Bear in the Back Seat I: Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger #1

by Carolyn Jourdan, Kim DeLozier

Wall Street Journal and Audible Best Seller! This is the first volume in a series of true stories from “[a]n extraordinary landscape populated with befuddled bears, hormonally-crazed elk, homicidal wild boars, hopelessly timid wolves, and nine million tourists, some of whom are clueless."

In Kim DeLozier’s world, when sedated wild black bears wake up unexpectedly in the back seat of a helicopter in mid-flight, or in his car as he’s driving down the highway, or in his office while he’s talking on the phone, it’s just another day in the park.

You’ll love seeing Kim and a fellow ranger tested as they bravely take on the task of relocating 77 live skunks by sedating them with darts from homemade blowguns, especially when the pickup truck load of stinkers wakes up while still in transit.

An hilarious, heartwarming, and heartbreaking memoir by the chief wildlife ranger in the #1 most popular family vacation destination in the USA, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For over thirty years, Kim DeLozier acted as a referee in the wild, trying to protect millions of park visitors from one of the densest populations of wild black bears in America -- and the bears from tourists who get too close.

Written with 3-Time Wall Street Journal bestselling author Carolyn Jourdan who has several highly-regarded #1 Amazon bestsellers about the Smoky Mountains and Appalachia. Her other books are "Heart in the Right Place," "Medicine Men," and "Out on a Limb."

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Nature, Animals, Travel, Humor, Biography Memoir

165 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 23, 2013

About the author

USA Today,Top-10 Audible & 6-time Top-10 Wall Street Journal best selling Author of Memoir, Biography, Wildlife, and Mystery

USA Today Best Seller Out on a Limb was also voted a Best Kindle Book of 2014.
#9 Wall Street Journal Best Seller Medicine Men in 2022.
#9 Wall Street Journal Best Seller Heart in the Right Place in 2017.
#7 NYT-Audible Best Seller Bear in the Back Seat in 2016.
#6 Wall Street Journal Best Seller Medicine Men in 2015.
#5 Wall Street Journal Best Seller Medicine Men in 2014.
#9 Wall Street Journal Best Seller Bear in the Back Seat in 2013.
#7 Wall Street Journal Best Seller Heart in the Right Place in 2012.

Visit Carolyn online at her website, her personal Facebook page, her Facebook Author page, her Twitter page, or her Instagram page.

Jourdan's newest books are Dangerous Beauty: Stories from the Wilds of Yellowstone and Waltzing with Wildlife: 10 Things NOT to do in Our National Parks.

Other recent works are Nurses: The Art of Caring, Radiologists at Work: Saving Lives With the Lights Off, and Talking to Skeletons: Behind the Scenes With a Radiologist.

The nurse book is a collection of the most memorable moments from the careers of over 60 nurses. It covers nearly 70 years of practice from World War II to the present day.

The extraordinary situations described here are the result of more than 1,000 years of hands-on bedside knowledge. The vignettes contain wisdom and insight gained the hard way, from long experience in the trenches (sometimes in actual trenches) performing tasks that range from the most humble to the most skilled.

The radiology books form a set of companion books, one dealing with the most memorable moments of 40 radiologists and the other chronicling 7 extraordinary nights spent shadowing a single radiologist.

Bear in the Back Seat - Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a series of true stories from “[a]n extraordinary landscape populated with befuddled bears, hormonally-crazed elk, homicidal wild boars, hopelessly timid wolves, and nine million tourists, some of whom are clueless."

In Kim DeLozier’s world, when sedated wild black bears wake up unexpectedly in the back seat of a helicopter in mid-flight, or in his car as he’s driving down the highway, or in his office while he’s talking on the phone, it’s just another day in the park.

In Out on a Limb Phoebe McFarland has just moved back to her hometown of White Oak, Tennessee, a sleepy rural community nestled in the mist-shrouded ridges and isolated hollows of the Smoky Mountains.

Now she spends her days working as a rural home health care nurse, making calls on a quirky roster of housebound characters she’s determined to take care of whether they cooperate or not.

