Last weekend, Kathy and I drove over to California’s beautiful North Coast. We were biking through the pasturelands, northwest of Eureka, when we began seeing geese—thousands of them. It seemed that every pasture hosted a healthy flock of feeding little cacklers. “Wait a minute,” I said. “Those aren’t cacklers, they’re Aleutian geese.” Every bird displayed the characteristic white ring at the base of its neck.
Tom Stienstra, columnist and outdoor writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, has writen about Badges, Bears, and Eagles in today’s (3/11/13) issue of the San Francisco Chronicle. He refers to Chapter 7, “Metro Wardens,” where I describe some of the many big cat and exotic animal incidents that occurred in Southern California during the 1970s and early 1980s. At that time, there were believed to be as many captive African lions in the LA Basin as there were wild lions in Africa. Read the story at SFGate.
I am very happy to say that our first book signing event, at the NorCal Boat, Sport and RV Show, was a success. Thanks to the wonderful article in Saturday’s Redding Record Searchlight and all of the nice people who came by, we sold out in three hours. For those readers who have ordered through Amazon, the word I’m getting is three weeks to delivery. Barnes and Noble and Amazon are able to provide ebooks right away.
If you think California Fish and Wildlife wardens do nothing but write fishing tickets, read Badges, Bears, and Eagles. You may be surprised!
In 1991, the freshly slaughtered remains of five elk—two bulls, two cows, and a six-month-old calf—were found near the tiny Northern California community of Fall River. California Fish and Game Warden Don Jacobs, pictured here, led an all-out effort to find and prosecute those responsible.
Yesterday’s shootout with former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner should dispel any doubts about the dangerous nature of a California Fish and Game (Wildlife) officer’s job. Here’s something you may not be aware of: California Fish and Game (Wildlife) wardens are not only empowered to enforce all state laws and local ordinances, they are also deputized federal officers, authorized to enforce federal laws dealing with fish and wildlife.