I enjoyed this book about a sting by the Florida Wildlife Commission against alligator poachers and the officer who spent two years making the case against them, even when he felt bad for some of the perpetrators. I loved getting to know Jeff and listening to his interactions with the various poachers, but also enjoyed the backstory that Renner weaved into the narrative about her own history in the Everglades and the ways that the evolution of the alligators and the Glades themselves have impacted this activity. I've always been fascinated by alligators, which is what drew me to this story, and I look forward to recommending it to patrons to get the word out about the practices and to bring a little bit of sympathy to the gators themselves. While I. liked the narrator fine, I really enjoyed the beginning where the author narrated her own section and kind of wished she'd done the whole book. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the early listen in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was such a fun listen! A true crime novel about the world of alligator poaching. This book checked all the boxes for me and was a well deserved five stars. The narration was good, although I would have enjoyed a female narration for Renner's POV. I especially enjoyed the added conversation between the author and Babuta.
Thank you, NetGalley, and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to listen and review this wonderful audiobook.

First of all who knew in Florida in order to have an alligator farm all you need is money no qualifications no certifying necessary… You have money buy land get some dangerous alligators and your in business. Now on to the story Jeff was a K9 agent for Florida’s wildlife and fisheries and although he upheld the law he never put humanity above it something I loved about him. He went undercover and set up one of these alligator farms with the intentions of catching Illegal Poetures those who sold alligators as pets illegally ET see it would eventually end in over 40 people being arrested but was it worth it? That’s the question the author and the agent himself are left pondering when all is said and done. This was a pretty good book and I will be honest and say at first I did not like the beginning and the only interview I really felt interested in was the one with Jeff at the end. I do want to say the whole part with the Swedish guy who was a big game hunter and came with his wife to kill a 10 footer and the fact that he killed it and just left it there and went home after doing it to a crocodile and South America was in egregious waste of animal life but more than that I felt as if when Jeff was in the canal trying to pull the alligator out and was about to bite him it almost looked as if the Swedish guy wanted to see the alligator get him! Wayne had to take the gun from the swede despite the fact he shot at the alligator previously when Jeff was about to be attacked he did nothing that made no come in about this when telling the story in the book I just was astounded and that was the first thing I thought. Thank God Wayne wasn’t that drunk lol! I think Rebecca Renner did a wonderful job retelling the agent story describing the beautiful scenes in the Everglades it’s all for that part it would’ve been five stars it was just all the other parts I had to listen to that makes me get this 3.5% you cannot get 3.5 and because John Prohala narrated it I’m going to give it four stars. Whether he does hora nonfiction or anything in between he always does an awesome job love him! I want to thank the author the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I was expecting this to be more of a straightfoward non-fic adventure, and was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the content. The insights into the lives of the poachers, the environmental science and the way Jeff Babauta's experiences are communicated by the author are spot on. The audiobook was beautifully narrated and an easy listen while going about my day.

This is the audio version of the book. The story itself is extraordinary. The narrator is good. However, I thought the narration would have been greatly improved by having a female voice speak for Rebecca.

This is a fascinating story on gator poaching. The author made the swamp and the alligators come alive. Do you have the intrigue of an undercover officer in a sting operation but also the rich world of the Everglades environment. The narrative treats its characters on both sides of the law with respect. this book depicts the importance of a natural world and environmentalism without ever being preachy. This book thoroughly charmed me.

I’d never heard of Operation Alligator Thief until encountering this book. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission put on a sting operation not so different from the DEA, FBI, or any other state government police agency!
Renner’s book details the operation and the context of poaching in Florida. She’s from the region, understands the landscape, and sympathizes with the people who have no jobs and need to forge to survive. She interviews victims of the sting and presents their perspectives and the perspectives of the agents who conducted the sting.

You'll like this book if you like rural true crime that isn’t simple or moralistic. It reminds me of last year’s *Tree Thieves* by Lyndsie Bourgon, which examined how impoverished Californians poach Redwoods and the state’s response.

Gator Country was a wild ride!! I loved learning more about this industry and even though it was non-fiction, it read like fiction!

I enjoyed learning history about my home state, but this missed for me. I appreciated the author's observations about the criminal justice system and the grey areas of the law, but found the conclusions surface-level. And I cannot think that this undercover operation was really worth it based on the legal outcomes and the amount of the officer's life spent on it and danger he experienced. But I am happy that someone cares about wild Florida, so.