She applies this same optimism to her love life, despite the fact that she’s been dating for 38 years without locating any husband material. When she runs into her childhood sweetheart, Henry Matthews, a wildlife ranger for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it looks like she might’ve found her man.

But Phoebe and Henry’s chance for romance has to be put on hold while they undertake a desperate search for a young woman who mysteriously vanished from the park during a gathering of world famous biologists and botanists, including a charismatic Frog Whisperer.

Medicine Men

Reviews

[Jessaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 stars.Bill Bryson takes a job as a wildlife ranger in the Smoky Mountains and really meets the bear that he feared to run into in his book, “A Walk in the Woods.” Only the author of "Bear in the Back Seat" has lighter humor. Still this is book reminded me of Bill Bryson’s book.

What I remember most about Bryson’s book was his asking what to do when you meet a bear, and his finally deciding to “Run. It will be the longest 5 seconds of the rest of your life.” Kim DeLozier has a better idea, “You should slowly back up and give the bear some space, talking in a calm tone.” But what do intelligent people do when they see a bear in the park? “...for some reason, when they see a wild animal like a bear, hog, or an elk, many of them go temporarily insane and run after the animals to try to feed…”

The author began with his life on a ranch where he helps his dad out with the farm animals, realizing in time that ranching is dangerous, mainly the cows, as they kick and poop on you. I have always liked horses, and when I was 7 years old I wanted to marry Trigger, you know Roy Rogers horse. I finally was able to work on a horse ranch, and I, too, learned that farm animals are dangerous, especially mares. I was trying to put a blanket on one mare when she made a 45 degree turn and kicked me between my legs. Another purposely stepped on my foot and tried to smash me between her and the fence. My wise husband came home from work and told me to not favor my foot, so I didn’t. It worked. I was healed of all but the bruises. Maybe it would have been wiser to have quit my job.

So Kim DeLozier decided that being a wildlife ranger would be less dangerous. Wrong. Wild boar hunting isn’t what it is cracked up to be. Anyone who has read “Lord of the Flies” knows this to be true. Bears are not too friendly either. No matter how you look at it he was destined to be around dangerous animals.

I couldn’t get his statements about NOT carrying a flashlight in the dark forest because it would ruin your night vision, out of my mind. It took me back to the book I had just read, “The Quest for the Fish-Dog Skin,” and how it was so dark in the woods that the Indians had to walk very, very slow. And I thought of how I had lost my night vision, so much so that I run into door jams in our house. Flashlights and nightlights are good.

But his story in the dark forest with a friend continued. He kept turning on his flashlight and being scolded for it. While it helped him, it spooked the horses. But the part I really liked was about the fireflies lighting the path. I have loved firelights ever since visiting Missouri in my youth. I tried to take one back to California in a jar, but it died on the way. We have them where I live now.

He wrote about his experience of them that night when he had the flashlight:

“without warning, thousands of fireflies blinked on at the same time. Their simultaneous blinking lit up a long stretch of trail in front of me like landing lights on an airport runway. It was amazing. Then, just as suddenly as they’d lit up, they all blinked off together and left me and Satan (his horse) with night blindness.” The fireflies did this a few times, and it was really amazing to me.

The stories in this book, while exciting, were not always fun, and by the time I finished with the book I found I couldn’t get some of the animals that had to be killed out of my mind. So many reviewers were saying, “A fed bear is a dead bear,” which he also said, because when you feed bears or leave food at your campsite, you are inviting them for supper, and they stick around, and then someone gets hurt or killed. At least most bears are removed and taken deeper into the wilderness, unless they have harmed someone.

But if you love animal stories, this is the right book to read. He really knows how to tell a story. I could see him coming home from work and telling these stories to anyone who would listen, until he really had them honed.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories get a 5/5 from me. They were alternately hilarious, tragic, and aggravating. The actual story-telling gets a 3/5 from me. I cannot bring myself to give this a 4/5, it was too repetitive for that, I mean, exact same sentences paragraphs later. I love this book, I want more books like this, but I want them to get the attention from the editors that they deserve. Bears are amazing, and park rangesr are amazing, so thank you Kim for your service and your stories!

