National Park After Dark - A Martyr and a Murder: Everglades National Park

Episode Date: April 25, 2022

In the late 1800's feathers were a massive fashion craze, to have them on your clothing was a signal of wealth and importance. To obtain these feathers, plume hunters decimated the fragile ecosystem and wading birds of the Everglades. The devastation caused an uproar and a call for conservation efforts to be put into place. At this time, Guy Bradley happily accepted the position as Game Warden and wildlife protector of the Everglades. He believed in the cause, and was willing to give his life for it. After his murder, the world finally took notice to what he was fighting so hard to protect.For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to this week’s partners!Skylight Frame: Get $10 off your purchase using code PARKProse: 15% off your first hair care order by using our linkPretty Litter: Get 20% your first order when you use code NPADApostrophe: Save $15 off your first visit with code NPADFor a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Close your eyes. Listen to Monday.com. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform. So flexible and intuitive, it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes, go to Monday.com. Start for free and finally, breathe. Across the United States, game wardens are known by various names. Conservation officers, wildlife officers, wildlife troopers, whichever they are called, their duties hold to be true no matter where they are.

They are law enforcement officers, protectors of wildlife, and community educators. Their careers in their lives are dedicated to protecting natural resources. They are leading conservation seminars, holding educational seminars for locals, or arresting and putting charges forth on people who dare harm or desecrate these important and special places. You may find them in an office, a conference room, deep in the wild tundra, boating through thick swamps or directing traffic around a herd of bison. They're people of many faces. Protecting wild species isn't important to everyone,

and some people don't understand it at all. That's why when Guy Bradley accepted a job as a game warden in the Everglades to protect birds, he accepted one of the most dangerous positions of all. He agreed to protect a species that nobody cared about. a species that no one had tried to protect before. And at this time, birds were worth more than gold if they were dead. But he believed in their importance in the world so much that he was willing to give his life for it. And this, unfortunately, is how some of the biggest changes begin to happen,

when the most devastating tragedies hit and the world is forced to finally take notice. Welcome to National Park After Dark. I am so looking forward to this episode because it's screaming conservation. It sure is, and it's screaming some of the first conservation efforts that have ever happened inside of the United States before. God, I'm so excited. And you said, birds, I have no idea where this is going. I'm really stoked to hear it. It's funny because you would think, like when you did your conservation episode on wolves, it was obvious because you love.

wolves, you have a history with wolves and conservation with wolves. For me, me and birds don't get along. Birds have attacked me. There's literally like a target on me for birds. And I don't have anything against them in particular except for the fact that if I'm out and there's birds out, like they find me and like shot on me all the time. Like it's a thing. I've never seen you get shit on by a bird. And I've been in areas with you where birds are present. Well, it has happened enough in my lifetime that I have considered myself a target. There was one time I was walking along the beach and a seagull shot on my shoulder and I was in a huge crowd and some girl saw it happen and she was so devastated for me that she ran down the street with napkins in her hand and she

started like wiping it off of me because she saw like how upset I was. She's like, okay, this girl's about to have a breakdown. Get her some napkins. She's like this girl needs help. Like this just splatted. It's in her hair. Oh, no. I've never been shit on by a bird. Knock on what. Consider yourself blessed.

I think it's considered luck. Lucky. Is it? Yeah. Well, I'm very lucky. I also got attacked by birds when I was in Ireland one time. But that's like a different story. Anyway, where I'm going with this is I did this whole story as someone who isn't totally like,

I love birds. I want to save them. And this story made me look at birds so different. friendly. Oh, okay, well good. I'm excited to hear it. But before we do this, because once we start, we're not going to stop. You guys literally broke the internet today. You did. Today was when we put up for sale our Alaska trip, and you literally, there were so many of you who were trying to book this trip that you literally broke the website that it was on and it stopped working. So thank you. We're so I'm laughing because I'm just astounded, to be honest.

Yeah. I laugh when I'm either nervous, uncomfortable, or like in disbelief. And I'm just in disbelief. I couldn't even believe it. I was at work. And Cassie was like, okay, like, it's going to go on sale. Oh, oh, it's, okay, it's gone. It's done.

And it was literally 902. And it went on sale at 9 o'clock my time. So you guys blew it out of the water. We are so appreciative. but we also can understand how frustrating that could have been or that was for people who are trying to get on. So we feel you, we sympathize with you. We had no idea that it was going to go like that. We're so excited that we have made so many friends that are so passionate about travel like we are, but it was also really devastating for us to see your messages that are saying, you know, I was there,

I was trying to book it. The website shut down. I didn't get. my spot. I thought I was getting a spot and I didn't. I mean, that was awful for us too because we want to include everyone. So we came up with a solution, the only solution that we could think of. And that is, we're going to make more trips. We're going on more trips. We're going to book some more. We're going to get them out there so more of you can join. And when we're recording this, we're in the very first steps of it happening. So we don't have any announcements or dates or places or anything like that as of right now. But we will update you as they come. Yeah. So it's a sacrifice that has to be made. Somebody has to travel and why not all of us, you know? So that was just

the one thing I wanted to say before we start going to the land of birds and the Everglades. So I think it is important to note too if you want to be the first people to really get updated on when these trips are coming out because these podcasts come out once or twice a week. Instagram is probably the best place because we post things as soon as it happens. Our Instagram is national partners. Our Instagram is national after dark. But if you don't have social media, if you go to our website, M-P-A-D-Podcast.com and sign up for our newsletter, we're going to send out newsletters every time that we have a trip planned and let you know the dates that they're going to go on sale so you're not missing out. We don't want you to miss out just because you're not on social media. So sign up for the newsletter. We won't blow up your

inbox with a bunch of random emails. It'll just be our monthly newsletter in this. Yeah, the newsletter. And then when we first figured out that we were doing the Alaska thing, we sent out an email. separate from the newsletter to everyone that subscribed to it that had all of the details before it hit Instagram, before it hit the podcast itself. So that's truly the best way to get like the first, first glimpses. So yeah, sign up there and stay tuned for more trips because they're coming. They're coming. They're definitely coming. All right. Let's do the Everglades because I know that we've gone a couple of times in our episodes. I think I did one or two for Pays. Patreon. And they were all like plane crashes and stuff. So yeah, I'm over that. There's a lot of

plane crashes in the Everglades. This is not a plane crash. This story was actually inspired by my own trip when I went to the Everglades. I did a boat tour when I was there off of some of the mangrove islands down there in Flamingo. And I went on this trip and the guide was telling this crazy story that happened inside the Everglades. And I was with one of my friends. And we looked at each other at the same time. And we're like, this is a podcast episode. You have to tell this to people. This is an insane story. So here I am. And I did a much deeper dive into the story because, of course, we had limited time on ship and we were looking for wildlife and things like that. So the tour gave a really good synopsis of what happened. And we're going to do a deep dive into it now. Awesome.

And of course, before we start, I'm going to introduce you to the Everglades again, just give you a little synopsis of what is down there because it is a beautiful park. It is located in southern Florida, and it's the largest tropical wilderness area in the entire United States, and it's the third largest national park in the United States behind Yellowstone and Death Valley. So this place is huge. Many of our national parks have been created because of the natural beauty there or the unique landscapes that are there and the natural resources that need to be protected. But the Everglades actually became a national park solely to protect the ecosystem there. Oh.

