Florida's first bird warden, in the era of birds slaughtered for hats
August 6, 2019 8:44 AM Subscribe
More than a century ago, the discovery of a hidden bird refuge in the Everglades led down a path of greed, vanity, and murder. And that’s just the beginning of the story. The Price of a Feather (National Parks Conservation Association, 2015) || In the late 19th century, there were no limits to how many birds a plume hunter could kill. In Cape Cod, 40,000 terns were killed for the hat industry in one summer. In Florida, the slaughter was often indiscriminate and senseless. One popular pastime among tourists visiting the Everglades was to shoot critters from the comfort of boats, plinking alligators and birds with no intention of ever picking up their carcasses. The Most Dangerous Job: The Murder of America's First Bird Warden (Mentalfloss, 2018)
The articles do a good job covering an interesting mix of history, the potential strains between conservation or preservation and finding ways to make money in an impoverished region, and community policing. From the Mentalfloss article:
posted by filthy light thief at 12:29 PM on August 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
They also missed an easy layup: Game warden is the most dangerous law enforcement job in America. Poachers are deadly.
posted by klangklangston at 11:13 AM on August 7, 2019
posted by klangklangston at 11:13 AM on August 7, 2019
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