Its a pretty quick read that I will some up for you here:

When you go to a national park, dont be an asshole. Dont try and get that last picture with the wildlife. Pay attention to where you are. Keep your site clean, leave no trace, and clean up ALL of your food scraps. If it was just your life that we were watching out for, I would care less, this sort of carelessness endangers the rangers and workers, other visitors, and most importantly the animals. Do the right thing, okay, and just use your heads.

Also, if you want to watch bears from a safe distance, I highly recommend

explore.org bearcams. They are my life.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one's a keeper. Many of the anecdotes are lighthearted—a few turns of phrase brought to mind Patrick McManus. There are some sad, cautionary stories too, in which DeLozier emphasized the importance of safety and responsibility. It's clear he loves animals, particularly the bears of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
Recommended to animal lovers and fans of the outdoors.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unintentionally humorous memoir involving some very serious situations such as bear tracking, hog hunting, countless tourist warnings, and hiker rescues all within the most popular national park in the US. As a Supervisory Wildlife Biologist, the retired author does a great job repeatedly warning the public of the hazards of leaving food and trash behind, either neglectfully or stupidly purposeful, anywhere in park where the native black bear population call home. A fed bear is a dead bear. It’s their home. We’re the visitors.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

A short book of connecting stories about the life of a park ranger in the Appalachians. About two thirds of the stories are about bears, facing them in the wild, relocation, and encounters with tourists. There are also stories of skunks, deer, elk, wild hogs and tourists. Some of the stories are funny, some alarming, but most are just interesting.

This is easily a one sitting read and is book one of two.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who lives in this area or just visits the area should take the time to read this fantastic book, I truly enjoyed every page.

Not only do we have to worry about ignorant visitors that feed the bears, now we have the same visitors doing the same thing to the elk.

"A fed bear is a dead bear"

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be fair, a tranquillized bear. But the back seat in question was in a helicopter, and a helicopter, too, that was being buffeted about by strong winds, and which was already pretty late. So late, in fact, that wildlife ranger Kim DeLozier, who was in charge of relocating the bear to another spot, feared that the bear might wake up any minute while in the chopper.

This, and a slew of other stories, some hair-raising, some humorous, and many offering insights into both animal nature as well as human nature (sadly, the latter often in a none too flattering way: the naivety and sometimes sheer stupidity of humans comes through strongly) form Bear in the Back Seat. Kim DeLozier worked as a park ranger at the USA's Smoky Mountains National Park for over thirty years, and these stories, beginning with a brief glimpse of his early life on a farm and how that made him comfortable around animals, is about those thirty years. There's no chronological sequence to the incidents recorded here (and it does not really matter, anyway, because Bear in the Back Seat is a collection of anecdotes).

There are stories here about elk, peregrine falcons, wild hogs, a chipmunk, skunks—but the bulk of the stories are about bears. Smoky Mountains National Park had, at the time of writing this memoir, some 1600 black bears and nine million human visitors annually, so human-bear interactions were a dime a dozen. Some of the most interesting ones are chronicled here, from hilarious episodes to scary ones, and to tragic ones. DeLozier makes it a point to stress again and again how irresponsible tourists who feed bears, or who leave food lying around, and who don’t know the basics of interacting with wildlife, can cause problems.

The overall tone of the book is light-hearted, but near the end, DeLozier talks of some tragedies, too, in an attempt to underline the consequences of human behaviour in wildlife zones. That, combined with the detailed advice he offers at the end (one of the appendices is a fairly detailed list of dos and don’ts for if you cross the path of a bear) as well as his explaining of some interesting and successful conservation programmes (the Appalachian Bear Rescue or ABR for one; the peregrine falcon reintroduction for another) makes this more than just a funny ‘animal-vs-ranger’ book.

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 3 out of 5]

I live in the mountains in Colorado and bears are a common sight in our little town. Those of us who live with wildlife know how unpredictable they can be and live our lives accordingly. I am always shocked by stories of people who approach the wildlife in our National Parks. It is astonishing that people do not understand the dangers.