So in the Everglades, it's home of a network of forests and wetlands that are nourished through a river that flows 0.25 miles or 0.4 kilometers per day out of Lake Okeechobee into the Florida Bay. This is the largest and most significant breeding grounds for tropical shoreline birds, also known as wading birds in all of North America. Here is also the largest mangrove ecosystem in the entire. Western Hemisphere and contains the largest continuous seagrass meadow in the entire world. That I do remember. Yeah.

And when I was on the tour, the tour guide was saying that actually, I mean, the park is huge. If you look at a map, the park is massive, but even more of the park is actually in the water, which is really cool too, because a lot of it protects all these mangrove islands that are there, or islets that are there. The ecosystem that it's protecting is also a lot of threatened species. So there are 36 threatened species that live in the Everglades. Some of those include the Florida Panther, the American crocodile, and the West Indian Manatee. There's also 350 species of birds, 300 species of saltwater fish, 40 different species of mammals, and 50 species of reptiles.

So there's just like a conglomerate of wildlife here. An extremely important plant species that thrives in the Everglades are the mangroves. And mangroves are a really cool plant because they're salt tolerant, and they can survive and grow in salt water conditions, which is something you don't see very often. It's very unique to the park. It is. And they're cool. They're very cool to see, especially you see them, you don't see their roots or anything because everything's underwater. And it's just really interesting to see a tree that survives like that.

And they also serve as a crucial part of protecting the areas from storm surges because they kind of hold the place to slay. to slow down the waves from hurricanes and tornadoes that come through there, and they protect the shoreline from erosion, and they stabilize the coastline pretty much. In the Everglades, there are a couple different types of mangroves. There's the red mangrove, black mangrove, and white mangroves, but the most prevalent when you're down there that you'll see will be the red mangroves. Off of the coast of Everglades National Park and the surrounding areas is the 10,000 islands, And this is basically a chain of mangrove islets that just are throughout the whole water. These serve as a primary home and ecosystem for significant marine life and coastal bird populations.

This is an extremely important nesting area for thousands of birds. And why this is a place where they decide to nest is because there's limited predators here. Birds' biggest predators are typically raccoons that can get into their nesting areas and things like that in this area. but when they're out on these little mangrove violets, there's no raccoons out there. So they just have a natural protected area that they can flourish in? Yeah. And I mean, there are saltwater crocodiles that are over there. That actually reminds me, we got a couple of comments I posted in the Everglades, saw some

crocodiles and people are like, oh, those aren't crocodiles, those are alligators. And fun fact, and I talked to the park service actually about this ranger down there is in Flamingo, there's actually a lot of saltwater crocodiles. I'm down there and that's where I was. So while alligators are more prevalent in the park in Flamingo, it's saltwater crocodiles. So that's what you're seeing while you're down there. I don't enjoy that. I enjoy that for them. It's great. But I would not be up in there kayaking and stuff like you were. Yeah, I was kayaking and I was nervous and I'm getting into the kayak. We pay for it. And the guy's just letting me jump in the kayak. And I'm like, okay, so is there anything I need to know?

You know, like, you go out into the woods and they're like, okay, carry bears spray, there's bears in this area, or there's mountain lions in this area, walk in a group. I'm like, okay, so there's crocodiles here, like anything I should know. It's like, yeah, just stay like 15 feet away from him. Casual. And then as soon as I'm getting in, I see a crocodile dive into the water towards me. And it's like, ah. You're fine. You lived.

I lived. And also, he said it's literally totally fine. Like, they're very elusive of people and they don't want to be around you. and I'm sure anyone from Florida is like, you're literally fine. Yeah, like you're overreacting right now. Like when you live somewhere where the biggest reptile is like a salamander. A salamander, yeah. Yeah, exactly.

When you see a legit dinosaur swimming next to you. It's jarring. Yeah. It's very jarring. You've survived for a reason and I'm not messing with you. Right. Back to the microwave eyelids. Girl, winter is so last season.

And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope? It's time for a little in-person spring treat.

It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. This episode is brought to you by Prime. obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L, every year after, the love hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. I was saying that they're safe from predators. And there's tons of different species

of birds that live here. So there's white-crowned pigeons, eagrits, little blue herons, tricolored herons, white ibises, osprey, bald eagles, paragon falcons, double-crested cormorants, and there's different species of hawks. And they all live here in the same area. And birds play a crucial role

in maintaining the ecosystem here. And scientists actually often look at the population of birds to study and measure how well the ecosystem is doing as a whole. So they're an indicator species. Mm-hmm. Cool. And one of my questions when I was researching this, I'm like, well, what is so significant about birds? You know, like everything has a role. What is exactly the birds' role? And they help keep species of insects, crustacean, fish, and vertebrae from overpopulating

the area, which is very, very important because that helps control the health of the sawgrass and seagrass that's there. And that's really important because the manatees feed off of that. And they eat about a thousand pounds of seagrass per day. So if that's not there and that's not healthy and thriving, then the manatees are going to die. A manatee eats a thousand pounds a day. Yeah. What? Fatties. They're all sea cows under the... I don't know why I'm so shocked about that. I mean, I know they're big. How much does an elephant eat every day? I don't know. I didn't research that for the Everglades. Oh, okay. Well, what the hell?

I know it's very odd, but... Oh, wait. What? I'm wrong. I'm Googling it, and it's 100 pounds. I added a zero. I was like, wait. Any sense.

Okay. That's still a lot. Don't get... I'm not like shaming that. I'm not like, oh, those are rookie numbers, but like, yeah. Oh, and they weigh a thousand pounds. Oh, right. Maybe that's where I got the thousand number.

Okay. Okay. like, you're making me second guess, and now I'm looking at it. Okay. Okay. So there are a thousand pounds and they eat 100 pounds of seagrass per day, which is also still a lot of seagrass, and it's really important that the seagrass is thriving. And birds really help contribute to that is where that whole thing was going. There was a time that the ecosystem here was extremely threatened and when birds in this area were almost wiped out completely. And that's kind of the basis of where this whole entire story begins because in the late 1800s, the American feather trade was in full swing.

This was a time where feathers and fashion were at its height. So in this time period, the more feathers that you had on your hat and your jackets, any item of clothing you had, it was worn as a symbol of status and wealth. And in turn, millions of birds across the U.S. were being slaughtered for their feathers. More specifically, the plume trade was happening. And this was a woman. And this was a collection of large feathers that were used for decorative purposes that came from birds like eagrits and a lot of these species that I mentioned are in the Everglades. In the year 1886, an ornithologist, which is someone who studies birds, by the name of Frank Chapman, he was from the American Museum of Natural History, decided that he wanted to study and see just how many people

were using feathers as fashion, and he wanted to get a more measurable data of what was happening with this huge fashion trend that was going on essentially. So he decided that the best place to do this would be to head to the streets of Manhattan. Oh, yes. That's where fashion headquarters are, as I hear. Fashion Capital. Yeah, as we know, because we walked down New York City. As I know, as I'm very into fashion.

I'm literally wearing like sweatpants and yeah I don't want to I don't want to publicly announce what I'm wearing but it's not fashionable yeah so he basically he decided that Manhattan was the place to go it's wealthy it's full of fashion so he decided to walk down these bustling streets and just take note of everything that he saw and he saw that there were birds everywhere in the two strolls that he took he saw 40 native species in the area there were cardinals blue jays woodpe Peckers, Orioles, Sparrows, and Robbins, and their feathers flooded the streets. So these are birds that have, or these are feathers from these species that are on people's clothing. Yeah. Okay. So he's seeing all of these native species, but they're all dead. Okay.

