Ramblings of a Lowcountry Game Warden: A Memoir

by Ben McC. Moise, Lloyd Newberry (Foreword by)

Overview

Ben McC. Moïse served with distinction as a South Carolina game warden for nearly a quarter century, patrolling the coastal woods and waters of the Palmetto State. In this colorful career-spanning memoir, the cigar-chomping, ticket-writing scourge of lowcountry fish-and-game-law violators chronicles grueling stakeouts, complex trials, hair-raising adventures, and daily interactions with a host of outrageous personalities. With a lawman's eye for fine details, a conservationist's nose for the aroma of pluff mud, and a seasoned storyteller's ear for the rhythms of a good southern yarn, Moïse recounts his stout-hearted and steadfast efforts to protect the lowcountry landscape and bring to justice those who would run roughshod over fish and game laws on the Carolina coast. Along the way he paints a vivid portrait of evolving attitudes and changing regulations governing coastal conservation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570038815
Publisher:	University of South Carolina Press
Publication date:	10/31/2009
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	264,392
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ben McC. Moïse was a conservation officer with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources from 1978 to 2002. In recognition of his achievements in law enforcement, he was presented the Guy Bradley Award by the North American Fish and Wildlife Foundation in 1990 and the Order of the Palmetto by South Carolina governor Carroll Campbell in 1994. A contributor to the Charleston Post and Courier, Charleston Mercury, and other regional publications, Moïse lives in Charleston.

What People are Saying About This

William P. Baldwin

Ramblings gives us a smile on every page, a chuckle on every other, and belly laughs at unexpected intervals. Slipped beneath, beside, and between the humor are important things about our state's shared-by-all natural resources. This memoir should be required reading for every hunter, fisherman, game warden, and storytelling fan in South Carolina.

John E. Frampton

"Knowing Ben for over twenty-five years, I often watched in amazement as he mesmerized hunters, anglers, and outdoorsmen with his aristocratic lowcountry drawl and unique ability to hand a ticket to a violator and make him think he was given a gift. Though his accounts are humorous, his forceful conservation ethic portrays his dedication and passion for natural resources."

Dana Beach

For the past thirty years Ben Moïse has defined the role of game warden as raconteur, sportsman, socialite, chef, and guardian of terrestrial and aquatic wildlife. This book includes a delightful assortment of inside stories about fish rustling, dove burgling, and other wildlife escapades and features some classic lowcountry characters on both sides of the law. It almost makes you want to become a game warden—if it weren't for those cold winter nights in the marshes!

Jim Casada

Ben Moïse was an exemplary member of the 'thin green line,' a staunch example of what it takes to be a true friend of conservation and the natural world. In this memoir—sometimes harrowing and at others hilarious—he shares the special calling of a game warden. Perversely, sporting literature has literally dozens of poachers' chronicles but only a smattering of those from the good guys. This book is the finest of its sort I've ever read, and no ethical sportsman and true lover of the outdoor experience can fail to be education and entertained by it.

Editorial Reviews

The 'thin green line' that Moïse represents reminds us that there is a system in place to safeguard our natural resources.

Charleston (S.C.) Mercury

Sometimes humorous, sometimes harrowing this book is for the outdoorsman or anyone who craves the true tales of an alligator-wrestling, drug-cartel-snuffing undercover badass.

Garden and Gun Magazine

The book is entertaining, funny enough to make you laugh out loud, and, above all, insightful.

Columbia (S.C.) State

For readers who love the outdoors and lowcountry wildlife, this is a must-read book.

Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier

The stories are pure, honest and unembellished [Moïse] ably demonstrates his passion for his job.

International Game Warden Magazine

Sometimes humorous, sometimes harrowing . . . this book is for the outdoorsman or anyone who craves the true tales of an alligator-wrestling, drug-cartel-snuffing undercover badass. Garden and Gun Magazine


The book is entertaining, funny enough to make you laugh out loud, and, above all, insightful. Columbia (S.C.) State


The thin green line that Mo se represents reminds us that there is a system in place to safeguard our natural resources. Charleston (S.C.) Mercury


For readers who love the outdoors and lowcountry wildlife, this is a must-read book. Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier


The stories are pure, honest and unembellished. . . . [Mo se] ably demonstrates his passion for his job. International Game Warden Magazine

From the Publisher