Having said that, I expected this book to be funny rather than shocking, based on the publisher's comments. It is funny. The stories made me smile. But it isn't as funny as I expected. The lessons that this wildlife ranger tries to teach are reiterated with nearly every story and I started to feel as though I was being lectured rather than entertained. In fact, it didn't even feel as though the reader was being taught, after reading the moral the third time. Honestly, I believe that those who choose to read this book probably already understand the seriousness of the issues and could be told once or twice at most and have taken the lesson onboard. I really wanted more humor and less moralizing. I also wanted the stories to be more unique, one from another. I think, perhaps, the book would be better if he included fewer stories and gave them more attention.

The narrator has a deep, silky voice and sounds exactly the way I picture this type of man to sound. Strong, outdoorsy -- based on this voice I picture someone who looks like Sam Elliot.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It strikes me that DeLozier is probably a great storyteller in person. Collecting his stories in a book makes them a touch repetitive, particularly because so many of them drive towards the same lesson. Don't feed bears, it isn't good for anybody.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

My two favorite stories- the bear in the garbage truck, Raccoon! Raccoon! And the man who screamed bloody murder at the guy in camo. "That looks just like a man sitting on the stump" It IS a man"

I enjoyed the short story format. The back story lead in to the stories wasn't too long or drawn out (it was just enough information) and it ended well with a good story to enforce his general mantra of a fed bear is a dead bear. Overall a nice mix of scary/serious, silly, and laugh out loud funny.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A self-published collection of true animal stories of a park ranger's career in Great Smokey Mountain National Park. This is a quick read, and with most of the stories being isolated incidents loosely arranged around themes, it lends itself well to sporadic reading, though I ended up reading many chapters at once.
DeLozier has had some entertaining and interesting wildlife encounters, and he's honest about mistakes he's made. He started his career in 1978 as a hog catcher of an invasive species in the park, and retired in 2011. Most of the stories focus on black bears, though he also covers skunks, the reintroduction of peregrine falcons, and assorted other mammal encounters.
The main down side is as a self-published work, the book wasn't well edited. Though grammatically it's well done, there are a lot of redundancies, particularly in the first chapter, and he continuously repeats the same moral (don't feed the bears!) though I imagine he spent most of his career repeating this to tourists, so in a way it's also a reflection of his work.
This is definitely a worthy read for animal and nature-lovers, as well as people who live in the Tennessee area. It left me with a better understanding of black bears, and wanting to visit the park.

[Steve Doyal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in East Tennessee, I have always loved my visits to the Smoky Mountains National Park. I sometimes wondered what it would be like to be a Park Ranger. I was able to get a glimpse into that life and enjoy Kim's stories about his adventures and misadventures. Now I am content that the profession is better left to guys like him! This is a good book that also has good advice for anyone going to spend any time in the park and around some of its natural inhabitants.

[Margecaldera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liz Conn gave me this book because I live in the woods with bears and other wildlife! Fascinating book--good read for hikers and campers. I guess she was looking out for me so I do the right thing should I come upon a bear in the neighborhood!

[Deb Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a sweet, quick read. The stories about bears and other “critters” are wonderful and take you on quite the emotional journey through the park and eyes of the author.

The writing can be a little repetitive at times but it’s still and enjoyable in that fireside story sharing way.

I’m certainly leaving knowing much more about what to do if I ever encounter a Black Bear and deep gratitude for the men and women who sign up to protect humans, bears and their habitats.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raise a glass for Brutus, y'all.

[Mindy Pollock · Rating 5 out of 5]

The BEST BOOK!!!!!!!!!

[Merissa Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I go on trips I like to listen to audiobooks because you can't always get the radio. This was highly entertaining and worth the time listening to it.

[Megan Mulhinch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun little book! Books like these always make me want to quit my job/school and go live in the wilderness. But I would probs die. But not from a bear attack because I would know what to do 🐻

[Shelley Streeter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. Amazing stories of caring for the wildlife in GSMNP over the course of his 40 year career and so cool to bring life to the all the places we have hiked and visited in the park.