They're all in clothing. He also saw birds that weren't native to the area. He saw beautiful plumes of egrids, herons, and white ibises. And again, of course, none of these birds were alive. they all sat plucked and sewn onto the hats of over 700 women. And just two blocks? Two strolls down the same street. Whoa.

Wow. At two different times. Yeah. And this short stroll that he took ignited what would start the fight against the devastating effects of the American feather trade. By the time 1886 was over, five million birds were slaughtered and Florida's Everglades were facing the real possibility of a mass extinction of their beautiful plume birds. So that stroll that he took was essentially the first time anyone had really taken a look at what things were. And this

started sparking a lot of different viewpoints of what was going on. And I won't go into it too much, but there ends up being this woman actually in Boston who is super high up. She is wealthy. She's someone who wears feathers herself. And she actually becomes one of the people who, is one of the biggest advocates, along with Frank Chapman, and starts moving to get things made illegal, essentially. And she starts calling for her friends who are also super wealthy to stop doing this. And this is all happening in Boston. So this little stroll is what kind of just ignited a fire in people to start paying attention. The snowy egret was suffering the most. The snowy white feathers had become a luxury in fashion and therefore made them

the most hunted bird. Plume hunters from all over the country were heading to Florida's Everglades to a place called Flamingo. That's where I was. It was a place that was first settled in 1992, although the Tequesta natives had lived there for many years prior, which we see most of the time that there's always been natives before. When settlers arrived, they decided to name it Flamingo because of all the beautiful pink feathered flamingos that would migrate every year from Cuba. Here was a place where plume hunting was the best in the entire country, and hunters had been guaranteed kills every time they entered the area, because here the birds flourished. There were thousands and thousands of them, and there were thousands of nesting eagrots that paid big money. Shortly after, these big hunting expeditions began, probably within a year,

Flamingo, that got its name from all of the pink feathered flamingos, had to change the name. And they changed it to Mingo because all of the hunters had either scared off or killed all of the flamingos that came to the area. And they noticed very shortly after that they stopped migrating to Florida to the point where it's actually still super rare to this day to see a flamingo in Flamingo, Florida. Really? Mm-hmm. You know what this reminds me of? What? The California state flag has a grizzly bear on it. Does it? Yeah. I've never noticed that. It has a grizzly bear on it. It's like their state mammal. And the last grizzly bear was hunted in the 1920s. I'm pretty sure. Don't quote me. But first half of the 19th century, they were all gone because we hunted them all to a local extinction. I knew that. I didn't know it was on the flag. Yeah. It's like the state mammal. It's on the flag. And yet,

we've killed them all. It's just so sad, you know? It's wicked sad. It's just, when you think back to it, it's like, oh, they used to flourish here. Right. And imagine, like, when I was in Flamingo, if I had seen flamingos there, that would have been really, really cool. And to know that they literally just don't go there anymore because it's not safe. And, you know, like throughout generations and generations of birds, their instincts, their family, their older family has literally, like, it's been taught to every generation that you don't migrate here anymore. Well, it's altering migration patterns that have been obviously instilled for hundreds and hundreds of years. So that's wild. Just human influence and how it can alter things like that is so interesting to me. It's obviously depressing, but it's fascinating.

Yeah, it's fascinating. And they did change the name to Mingo because there weren't any flamingos there. Right now, today, it is still known as Flamingo. That was the original name, but the locals there had re-nicknamed it mango instead. Now, during this time, the average wage of a working man for a 40-hour labor-intensive week was about $10. A hat that was made out of egret would sell for easily $130, and they were super easy to hunt in the Everglades because they were everywhere. Men would roll in on their boats with guns. They'd approach an island of mangroves filled with nests of egrets and just start shooting. Shot after shot after shot. In one afternoon, they would, would have killed hundreds of eagrets, collecting their bodies, plucking their feathers from only their

neck and back, and throwing their carcasses to the water for crocodiles and other predators to eat. This always occurred during nesting season, which meant after they destroyed and killed the birds of these nests, they left the babies and eggs behind. The baby birds were left too young to survive without their mothers and would wait to starve or be picked off from other birds of prey. Their eggs would never hatch or hunters would just throw them out. In one afternoon, these hunters would kill two generations of birds. That's insane. And this is clearly before any regulation of any kind.

No, at this point, birds really weren't thought of anything of importance. And also, it's important to note at this time, there's actually no conservation efforts that have ever been established in the United States. I'm sorry, what year is this? This is in the early 1900s. Okay. I wonder when the... Migratory bird act. Well, this is a direct influence of that. Oh. The story. Okay. Okay. Jumping ahead of myself. I actually

don't go too much into the migratory bird act for it because the story has a lot of other things that jump into it. But it's influenced it. So it's obviously after. Yeah. It is after this. And this entire story is actually what started the very first conservation effort that ever happened in the United States. I mean, clearly something had to be done because this is nuts. It's irresponsible. It's so. irresponsible hunting. These hunters are just going to these places and just shooting as much, how long. They could stay out there for days, weeks, it didn't matter. They could do whatever they wanted. And eagrits weren't the only victims in these huntings either. Herons were also killed in large numbers, and they were a bird that only the back plume feathers were used. And they were sold at 40 cents a plume. So they were killing these birds for literally only their back feathers. It's crazy. Spoonbills were sold for $2 to $5 per flat skin. The legs. wings and head are cut off from the bird only using the body's skin and feathers and cut in a way

that flattens completely that is used well for clothing so they throw out almost the entire bird okay this reminds me of shark fin soup how they you're looking at me like i have five heads is that literally when they only use the fin yeah so there's you can look up it's horrible but they literally will get sharks from the ocean and right up onto the side of their boats though and they'll like slice off their fins and then just throw their body back into the water. So they're alive still, obviously can't swim and they just die. Oh my God. And there's just thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds of shark fins just for, it's like a delicacy, I think, somewhere. Yeah. So it's the same thing. It's just using a very small portion of an animal and then the rest is just tossed back.

The disregard for living creatures is just insane to me. And it's like, like I said, like it's a luxury thing, the soup. These feathers are obviously used for luxury items. Like, no one is going to die if they don't have a plume hat. No. This isn't for warmth either. It's not like, oh, they need this. Well, that's what I'm saying. Like, this is just totally, yeah. It's all fashion related. Nothing of importance. They also hunted the Carolina parakeet, which was the only U.S. Native parrot and the passenger pigeon. And they hunted them so incredibly irresponsibly that it directly led to their extinction. The last captured Caroline Parakee and passenger pigeon lived out their days in a cage at the Cincinnati Zoo. The last parakee named Incas died on February 21st, 1918, in the same

cage that the last passenger pigeon named Martha had died in 1914. I hate stories like that. Just like the last of your kind type of thing is just so depressing. And in a zoo too. Yeah, it's like, come on. Yeah. And it was directly because of the hunting and the Everglades. This was somewhere that they both thrived here. I mean, I know extinctions happen all of the time and they'll continue to happen with or without human influence. It's just when we can directly trace an extinction and link it to human activity is when it's a hit you, you know? Yeah. By the 1890s, the amount of plumes in the Everglades had been decimated. hunters entering the area were met with just the last survivors of the rookeries. Mangrove islets that once had hundreds of birds on them would now just have a handful.

