Of Mice and Mountain Lions

Wildlife biologists manage a vast range of wildlife, from seemingly insignificant species, such as mice, to formidable top predators, such as mountain lions. They know that all animal and plant species are crucial to the survival of the others. Ron George was a twenty-six-year-old Air Force jet tanker pilot when he first heard about wildlife biology and began to pursue his education in the field. He spent the next thirty years as a wildlife biologist, and it has been an exciting, sometimes dangerous career. He has roped rattlesnakes, night-lighted pheasants, driven mice, and radio-collared mountain lions. He has heard the call of the sandhill crane, the prairie chicken, and the white-winged dove. He has explored some of the most beautiful and exotic wildlife areas on earth: Costa Rica, land of quetzals and hummingbirds; China, home to the red-crowned cranes; Hawaii, with its nenes and apanaes; Australia, known for kangaroos and wombats. This story captures the inside view of a profession which, like no other, brings humans into contact with the glory of the natural world-which works to conserve that world for future generations.