[Teresa Brewen-White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Every visitor to the Smoky Mtns should read it BEFORE visiting the area!

[Josh Hitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun collection of tales from a Ranger working in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mostly dealing with the amount animals large and small skunks on up to bear and elk.

Highly recommended, the stories are all short and are informative along with humorous.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this a masterpiece? Well, no, and a better editor would've fixed it. It was occasionally repetitive and a little jumbled. However, the stories themselves were very interesting and moved fast enough that I can overlook its flaws. It made for a really good commute audiobook, and I'd recommend if you have any interest in the national parks or the Smokies in particular.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be reviewing both Bear in the Back Seat (BitBS) books in this review because BitBS part 2 is just an extension of BitBS part 1. They both contain an assortment of short stories chronicling the life and times of retired ranger Kim DeLozier, who served for 32 years. These stories are pretty light-hearted and fun, and Kim has an absolutely great sense of humor. He tells it like it is, and he's humble. He spends just about as much time poking fun at himself as he does others. BitBS documents a life lived to the fullest, and a job loved and served with a fiery passion. Kim DeLozier explains the importance and seriousness of his work while laughing all the way through his fumbles and missteps. He has a good laugh at other's expense too, but does so with no judgement, and he throws himself under the bus and comes out laughing with you. He's funny, and he has a knack for telling a good story, short and sweet. His writing is infectious. I read both books in two days straight through and have to say it's one of the best reading experiences I've ever had. I'm passionate about wildlife and I wish I'd pursued a career in wildlife management coming out of high school. A decision I can't fully regret but an opportunity missed for sure. Kim kept my spirits high as he told tales of his time in the Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. Most stories deal with black bears, dumb park visitors, and valuable lessons about what NOT to do in a national park. He's participated and managed much of what the park did during his career, mainly controlling the thousands of black bears, keeping them safe from the millions of yearly visitors, and vise versa. People continually feed the bears and other wildlife, taming them, which results in overconfidence especially in bears, which can spell doom for humans and bears alike. A tame bear is a threat to humans, and a "fed bear is a dead bear" because they must be euthanized if relocation fails and they keep coming back to the same spot. The importance of leaving the wildlife alone is a lesson reinforced throughout BitBS, and the mixed results are both sad and funny. Euthanizing any animal is a terrible outcome, but having your pants stolen from a bear, your cattle chased away by a rogue elk, missing a dart shot at point blank in front of a crowd, an escaped wild hog on live TV (CNN) during an interview about capturing it, finding a chipmunk in your underwear (really!), and catching squealing baby bears in nets as they fall from trees will keep you smiling and smirking for the whole ride. I don't know if Kim will ever write another book, as he's probably documented his whole life in this series, but I'm praying he does with fingers crossed!

[Grampy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Bear in the Back Seat” by Kim DeLozier and Carolyn Jourdan is a wonderfully entertaining collection of various experiences Kim enjoyed during his 30+ year career as a Wildlife Ranger for the National Park Service at Smoky Mountain National Park. Tasked with managing both wildlife and tourists for the mutual safety of all parties, many of Kim’s stories concern bear/tourist interaction, which is sometimes hilarious and sometimes tragic.

I myself am a retired Wildlife Biologist, so these tales really hit home for me. One thing I found particularly commendable in this book was the educational value DeLozier instilled in each tale. He frequently emphasized facts with which I fully concur. For example: “A fed bear is a dead bear” can be readily transferred to deer, elk, pronghorns and other wildlife, the point being that when well-meaning people start feeding wildlife, the animals they think they are helping often wind up dead. Once they lose their fear of humans, it is generally only a matter of time before they are injured, run over, or killed in any number of ways.

“Bear in the Back Seat” is a pleasant read. It is also written by a man who was and is an expert in his field, and thus contains many nuggets of wisdom that should be required reading before anybody is allowed inside a National Park. I myself have seen people do things so incredibly stupid and dangerous that one wonders if they left their brains at home while they went on vacation. DeLozier is more tactful than I, and has that rare ability to both teach and entertain at the same time.