Hunters would observe emptiness with dead baby bird parts hanging out of them, an area where skies were filled with all different species were now empty. There was, however, at this point, a known rookery that hunters had never been able to reach before, and it was through a thick mangrove cluster. It was far, but it was rumored to still have hundreds of birds living there. They had heard from natives of this place's existence. Somewhere no white settlers had ever been before. It would prove to be worth a fortune.

In the past, this area had had no interest because it required traveling long distances. It would be an entire expedition, and there were egrets and herons everywhere that were so easy to get to. But now that there were almost none left, hunters became more interested. and they knew that they would have to bring days worth of supplies, they would be out for possibly weeks to get here, but there was one person who was willing to do it. George Elliott Cuffbert decided that he was going to seek out this little island in hopes to cash in.

He was an experienced hunter and had sailed through the Everglades and mastered how to navigate around the thick brush of mangroves. He was a navigator, fisherman, and hunter, and if there was any person who was going to be able to get to this very remote area, he knew that it was him. He headed out into the channels with all of his gear, switching between sailing and then pushing and dragging his boat through thick mangrove clusters. He trudged his way through shallow waters where water moccasins lived in other venomous creatures, mosquito-invested areas, and crocodile territory. He climbed trees to try and see where a large concentration of birds

would be. After what seemed to be hours of looking, he found nothing, but he was seeing more and more birds in the sky. After more hours of pushing his way through thickets of mangroves and clouds of mosquitoes, he finally found it. Sitting less than a mile in front of him, he saw a cloud of white. Thousands and thousands of plume birds in their home. He took a few minutes to take in the beauty of the site. Thousands of birds flying in and out of the rookery, noises filled the airs of wings flapping and birds calling. Every type of eagret was here, herons and spoonbills. He had arrived here at the right time of season. It was mating and nesting season, the time where these birds' feathers were in full bloom and essential for selling them for the plume trade. It was also a time that

made them the easiest to hunt. He knew that even if he shot at them, the birds would not leave their nests, as they had babies and eggs, and they would stay no matter what to protect it. He raised his weapon to his shoulder and fired. He watched as one eagret fell from a tree. This attracted very little attention from the other birds, as it was loud with all of their noises anyway. He fired again and again and again. He fired for hours, killing hundreds and hundreds of birds. He skinned them and plucked them, took their feathers, and threw their carcasses out. When he left, it was almost silent, leaving just the baby birds to starve to death or to be discovered by birds of prey. His ship was filled with plume feathers, and he had just earned himself

a small fortune of cash and left the last known healthy rookery almost completely demolished. When does this get better? Unfortunately, it doesn't until the end. Oh, okay. I was holding my breath for a second. I guess I won't. That is just like, I feel like, of course, of course we've gotten better about regulations and conservation efforts and understanding that you just can't do that. However, I feel like that internal greed that he must have been feeling when he saw that, he didn't see what you just described. He saw dollar signs.

He didn't see a, you know, I'm sure he was like, oh, this is pretty. But he didn't care. Or if he did, money trumped that. And I feel like that is still as prevalent today. However, there's just more hoops to jump through and more regulations in place. And I feel like a lot of that's just a big problem that I don't think. will ever get rid of is that, you know, money rules everything. And there's always going to be people who don't care, like you said in the intro that just they don't care about whatever it is,

whether it's birds or sharks for shark fin soup or pangolans or anything. You know, they just, the money is way more worth it than a couple hundred dead animals to them. But then times that and multiply that by however many people think that way. And we have a massive problem. Yeah, it's a devastating effect. And I think part of it, especially with birds, is that you don't necessarily think of birds as like an intelligent species, I guess. You know, like they're not, I feel like people just don't sympathize with them as much because they're elusive. You can't go touch a bird. They're pretty out of the way. I mean, they shit on you sometimes. You know, it's not like when you're seeing a wild panther or, and I mean, these species are also, maybe that's not true because

these are also super hunted, but I feel like there's just something different about going out and killing a bird where a lot of people are like, it's just a bird. And they don't see the major effects that it's happening, which I think is obvious here. And maybe this time, well, definitely this time, people didn't know why birds were important either. Yeah, right, right. Well, that's still something like when you say, you know, save the polar bears. People are like, like, oh my God, yes, save the polar bears, which this goes without saying every animal that is facing an endangered status or, you know, threatened for extinction is worthy. However, there are animals that obviously draw more attention and elicit more empathy like a polar bear versus save the

pangolans. People are like, what the hell is a pangolin and why? And then it's like, well, it's actually one of the most endangered species in the world. And it's one of the most, trafficked animals, illegally trafficked animals in the world and people are still kind of like, yeah, but save the polar bears. You know what I'm saying? It's like, I get that. I get that. Yeah, there's definitely certain species that tug at heartstrings a lot more. Anything like polar bears? Yeah, because you ever seen a little baby polar bear and then you see a pangolin, which are still very cute. But then you're like, okay, it's like an ant eater. I mean, and if you look at an eerie, you're not going to be like, oh, it's so cute. Like, you know, like, you're not going to want to like snuggle it and you're not going to have a stuffed animal at home that you grew up with that looked like it, you know.

So it's definitely different. Yep. Bird people are screaming at. Like, they are important. And we agree. They are. They are. They're super important.

And I learned that a lot from my research in this. And I also actually learned it a lot from just when I was in the Everglades. You know, on the cruise that we took, going through these mangrove violets, there were so many. many birds and just watching them flying and their feathers are so pretty and they're just so different than what I'm used to up in New England. Not that there aren't cool birds here, but I mean, they're just, they make the whole area. If those birds weren't there, what would I be looking at? Well, I was just going to ask you, like, imagine the experience you just had, but take away any bird calls, any signs of birds, any sights of birds. And then, like,

it just seems empty. And it was so fun to like go through and look in and you would see different birds. Like it was every single mangrove I let we went to was like, oh, what birds do you see? And I'd be like, oh, there's a heron over there. There's an eagroth, a white ibis. And you're just looking at all of them. And it just made it such a more magical experience to see so much wildlife out there. And it was just, it definitely made the experience for me.

So I have a totally different view of birds than when I went into the Everglades. from when I came out. So this clear decimation and disregard for the bird species in Florida had caused an uproar and demand for conservation efforts to be put into place. The Audubon Society in Florida was specifically created to try to establish rules and protections around birds. Within a year, 39,000 people had joined the society. In 1900, Frank Chapman, who I mentioned earlier, he was the one who strolled the streets

in Manhattan, he had been a major resource for the Audubon Society. And he actually created a volunteer Christmas bird count where over a three-week period, volunteers would count and observe the amount of birds in the area. And this actually attracted over 2,000 people. And eventually in 1901, the Audubon Society pushed through a legislator that outlawed plume hunting in the entire state of Florida. Oh, wow. Yeah.

