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Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades
by Rebecca Renner
Book Reviewed by:David Grann meets Susan Orlean in this page-turning true story of an underground operation into the mysterious world of alligator poaching and its larger than life Floridian characters
To catch a Florida Man, you have to become one, and that's what Officer Jeff Babauta did. As his ponytailed, whiskey-soaked alter ego, he established Sunshine Alligator Farm. His goal? Infiltrate the shady world of illegal poachers in the Florida Everglades in order to protect the natural world.
A head-spinning adventure soon unfolds. Jeff deals with glow-in-the-dark alligators and high-speed airboat rides, but quickly learns that not all poachers are villains. They're simply people trying to survive, fighting against the poverty and greed holding them down. Jeff wants to solve the mystery of alligator poachers, and in doing so he must venture deeper into a strange ecosystem where right is wrong, and justice comes at the cost of those who've welcomed him into their world.
Gator Country is the twisting true story of the impossible choices individuals must make to stay afloat in this world. Through its wholly unique blend of reporting, nature writing, and personal narrative, this book transports readers to vibrant and dangerous Florida landscapes and offers intimate portraits of those who call the region home. Broad in scope and vivid in detail, Gator Country is a fast paced tale of the risks people will take to survive in one of the world's most beautiful yet formidable landscapes and the undercover investigation that threatens to topple the whole scheme.
1
THE CHASE
It was nighttime in the orange grove, and the sound of helicopter blades beat overhead. Otherwise, it was dark, and the dark was quiet. No frogs chirped. No crickets sang. Not even a mosquito whined through the open windows of Jeff's patrol truck. He blamed the smell for the quiet. The grove exuded the sickly-sweet scent of acetone. Pesticide. Of course it was quiet here. When the chak-chak-chak of the helicopter blades faded, it left only the hum of his idling engine and the sigh of his K-9 in the back seat.
Jeff's CB radio crackled. He sat up straight, and so did his dog, a Goldador named Mack, dressed in his working vest and looking very official. They were ready to track down the poachers whose flashlights the chopper spotted from the air. But it was too soon, the crackle just radio chatter. Mack rested his chin on his paws.
This wasn't Jeff's first time on a detail, where a group of Florida Fish and Wildlife officers like himself would spread out on the edge of the ...
There is a sense of some justice perhaps, but the reader is left wondering if Robert or any other poachers will actually change their behavior, or just get better at not getting caught. Despite that disappointment, Gator Country provides an important glimpse into South Florida subcultures, and it dispels myths and simplistic misconceptions about people who live off the land and are just trying to get by. Renner poses probing questions about overzealous development, environmental damage, and who is really taking more than their fair share from the natural world...continued
Full Review
(766 words)
(Reviewed by Rose Rankin).
For thousands of years, the southern half of Florida was one of the most vibrant, unique ecosystems on Earth, composed of water flowing over land, interspersed with plant and animal life in a massive mosaic of wetlands. What came to be known as the Everglades was formed by fresh water spilling out from Lake Okeechobee and flowing slowly over the peninsula until draining into Florida Bay.
Starting in the mid-19th century, however, developers and residents sought to drain the wetlands and introduce agricultural and urban growth. The resulting changes nearly destroyed alligator populations and uprooted traditional livelihoods, with consequences still felt today, as Rebecca Renner explores in Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators...
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