“Bear in the Back Seat” is not “preachy”, but DeLozier does not pull any punches; he has an abiding respect for all wildlife that requires him to tell it like it is. Anyone who enjoys getting away from it all, camping in a National or State Park, backpacking in a Wilderness Area or just fishing along a remote stream, will appreciate and enjoy these tales. I highly recommend reading this book before your next outing. It could possibly save you a lot of grief.

[Melissa Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this book on Audible and loved every minute. Not that every minute of it was pleasant; while much of the book was entertaining, funny, and very enjoyable, there were some sad episodes recounted. Those were were valuable for their example of some of the ways park visitors can adversely affect wildlife. What I really appreciated throughout the book was the author's perspective on people and wildlife and nature. He clearly has a deep love for nature and wildlife, and bears in particular, but unlike many nature lovers today, he doesn't simplistically view nature as good and people as bad. Instead he shows by example, and then states at the end of the book, that people are to be stewards of creation, caring for nature and wildlife. Throughout the book he shows how humans interact with and impact the wildlife of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in both positive and negative ways, and through humorous and sobering stories from his experience he emphasizes the responsibility we have to treat wildlife with respect.

[Xanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on audiobook.
I enjoyed reading this book - mostly. There were stories of hunting animals, feral or otherwise, that didn't sit well with me, and the author states that he is a hunter, himself. His care and respect for bears, however, is obvious, however. As the title of the book suggests, a big portion of this book is about bears, however, there are stories about other animals such as skunks, peregrine falcons, etc.
Some of the stories are funny, some sad, some provoke anger (especially the ones about animals (especially bears) paying the ultimate price for human's stupidity and/or cruelty.
I like that the author kept a strong theme of 'don't feed the bears and this is why', and how visitors to the national park should conduct themselves and then gives examples of what happens when they don't. I think a lot of people do not realize what sort of repercussions their actions have on the wildlife.
Being a wild life ranger is obviously hard work - physically and otherwise. I was very moved by the story of how the author came across a old, dying bear and what happened next.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because Carolyn Jourdan is listed as the author. I had hoped for more of Ms Jourdan's humor and quirky characters. This was a very different type of book. It seems Kim DeLozier is the actual author. I'm not sure how Ms Jourdan and Mr DeLozier worked together, but the book was just okay. Kim DeLozier really wants to be sure that everyone knows how to act in bear country. He sort of hammers the point home relentlessly. There were some good stories, not as good as Carolyn Jourdan's writing, but entertaining and informative. I was interested in the life of a ranger and so this kept my interest to the end. I'm not sure I will try more, though. I listened to the audio book and the narrator, Carey Jones has a wonderful voice. I stuck around just to hear him talk.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bear in the Back Seat: Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by Kim DeLozier & Carolyn Jourdan (Black Bear Book 2013)(976.889) is a series of often humorous anecdotes about the memorable wildlife encounters of a retiring park ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Kim DeLozier's tales are mostly about black bears with tales about a few other species sprinkled in. The authors go to great lengths to reinforce the National Park Service mantra that "a fed bear is a dead bear." For that reason alone, the book is worthy of inclusion on any wildlife watcher's "recommended" list. My rating: 6.5/10, finished 11/10/13.

[Patricia]

Laugh out Loud....I love books about wild animals, their habitats, and the people who work with them. And, when an author can tell the stories with humor, it's even better. I had to quit listening at night after going to bed. I would laugh so much it would wake me just as I was about to start relaxing. It's also a very hard book to put down. Great for a car ride when you're getting bored. It'll bring you back to life.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bear in the Back seat is a true, hilarious, breath catching, absolutely engrossing account of the adventures and mishaps of a ranger in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. His adventures range from bear cubs in trash compactors to being stampeded by pigs and everything in between. This book is an absolute page-turner and will keep you laughing, gasping, and laughing some more from cover to cover.