So this really, I think the whole point of this volunteer trip was to create a care for the birds. Yeah. You know, and from what I read, it's still something that goes on to this day. Well, I mean, from a scientific point of view, to have so many volunteers that are essentially just gathering data for you for your study. But to them, it's a fun thing that, I mean, I'm sure these are amateur birdwatchers anyways, doing it from their back porch, you know? So to go out and do it in a different way and to actually be contributing to something, I think,

is a big draw. And it's become like a Christmas tradition, too. Yeah. So with this new legislator that happened, this created a big problem because hunters didn't believe that it was a law. First off, they're like, no, we've done this forever. Like, that's not, it's fine. Plume hunting's fine.

So they continued to hunt or they knew that it was a law, but they just didn't care. And the reason that they were able to do this is because the Everglades and the 10,000 islands weren't being monitored or patrolled. So it was super easy for hunters to go out and continue doing what they were doing and never be caught or seen. And especially because the biggest fashion markets were outside of Florida. So they weren't selling these plumes to anyone in Florida. They would sell him to Boston and New York. So when they killed these birds got out of there, they shipped it up north and it was like it never happened. So this created a huge need for a game warden to patrol southern Florida. And they had the perfect man for

the job. He was a man by the name of Guy Bradley. Now Guy Bradley has a history of why he was chosen and he was born in 1870. He was originally from Chicago, Illinois, where several members of his family held high positions in law enforcement. His father worked for the post office and he lived there for six years before his father accepted a different job in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He moved there with his parents and his sister Flora and his brother. Unfortunately, while they were living there, they all fell ill to an unknown sickness. His little sister Flora was especially affected by this and later died. Guy Bradley was also extremely sick for almost two years, but he ended up recovering. After being devastated by the loss of his sister and not knowing what caused the illness in the first place,

the family decided to move to Lake Worth, Florida, where his father accepted a job at another post office. And he accepted a job as a mailman. This was no ordinary mailman position. These men in the 1800s were referred to as the barefoot mailman. Have you heard of them before? No. They were called this, because often these men had to walk or travel by boat because there were no roads between the 68-mile stretch between Palm Springs in Miami. So they would often travel in rowboats and then walk for miles along sandy beaches to deliver mail. Wow. Can you imagine that no roads between these two? And now it's just like you're sitting in traffic for hours. You can't get away. Yeah. It's a lot quieter back in the late 1800s. Guy's father had accepted a route that was a

about 136 miles long, which was from Palm Beach to Miami, and it would take him about six days each trip. Guy's father had accepted the position after the man before him's clothing and all his belongings had been washed up on an inlet, but him and his boat were nowhere to be found. It was assumed that he drowned or he was eaten by an alligator or shark, but his body was never recovered. So his father's like, oh, good. They're like, hey, we have an opening. This guy just died, maybe we think we're pretty certain. So do you want to come take over? And he was like, yeah, that sounds great.

In 1885 at 15 years old, Guy joined a noted plume hunter named Gene Chevalier on a trip off of Key West to go plume hunting. This was his first time plume hunting. But he was very familiar with the practice and was excited to get to go out and experience it for himself. This was a trip out with the guys. He's 15. He's a teenager.

And at this time, was the same time that plume feathers were worth more than gold. And for a 15-year-old guy, this was a real opportunity to make money that he had never experienced before. And this wasn't just any expedition. He was joining this experience hunter for several weeks, and they knew that they were going to come back with a lot of birds. Sailing through the beautiful waters, they approach islets of mangroves. The skies were filled with so many species of birds, herons, eagrots, white ibises. They filled the water in their nests, and they filled the trees. It was noisy and lively,

and something that Guy had never seen before. It was beautiful, and it was incredible. He watched these majestic animals fly overhead, and then Gene pulled out a gun and let out a single shot. Guy watched as the snowy eagret fell from the tree. It was a good shot, and the bird died immediately. Next, it was Guy's turn. He pulled the gun to his shoulder and aimed.

He took a deep breath and then pulled the trigger. Down went a blue her in. He got it. He was filled with excitement. This was his very first kill. They continued to shoot into the islet until almost every last bird was killed, 200 of them at least.

They collected their kill, plucked out the feathers they needed, skin parts of the birds that were helpful, and then threw their carcasses to the water. When they had arrived, it was loud with the flapping of wings and the calls of birds, but now it was almost silent, with only the single chirps from the babies that now remained parentless in their nests.

It was now time to move on to the next rookery. They continued to do this for days and then weeks. When they finally returned to the shore, they brought back the plumes of 1,397 birds, plumes that had belonged to over 36 different species. Guy, who had originally felt accomplished in his first several kills and excitement for the payout, returned feeling more ashamed. He had killed and watched so many birds die. He had spent time on the water observing their beauty and their homes,

to only destroy them. The worst part for Guy happened as they were leaving. They'd sail away, listening to the babies crying out for their parents, knowing that they were being left to die. After this, Guy Bradley did go plume hunting again a few more times. The money was too good to pass on, but he never felt good about what he was doing. And eventually, he decided to stop entirely.

Eventually, in the year 1900, Guy's father was offered a position as the first postman of Flamingo, Florida post office. Their whole family decided to move to the coastal area, and this was a place that was full of the plume hunters. The men here were described as wild. They were rugged Florida men who were armed and significant hunters. Guy was very different from them. He was pleasant and quiet, and he had his own views about plume hunting now. Despite this, however, he got along with the people, and he made a lot of friends.

Even though, when he moved to Flamingo, he was very vocal about his opposition of plume hunting now. Many of the men he was talking to were his friends and people he had gone plume hunting with in the past. But now Guy sought for the cruelty that it was, and he was not afraid to let his opinion be known. And that's why, in 1901, when the Audubon Society pushed through the bill outlawing the trade of wildlife in the state of Florida and plume hunting as a whole, they knew that Guy Bradley would be best suited for the job position of the first game warden to ever serve in the Flamingo area. Guy Bradley now had a wife and kids, and when they sent him the job offer, they offered him a salary of $35 a month, which at the time was enough to take care of his family. This offer was especially enticing because of his family's history. He had always dreamed of being part of a law enforcement job.

His family in Chicago had been significant people in law enforcement, and he had always dreamed to serve in some way. And this was better than he could imagine. It wasn't the same as the big city of Chicago. He wouldn't be dealing with robberies and violence. His challenges here would be different. He would be facing alligators and crocodiles, venomous snakes, mosquitoes, and the most dangerous of all. The plume hunters. He knew these men, and he knew if they were backed into a corner, threatened with arrest while trying to make a fortune off of these feathers, it was quite possible that they would use their firearms on him. He requested that he would be allowed to employ an assistant to help him.

He knew the dangers of the job, and he wanted an extra person there. They agreed to his conditions, and he received a letter, notifying him of his new job title. It stated, Mr. Guy Bradley of Flamingo, Florida is now employed by the AOU as a warden for the purpose of enforcing the bird law of the state of Florida. Chapter 49, approved May 29, 1901. The duties of said Guy Bradley are to strictly enforce the said Florida bird law to effect that he shall prevent the killing, of all protected birds or the taking of their eggs. He was now single-handedly employed to patrol hundreds of miles of mangrove islets alone, with just one assistant who he decided to employ his older brother.

He took this job very seriously. He took the time to educate others on the issues of flume hunting and the importance of the birds. He went around posting warning signs throughout the area, stating that hunting was punishable by law, and he spoke to hunters directly and told them of his new job position. He headed out into the most remote rookeries for any sign of hunters and would spend days deep inside the Everglades. In his first month of working, he wrote a report of his experience on the job. January 16th, went out to see what someone was shooting and found some hunters shooting alligators for their skins.