I have a love/hate relationship with stories such as this one. On the one hand I love wildlife and any non fiction about them can be eye opening and educational. On the other hand, I hate stories about animals being abused and exploited for the sake of money, or any reason for that matter. I love that someone took the initiative to find and exploit the people responsible for the poaching. Although a sad story for the alligators, at least there are people out there trying to do the right thing.

This book had four major highlights for me and one downside.

First, I love learning about cultures and subcultures different than my own. Although I live in the same country in which the book was set, this exposed me to an entirely new community and lifestyle. Reading about how people live in the Everglades - both before the park designation and after - was fascinating to me.

Second, I was able to learn some biology and ecology. There were biological tidbits included throughout the book, important points for the reader to better understand the story. Nothing was terribly complex, but there were definitely new concepts to me. There was, of course, an environmental protection message to the book, although interestingly, some of the characters who looked down on environmentalists were indeed environmentalist themselves, just in a different way. Although I already knew about the environmental results of mangrove destruction, this opened up many new ideas and will make me look at Florida development in a new way.

Third, the book was action-packed. I was often concerned about the safety of a main character. Even though it is nonfiction, the suspense had a feeling of fiction.

Fourth and most important (but related to the first), I appreciate learning about people who I might otherwise think are opposite from me. I wouldn't expect to have much in common with poachers, and wouldn't expect to feel sympathy for parts of their plight. Prior to reading the book, I would sweep them all into the "bad guys" category. However, the book revealed so much about some characters that their reasons and lifestyles are more understandable to me. The book certainly doesn't promote poaching, but it does assist readers in understanding other points of view, and I always appreciate that when it is well done.

I was provided the audio book, and that exposed the only true negative for me. The narrator was good, but I struggled with the obviously male voice being used to tell both parallel stories, especially that of the female writer. Hearing him speak for "Rachel" didn't make sense for my brain. There were moments when I couldn't remember which of the two stories we were in. However, reading the book versus listening to it would solve this.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an opportunity to listen to the book before its release. I had already noted the publication date on my calendar because I was looking forward to reading it.

I may change my rating. I'm debating between four and five stars, and like to take more time to reflect.

This is a great blend of story, memoir, and research. I love the duality of the voices: Jeff's experience as an undercover alligator farmer, contrasted with Rebecca's research into the history, legends, and lore of Florida poachers. There is a ton of detail in here about alligators as a species, as well as the oft-maligned state they call home (who doesn't roll their eyes at Florida Man stories?) and I learned a ton about both. I especially loved the section at the end of the audiobook, where Jeff and Rebecca discuss their experiences.

Thank you to Rebecca Renner, Flatiron Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for my advance audio copy!

As a Florida girlie myself this was such an interesting read. We are really following two stories. The first being that of Jeff Babauta as he goes undercover to investigate alligator poaching. We follow his experiences as he has to start an alligator farm from scratch and form connections within the community. We also follow the author as she researches the legendary poacher Peg Brown.

I loved diving into this world and reading about the perspectives of the author and Jeff Babauta, their experiences and inner conflicts and the way they look at the world of poaching and the people involved and how it becomes more nuanced the deeper they delve into it.

I really enjoyed the intro being read by the author. The narrator really suited the story as well. I kind of wish that there was a second narrator for the parts where it’s told from Renner’s pov or even if she had narrated those parts because switching between povs could at times be a little confusing. One of my favorite parts of the audio book was the bonus section at the end. I really loved hearing the author and Babauta interact and have a discussion of their experiences and writing this life.

I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

This was such an interesting read! A large part of the book is detailing the true events of Operation Alligator Thief from the perspective of undercover wildlife officer Jeff Babauta. Those parts were fantastic, and read almost like a fictional narrative. The author does a great job at portraying Jeff’s emotions throughout his years undercover, and his struggle with different views of right and wrong, friends and law, and the gray areas that can cloud situations. There are portions in between Jeff’s chapters that are told through the eyes of the author as she researched the operation as well as Florida’s rich history, it’s people and wildlife, and everything that entails. Those portions weren’t nearly as enthralling, but they did help portray a balanced view. It felt like the book was sped up a bit near the end, and some of the imagery was lost so it began reading more like facts, but overall it was an enjoyable listen. The audiobook narrator did a fantastic job and played a huge part in that as well. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

