego will kill or over-collect endangered species. In over one hundred narratives collected from a range of diverse game wardens, the spotlight and the gun or bow and arrow are illegally used to shoot deer and elk primarily for their antlered heads to be used as wall decoration. Hunting for many of these poachers seems almost like an addiction. Read about overfishing, polar bear slaughter, turkey thugs, gator napping, bird collecting, plant uprooting, ginseng stealing and so many more infamous acts. All these droll, yet distressing, stories told with dry humor sarcastically emphasize the brainlessness of the poachers while emphasizing the dangerous responsibility assigned to an inadequately staffed wildlife control bureau.