That day, he had cautiously approached, knowing it would not be best to scare a group of men with guns and decided to question them. Although shooting the alligators was not illegal, often plume hunters disguised themselves, as alligator hunters. January 24th to 25th visited Alligator Lake and its rickory. I found wood ibis getting ready to lay, also plenty of egrets feeding in the marsh. I narrowly escaped being bitten by a large cotton mouth moccasin. January 26th to 27th visited Sandy Key and East Cape Sable, also egret feeding grounds. Found signs of hunters, but no one was there. Posted warning signs. January 29th, heard a lot of shooting in the bay and tried to catch a boat that that was leaving one of the cormorant rookeries,

but the wind picked up and they got away. Outside of his reports, though, tensions were rising with surrounding citizens and Guy. Each member of the Bradley family owned a piece of land along the Flamingo Waterfront. Next to their land was owned by a family by the name of Maggie and Bill Burton. And next to them was Captain Smith's claim to land. The Burtons had believed that the Smiths were using part of their land

and employed a surveyor to prove that it was theirs. The surveyor happened to be Guy Bradley, and he found that Captain Smith had been indeed using their property unlawfully, and the Burtons decided to bring in a lawyer and brought him to court where they won the case. To make the tensions worse between Guy Bradley and the Smiths was that the Smiths were known plume hunters. And over the next year, Guy Bradley arrested Captain Smith's sons twice for plume hunting. The second time, Captain Smith blatantly told Guy, if you arrest one of my sons ever again, I will kill you. On the morning of July 8, 1905, Guy was in his home when he heard the sound of gunfire. He ran out of his house and out the door and looked into the bay. About two miles off of the shore of his house was Oyster Key, a small islet of mangroves. He could see in the distance a blue schooner ship anchored nearby.

He recognized the boat immediately. It belonged to Captain Smith. He knew what he needed to do, and he needed to go out there and confront them. And unfortunately, he had to do it alone. His brother was out of town, and he was the only warden in the area. He grabbed his pistol, and he tried to hop onto a sailboat, but there was no wind. So he grabbed a rowboat. Before he left, he said goodbye to his wife and his toddler. His wife had recognized the boat as well, and knew about the altercations guy and the Smiths had had in the past.

She was really nervous, and she watched him the entire time as he paddled out to them. It was 9 a.m. The Smith saw a guy approaching, but there was nowhere that they could go. It was low tide and their boat was stuck in the sand. They'd have to wait before they could leave. Guy from afar led out a warning shot into the air. It was a signal to tell them to stop shooting the cormorants in the rookery. Captain Smith's sons looked at Guy and led out a single shot again into the rookery.

Then they very clearly stepped up into the boat holding two dead cormorants in their hands. I'm here for your sons, Guy Bradley called out. Captain Smith replied stating that if he wanted him, he would need a warrant. Guy replied by stating he didn't need one. He saw with his own eyes them shooting into the rookery and the birds that they had in their hands was enough to arrest them. Guy instructed Captain Smith to put down his gun. I'm not putting down my gun. If you want them, you'll have to come aboard this ship and get them yourself. Captain Smith responded, put down your rifle and I will come aboard, Guy stated. Captain Smith drew up his gun and fired at Guy. Guy. Guy slumped over in his

stingy, and then the boat slowly began to drift away. Still with nowhere to go, the Smiths had to wait aboard the ship for High Tide to come, and when they did, Captain Smith sailed straight back to his home. He alerted the rest of his family that he had to leave right away, and that he was heading to Key West to turn himself in for killing Guy Bradley. When Guy didn't return home that night, his wife knew something was very wrong. It wasn't uncommon for him to be gone for days at a time with his job, but where he went was only two miles away, and he should have made it back. The following morning, he still didn't show. She called a friend of guys named Gene Roberts to let him know what had happened and told him

that Guy had been heading out to arrest Captain Smith. Immediately concerned, they began a search party. Gene was a friend, and he was also occasionally an assistant to Guy as a deputy, and he knew the waters well. He knew that if Guy had been in Oyster Key and had run into any trouble, his boat would have drifted west somewhere near East Cape Sable. After about an hour of searching, Gene spotted Guy's boat drifting aimlessly in the water. Immediately he recognized that this was not a good sign.

As he got closer to the boat, he saw still no signs of life. Finally, he caught up with the craft. When he looked inside, he saw a guy, laying in the bottom of the boat and he was dead. A gunshot had ripped through his body and his revolver lay beside him. Gene quickly turned around and headed back to Flamingo to get help. He dreaded bringing back the news of Guy's death and first went and found a friend of his. He was also a friend of guys. Then he grabbed a coroner and headed back out to where they had found him.

Upon inspection, they found that the bullet had gone through his collarbone and to his back, shattering two of his vertebrae. When they got out there, they found some boards and began to build a coffin for him. They decided that they were going to bury him on East Cape Sable. It was a serene and beautiful spot. It was isolated and untouched. and they decided this is where a guy would have wanted to be buried. So they dug a hole and they lowered him down into it.

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and he walked straight into the sheriff's office and admitted to killing Guy Bradley. He stated that he shot him and he didn't know if he was dead or if he was injured. The sheriff then immediately took him into custody and called the prosecutor. I'm kind of shocked by that. That he called someone. Or that he confessed. That he just walked in and turned himself in. He's clearly taunting the guy.

He, do you know what I'm saying? Like he obviously, him and his sons were taunting him. He already didn't like him. He shot him, obviously, without needing to, of course. Like, what's his end game here? Well, what's his end game? But also, I feel like maybe he knew that it would come back to him anyways. Well, that was part of it is he did know that it was going to come back to him

because he was off the shore of his house. Some people assumed that he actually lured him out on purpose. Because there's so many places, mangrove places that he could have gone. And he chose one that was right off the shore from his house. Right. Well, that's what I'm saying. He's being like, exactly. He's taunting him and luring him and like enticing.

He's just like getting him riled up for an altercation. Like kind of using that situation as an excuse to get into it with him. So I feel like maybe he did just admit to it because he's like, well, it's very clear. And people saw his boat out there. Like the wife knew that that's what he was going to do. it's not like it was a total unknown. I think he had a strategy behind it too because he was offered $5,000 bail after he said what happened, but he denied it even after a friend offered to pay it for him.

And he denied it because he thought that the Bradley family would come back for revenge. And he thought that they would show up with guns and there would be more shootings. So he actually like, he goes, he kills Guy Bradley. And then he's like, you know, Guy Bradley's family's going to come after me. I'm going to be safe if I turn myself in. He was fearful of retaliation. Mm-hmm. Okay.

This is so weird. Well, this is also the early 1900s. You know, like this is more of a lawless... This is the wild west of Flamingo, Florida. It's all in the name. But with the news of him turning himself in, there were a few friends of Guy who reached out to the Audubon Society to let them know of guy's untimely death.

