Wildlife Wars: The Life and Times of a Fish and Game Warden [Paperback]

Terry Grosz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999

In "Wildlife Wars," Terry Grosz serves up fascinating stories—alternately hair-raising, hilarious, and heart-wrenching—from his 30-year struggle to protect wildlife in America. A natural storyteller, Grosz writes about the remarkable characters he met—on both sides of the law—as he matched wits with elk poachers, salmon snaggers, commercial-market duck hunters, and a host of other law-breakers. Best of all, though, these stories are so remarkably entertaining you won’t want to put them down.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Environmentalism meets Indiana Jones in these rip-snorting tales of a former wildlife conservation officer. The bad guys here are illegal deer hunters, law-breaking drag-boat fishermen who pilfer the ocean depths, poachers who kill elk, anglers who disrupt historic salmon spawning grounds and other miscreants who feed the flourishing illicit wildlife trade. Grosz has seen them allAand arrested manyAin his 32 years as a special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and as a California state fish and game warden. A bear of a manAsix-foot-four, over 300 poundsAGrosz relates his exploits in adventures full of slam-bang action and bravado tempered by a coolheaded sense of humor. Motivated by reverence for God's creation, he comes off as a mixture of guts and heart. In one episode, he sleeps overnight in a California rice field with a feeding flock of several thousand mallard ducks to protect them from commercial hunters. Full of gumption and guile, Grosz readily admits to failings that render him more likably human. He gets seasick and retches while making on-board boat inspections, and in one bust gone bad, a duck hunter sprays his backside with 189 shotgun pellets. Overall, these offbeat tales effectively dramatize the underfunded, underappreciated, dangerous and heroic activities of wildlife agents. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The author of these memoirs worked for the California Department of Fish and Game from 1966 to 1970 and for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1970 to 1998. He fought a war against the greed of the market hunters, who traded in animals and animal parts, and the egos of the trophy hunters, who consider themselves above the law. His collection of tales needs to be told, for it helps combat an enormous problem concerning our country's natural wildlife. Grosz is obviously a very committed individual--and also a natural storyteller. This collection consists of stories about his early years as a warden in California. They relate many close calls with mother nature: wild creatures and savage lawbreakers. The fact that the prosecution of environmental crimes has dropped precipitously in recent years indicates a need for a wake-up call such as this. Those who cherish the outdoors for hunting and fishing as well as those involved in environmental studies will benefit from this work. Fred Egloff --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Johnson Books (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555662463
• ISBN-13: 978-1555662462
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #820,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly entertaining, new angle on man vs. nature, October 3, 2004

By 

SW Highlander (Savannah, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wildlife Wars: The Life and Times of a Fish and Game Warden (Paperback)

I've spent my life in the western U.S. outdoors, but until I read this book I had no idea that a fish and game warden's life could be so interesting. Terry Grosz is not a polished writer, as mentioned by other reviewers, but he very is entertaining and obviously has a way of seeking out adventure in his love for nature. Each chapter is a fairly self-contained story, which is nice for those of us who only have time for a brief read between work weeks. Grosz points out that game wardens are more likely to die violent deaths than cops, which sort of sets the stage for his action-adventure tales of wardens vs. poachers, all the while emphasizing the importance of wildlife preservation. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the western US outdoors experience, wildlife preservation and even someone just looking to be entertained.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great pleasure to have read, February 11, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wildlife Wars: The Life and Times of a Fish and Game Warden (Paperback)

This is the first of Terry Grotz's books that I've read but I'm hooked. Wonderful stories and insightful and interesting perspectives on the management of wildlife and our governments role. I look forward to reading "A Sword for Mother Nature".

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a story!, May 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Wildlife Wars: The Life and Times of a Fish and Game Warden (Paperback)

I have yet to read the entire book, mainly because my husband will not put it down. As a current wildlife officer, he can both relate to and enjoy Terry's stories. Especially enjoyed : the Chilli story. Not to miss!