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

#7 in the USA audio book in 2016#9 in the USA Wall Street Journal best seller in 2013Named A Top 50 Must Read for the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service.Named A Top 10 Must-Read Books That Could Save Our National Parks and the Environment along with John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, Lewis & Clark, Bill Bryson, and Ken Burns.
Bear in the Back Seat I is the first volume in a series of true stories from “[a]n extraordinary landscape populated with befuddled bears, hormonally-crazed elk, homicidal wild boars, hopelessly timid wolves, and nine million tourists, some of whom are clueless.”
In Kim DeLozier’s world, when sedated wild black bears wake up unexpectedly in the back seat of a helicopter in mid-flight, or in his car as he’s driving down the highway, or in his office while he’s talking on the phone, it’s just another day in the park.
You’ll love seeing Kim and a fellow ranger tested as they bravely take on the task of relocating 77 live skunks by sedating them with darts from homemade blowguns, especially when the pickup truck load of stinkers wakes up while still in transit.
An hilarious, heartwarming, and heartbreaking memoir by the chief wildlife ranger in the #1 most popular family vacation destination in the USA, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
For over thirty years, Kim DeLozier acted as a referee in the wild, trying to protect millions of park visitors from one of the densest populations of wild black bears in America — and the bears from tourists who get too close.
It takes place in the same Smoky Mountain world as Jourdan’s other national bestsellers Heart in the Right Place, Medicine Men, and Out on a Limb.

Kim DeLozier grew up living and working on his family's farm in eastern Tennessee. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. He began his career with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1978 working as a wild hog hunter. Kim retired in 2010 after 32 rewarding years of service in wildlife management. During his career, Kim's involvement primarily focused on nuisance black bear management, wild hog control, white-tailed deer management, small animal management (skunks, raccoons, bats), and re-introduction efforts for elk, peregrine falcons, river otters, and red wolves. Kim married his high school sweetheart, Donna, over 36 years ago. They have two wonderful children, Carrie and Travis, and four precious grandsons, Baylor, Duke, Turner, and Fox. Kim and Donna currently live on the original DeLozier farm in the same farmhouse his Dad was raised in. They feel extremely blessed!