And they also requested that they send their best lawyers to help him with the case. They knew they were going to need a law. lawyer. They wanted to get justice for Guy. And the auto bond society was devastated when they heard the news. You know, like they were the ones who employed him. They knew the risks when it was happening. And they were just like, of course, we're going to send you a lawyer right away. Meanwhile, Smith had already started telling his story and he was claiming self-defense. He told a story of how Guy Bradley had seen his son shooting and approached them. He said that Guy Bradley had let out a warning shot and demanded to arrest both of his sons. And then Smith stated he needed a warrant. He couldn't

come onto the ship. He then stated that Guy Bradley said that it wasn't necessary for him to have a warrant and began getting angry. He started yelling and cursing at them. And then he said that Guy Bradley fired a shot at their boat and hit the sail. It was in that moment that he retaliated by firing back at him in fear of his life and the shot hit Guy. He then said, Guy stood back up, on his knees and tried to fire a shot at them again, but he was too weak and fell into the boat and then drifted away. Immediately, there's a few discrepancies in his story. And the first that they noticed was that guy was left-handed. And if he was actually trying to shoot at them, he would have been shot on the left side of his body just in the position that he was in when he

was shot on the right side. Also, because of the vertebrae that was shattered in the shot that did hit him, it would have been impossible for Guy to have stood back up on his knees to try and fire another shot after that. Nice try. Yeah, nice try. And another issue was there were actually two more people on that boat who were in the lower deck. Oh. Aside from his sons that I'm sure would back their dad up. There were two other people and they were friends of him, but they stated they never heard Guy shoot. They didn't hear him yelling angrily. And they all also stated and told the police that Smith had previously threatened to kill Guy if he had ever tried to arrest his sons again. So they, his friends kind of threw him under the bus.

He's like, I'm not part of this. I didn't hear that story. And of course, his sons, like you said, backed him 100%. They're like, yeah, that's what happened. But the other guys on the showbril, no, that's not what happened. Well, and the evidence isn't lining up anyway, like the forensics of it and all that. Like, it's, do you know, was there a shot in the sale? Well, that's a really good point too, because that comes up in evidence of what's going on.

So Captain Smith, he is telling his story. and that it's self-defense. And he actually convinced a very prominent person that it was self-defense. And that was actually the senator in the area, and that's Senator Harris. News travels really fast of guys' murder, and there were articles published in papers

of what had happened all over the country as far north as New York. People were outraged at his murder as he was the very first martyr for the cause to save birds. And at this point, people were really rallying around birds. People called for the deepest puns. to be given to Smith. Friends of Guy retaliated against him just like he thought they would,

and they went to his house and they burned it down. Oh my God. And they also stole his most prized possession, which at the time was his horse. When the time came to file an indictment against Smith, he stated, again, that he was using self-defense, and he also had the senator on his side now. He also stated that Guy was enforcing a law that no one in Florida took seriously and no one believed in anyway. He stated that he was only protecting his sons against a law that he didn't believe in and against unlawful arrest, which is what he believed he was doing. Okay, that's a make-believe land in your mind. It's a law for a reason. You would think, but in the state of Florida, he was right. People did not care about this law. Okay, but it's still a law. I don't understand. And that is where

things get really dicey here because the prosecutor of this case, the person who is supposed to be fighting for Guy Bradley puts in almost no effort to get an indictment on Captain Smith. In fact, he only calls one witness and barely has an argument for why Smith should be indicted. The prosecutor didn't call for the supposed bullet hole that Smith had claimed was left in the mass after the guy fired or shot or any further investigations into the claims at all. So they didn't allow any type of conversation for any type of checking into evidence or validating his story at all. So, when it came down to it, they decided not to indict Smith on any charges at all. So there wasn't a trial, there wasn't anything, he was just sent off to be a free man. This is nuts. After Guy's

death, an ornithologist by the name of William Dutcher wrote a eulogy for him describing him as a fearless and brave man. He wrote, a faithful and devoted warden, who was a young and sturdy man, cut off in a moment for what, that a few more plumebirds might be secured to adorn heartless women's bonnets. Here tofore the price has been the life of the birds. Now it's added human blood. Every great movement must have its martyrs, and Guy Bradley is the first martyr in bird protection. A monument was donated by the Audubon Society and put with his gravestone that read, Guy M. Bradley, 1870 to 1905. Faithful unto death. As gay warden of Monroe County, he gave his life for the cause, to which he was pledged. After his death, they were not able to employ a new warden.

and the lawlessness and destroying of workeries continued. Duties of protecting birds lay in people's hands that were not necessarily employed to monitor that. In 1908, a deputy sheriff went missing, and his boat was waded down, sunk with bloody clothes, with marks that looked like it came from an axe. It was suspected that he had been patrolling the waters and was killed by poachers, but his body was never found. Later, that same year, an employee of the Audubon Society was shot and killed by poachers while out in the waters. These deaths and the outcry of the people against Guy Bradley's death, with no conviction,

sparked a New York legislator to pass the Audubon Plumage Act, outlying the plume trade, and soon after all the other states followed. With this, the fashion craze for bird feathers started to fade away, and the demand for plume feathers diminished. Guy Bradley's remains, gravestone, and monument were washed away by a hurricane in the 1960s. They were found and he was returned to his resting place. In 2017, Hurricane Irma came through and uprooted his burial again. His remains were never found, but his gravestone and his memorial were recovered.

In Hurricane Irma, the Flamingo Visitor Center was destroyed, and since then, the park has constructed the Guy Bradley Visitor Center that is set to open this summer. Inside, they will have on display his gravestone, and they have also needed a walking trail after him called the Guy Bradley Trail that is paved along the coast. In 1988, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation established the Guy Bradley Award to recognize achievement in wildlife law enforcement. In 1997, Audubon Society Everglades ecosystem restoration campaign created the Guy Bradley Lifetime Conservation Award that is given to people who promote conservation and offer workable conservation solutions. So even in his death and even though there was never justice served, he continues to this day to be a huge, simple in conservation and bird conservation. And it led to a lot more protections throughout the

country for different birds. And he was the first martyr in conservation that was a staple to beginning conservation and protection efforts throughout the entire country. What a wild story. That is, I know I say this a lot. I feel like I say this a lot, at least. Every single time, I'm like, wow, that's one, that's like my favorite story you've ever told. And I feel like this is my favorite story you've ever told. of until now because obviously huge sucker and soft spot for conservation stuff but especially because this one just like you said marked such a change and elicited such a change and so I have a question I guess clarification wise so after all this happens and the plumage act was enacted

I don't know if that's the right terminology so was that banning and outlawing the trade of plumage or buying and selling it. All of it. It was essentially created to stop the fashion industry for being able to produce it. You weren't able to buy it, sell it anything legally. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Because I was kind of thinking like before you were describing that and you were saying how like you were naming all of these people who have essentially died in the line of duty And which continue to. I mean, wildlife officers and conservation officers and people who are out there patrolling for poachers, that is one of the number one most dangerous jobs you can do because of that reason, because people are out there to literally kill you because you are the law. And you're out in the middle of nowhere. You know, like it can happen and no one's going to see. No one's going to tell. And so I was thinking like, you know, all of these laws. And when you were saying, you know, people didn't care about. that law. And I was like, but it's a law, you know? And most people are like, yeah, so, you know. And so having people, like individuals out there, while it is so admirable and so,

so important, and also that laws are changing, which is also very, very important, the most important thing, as far as in my mind at stopping things like this, whether it be the plumage trade or whatever illegal wildlife trade there is, the only reason that that is still has, the only reason that that is still happening is because there's a demand for it. It's being bought. So what? It's being bought. There's a demand for it. And so same thing with like different types of, I mean, I don't want to go down the fur road or anything like that. Or like ivory. Yeah. Like there are uses for fur and things like that. And there are different cultures that value that as far as part of their heritage and culture and things like that. But perfect example. Ivory. You know, and it's like we're going as far as, you know,

spray painting rhino horns and chopping off or sedating elephants chopping off their tusks and burning them just to save the elephant. And it's like, if there's just not, if people stopped buying this shit, there would be no reason for that. Like the demand would dry up and there wouldn't be so many people risking their lives, you know? It would be worthless. And it's just like, I really hope that we see a change in that just like, I mean, when's the last time you saw someone walking down the street of New York with feathers in their hair. Yeah. Real or fake.