I am obsessed with books about illegal wildlife trade, and in this case this may have been why I didn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted. While it is about a fascinating undercover operation, the prose of this book takes over narrative. Like any good southern storyteller this book meanders, and meanders, and still meanders - in admittedly beautiful prose that paints Florida and the Everglades in rich atmospheric swaths - but I was here for the animal trade story and a solid 60% of this book is not about that. To me it felt repetitive because every time there was a small mention of say local fauna there would be a solid 5 minutes of description or list of said local fauna, and while yes it paints a picture I craved more narrative. The lack of narrative is frustrating to me because I think that this undercover story is fascinating and could have carried the book instead of being supplemented with the long prose on the landscape and culture of Florida, and the story of Peg Brown.

This is a difficult book for me to rate, because I loved the narrator, loved the undercover story, but I got so frustrated with the meandering I could barely keep listening. I think that there are readers who will 100% love this book, I am just not one of those people.

Interesting book. I have always wanted to visit the Everglades and I cannot wait to now after reading this - seems like pure wilderness. I didn't know about alligator egg poaching rings - it was interesting to read about the guy going undercover.

I live in Utah, so thinking about gators or any of those homies doesn't happen a lot. But I was always a fan. I am an animal person so I signed right up for this book and I am glad I did. I learned so much about all sorts of animals and got some new perspectives on poaching. I think that is important.
Did you know poaching isn't just killing endangered animals? It includes plants and animals outside of certain seasons. There is a lot to it. I may have even poached picking wild onions in the mountains or something. My dad once dug up a tree in California.
The narration was wonderful!

Rebecca Renner's book, Gator Country, is a true crime book about catching alligator poachers in the Florida Everglades. In order to do that, Officer Jeff Babauta had to erase his existing life and become a local. He grew his hair, lived in a remote trailer and opened Sunshine Alligator Farm.

Babauta isn't focused on catching and locking up the poachers. He wants to understand their psyche and why they poach. He treats them as human beings and wants to understand the underlying causes.

I listened to this on audiobook and really enjoyed the introduction by the author. The shift to the body of the story is narrated by John Pirhalla. NetGalley provides a bonus at the end of the audiobook with a conversation between the author and Officer Jeff Babauta.

Where to even begin with this one?! I think the highest compliment that I can give Gator Country is that it made me less afraid of alligators. As someone with an incredibly irrational fear of snakes, alligators, and crocodiles - this is a high honor. I grew up watching movies like Lake Placid (IYKYK,) so I have some preconceived notions of reptiles.

Gator Country is simultaneously a police procedural, nature documentary, and personal story of a writer that grew up a stone’s throw from the Everglades, and never really appreciated what was in her backyard.

“To catch a Florida Man, you have to become one, and that’s what Officer Jeff Babauta did. As his ponytailed, whiskey-soaked alter ego, he established Sunshine Alligator Farm. His goal? Infiltrate the shady world of illegal poachers in the Florida Everglades in order to protect the natural world.”

While covering Babauta’s investigation, Renner also dives into the history of notorious poacher, Peg Brown. She meets his living relatives, and learns that not everyone considered a “poacher” is someone with blatant disregard for the environment. In some cases, it is actually the opposite - people with a passion for the living world around them, who come from families that have relied on natural resources for generations.

While Renner shattered my preconceived notions of alligators, she did the same for my thoughts on poachers. Poaching has a much larger definition than I ever thought, and isn’t just greedy hunters seeking out the world’s last white rhino.

Please check this one out and hit preorder if you love or hate alligators, police procedurals/true crime, Florida, Florida Men, nature, science, and candid writing!

Audiobook Notes : LOVED the narrator on this one and especially the afterword conversation with Officer Babauta and Renner. I listened to this for 4 hours straight in the garden at one point and could have kept going. Very well done and would listen to this narrator read the phone book!

A suspicious death in the halls of academia in the Deep South intrigues detective turned research assistant, Marlitt Kaplan. Marlitt’s mother, a professor at the university where student Ethan Haddock died, asks for her daughter’s professional expertise when questions about his involvement with a professor arise. Dark academia, for me, is either riveting or stultifying, Nossett’s book is definitely in the first category. Highly recommended