You know what I'm saying? It's like same thing with fur coats. They're like a vintage thing. I'll see them at vintage shops and stuff. But like, and maybe it's just in the United States and it could be something somewhere else. But like it is not nearly as prevalent as it was even 50 years ago, you know? So it's just like the tides will change once we stop demanding it. And I think that the whole bird thing, like you said, how maybe.

it wasn't as cared about, people woke up to that. Yeah. I think that there's disconnect sometimes between what you're buying and how it gets to where you are. You know, there's such a disconnect where a good example in New York, these people who are buying these plume feather hats and these jackets and whatever, they're just walking into a store and being like, this is beautiful. I'm going to buy it. They're not in the Everglades. It's killing thousands of birds and floating away and about listening to their babies crying out and like knowing they're going to die. And so that's so different. Right.

I think like if you really wanted a hat and you had to go out and kill an eager and watch its babies be eaten by another animal, you probably wouldn't buy the hat. Right. Well, there's that and there's also the thought of, but I'm just one person. I'm just buying this one hat. And what is, what difference am I really making by either not buying it or buying it, you know? But again, multiply that by how many thousands and millions of people think that way. And it seems so insignificant, but it does truly matter. But like you said, the disconnect is like the

biggest thing, I think. Yeah. And if you look at things like McDonald's, right? So there have been so many people who have decided to become vegan or have decided to become vegetarian. And it has made such an impact that you can now buy vegetarian burgers and you can now do that. It's a direct reflection of being like, I'm one person and I'm not eating meat. So I'm and it's making less of a market. So they had to add it. And it's things like, same thing with almond milk and things like that. And I think the point about that too is like, I mean, everyone live their lives and do whatever.

Like it's just an example. But like McDonald's isn't going anywhere. No. But they're adapting. They're adapting to the change. So when you are literally voting with your dollars with anything, with what you support, what you buy, who you pay, everything. And money rules everything around me, literally.

Not that we're condoning McDonald's either, by the way, just because McDonald's is probably one of the worst causes in like rainforest station and stuff. So like definitely not being like. I mean, I've had some McFlurries in my day. Yeah, they're French fries. I'm not going to say I haven't eaten them. because the point being not trying to single any sort of like specific like meat industry for industry whatever industry or specific brand or restaurant or whatever the hell it is it's the point

being you're voting with your dollars and you support whatever that is that you're paying for whether or not you know the implications whether or not you're going out there and killing egrits or whatever the hell it is, just having a little more thought about that can make all the difference. Well, it's like blood diamonds. People started making lab diamonds because people were like, I'm not buying these anymore. Like someone had to die and go through all this stuff so I could have a ring on my finger. So people are buying lab diamonds or alternative options. And that all happened because one person and another person and another person decided I'm not supporting this.

I'm not putting my money into this. So they had to adapt and change. Exactly. Oh, this is my favorite topic. I love this so much. And I think the class that really changed my mind and or at least opened my eyes to this was a class I took in college called food, health and the environment. And it was just basically how everything is interconnected and how you're voting with your dollar and how it affects the environment and things like that. So that was more specifically with the food industry.

and factory farming and things like that. But that lesson has stayed with me with everything, you know. And I don't want to see animals killed for their fur, so I don't wear fur. It's like pretty easy kind of. Like one plus one equals two. But sometimes it's just so much more difficult to decipher. Like, you know, you walk by K jewelers and you see a bright, sparkly diamond. You're not thinking of children.

Yeah, in mining situations and horrible conditions. Like, it's not as clear sometimes. Well, it's also, like, sometimes you, like, genuinely have no idea where things are coming from when you think of, like, the labor factories. Oh, God, no. There's just, like, I guess the takeaway here is to just, like, spend, even if it's just for a handful of things in your life, just spend more time researching where it comes from and how you could get what you need in a sustainable way.

Yeah. I mean, we can all make that one simple change. if it's for one thing. Yeah, exactly. That's everyone's homework. Go find an everyday product that you use and find a way to sustainably buy it. So can I say one more thing? Yes, of course you can. Okay, so this is not related to birds. But I think that ship is sailed. But speaking of doing a little research and seeing where your things are coming from, this isn't exactly like where the source is coming from, but there's a really cool app that I read about a couple years ago, and it's called Cruelty Cutter, and you can download it onto your phone, and you can scan any product, like,

you pick it off the shelf at the store, and you scan it, and it'll come up with whether or not it was tested on animals, like if it's not clearly marked. Oh, wow. What's it called? Cruelty Cutter, like, cut out the cruelty. Yeah, I love that, especially for, like, makeup and things like that. Yeah. Because now you're seeing like a huge advancement and push for like not tested on animals and it's like clearly stamped on there. But sometimes things are more obscure and you don't know. And I mean, I don't do it for every single thing I do because I'm human and I forget. You know, I'm not scanning every single little item. But after using it for a while, I kind of stay with the same things anyway.

So I know. But it's just a cool little thing to like if you happen to think about it like, huh, I wonder. And then you can use it. I love that. That's such a cool recommendation. I'm going to download it. And we're not sponsored by them or anything either. That's just like literally just something that is cool.

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Sponsor us. Okay. All right. Well, I think, um, God. Crulty Cutter, whoever you are. Whoever you are created. Actually, I think, I think it was created by like some company that was involved with Beagles

and like how Beagles are used in laboratory settings and beagles are usually tested on in a lot of places. Just sad because beagles are so sweet. I know. But anyways. So, yeah. Okay. Well, Cassie, literally thank you for sharing that because I loved it.

Yeah, I really enjoyed that story. And I will say if you go to the Aberglades, go down to Flamingo, grab the boat tours there. I mean, it's literally the Flamingo dock. It's right next to the visitor center. Go there, get on a tour. And go listen to the story, too, because the tour guide tells you this story in the location that you're at. And you said if you're down there, I mean, you said it opens this summer. Yeah, the visitor center. I need someone to tag us in that. Send us a photo of his grave and that they're

going to have on display there. And walk the guy Bradley Trail. I walked a bit of it. I didn't do the full thing, but I walked a bit of it. It's literally in the visitor center parking lot. You can do that. Take the tour. You can see the island where he was buried at one point too. And it's just, it's really cool. You really get immersed in his entire story. So if you're interested and you want to go there, I highly recommend it. I had a really nice time. Awesome.

All right, everyone. Well, hope you enjoyed. And we'll see you next week for another thrilling story by Cassie. Yeah, two in a row. Three, if you're on Patreon. Oh, my God. Yes, I forgot. Okay.

Yeah. All right. We'll see you guys on Monday. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back. Bye. Bye. Thank you for joining us again this week.

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