Behind the Badge
Tall Tales and Knuckleheaded Miscreants
District Game Warden Keenan Snyder
All North Dakota state game wardens are certified law enforcement officers. This means we enforce not only game and fish laws, but all state laws while on patrol. A lot of times we not only find fish and wildlife violations, but other state violations as well.
Several winters ago, I observed a portable hub-style fish house on the small body of water just south of Williston, known as Skunk Hollow. By law, any unoccupied fish house must have an equipment registration number (issued by the Game and Fish Department) or the owner’s name, along with either address or telephone number. This must be displayed on the outside in readily distinguishable characters of at least 3 inches high.
After inspecting this fish house, I was unable to find any type of identification, so I tagged the fish house with a warning tag. These tags are tied to the fish house and are VERY bright fluorescent orange. My plan was to check on this fish house in a few days to see if the fish house was removed or properly marked by law.
A few days later Warden Sperling called me to see if I was in the Skunk Hollow area – he was observing something with the fish house I had tagged, and two individuals that wasn’t adding up. In fact, I was in the area and met up with him for some assistance.
Upon arrival Warden Sperling was talking to a young woman and young man. I was able to see that there was a hub-style fish house on the shore that someone had attempted to fold up. Several of the poles had been broken telling me that the person folding it up did not know what they were doing. I also could see the very visible orange tag that I placed on the fish house several days earlier.
Something was not right with the situation, and we investigated it further.
Warden Sperling interviewed the young woman. The first story she told was that it was her boyfriend’s birthday, so she bought this fish house then drove down to Skunk Hollow to set it up. She then brought him to the spot it was set up and surprised him with her “gift.” Warden Sperling and I both knew this was a big lie pointing out that I tagged the fish house several days earlier and even showed it to her still attached to the fish house. Warden Sperling also pointed out that someone who buys and uses this type of fish house knows how to fold it up without breaking poles.
She finally broke down and told us what was really going on. She and her boyfriend saw that this fish house was just left on the ice and decided to take it. Well, taking property that was not hers landed her a trip to the county jail in handcuffs.
Fast forward to paddlefish snagging season the next spring. Warden Burud and I were “plain clothes” fishing on the Yellowstone River. Plain clothes fishing is where wardens dress like any normal anglers and fish among everyone else, taking notes of the activities legal or illegal.
Paddlefishing is a great time to work in plain clothes because paddlefish is a highly sought-after species and is also highly regulated, which can bring in a lot of people trying to take advantage of our season.
Warden Burud and I completed our plain clothes operation on the Yellowstone River and met up with Warden Sperling, who was in full patrol duty uniform, several miles away. While discussing the evening activities, most of which were legal, a dark colored sedan drove past us on the dirt road. Warden Burud and I instantly made eye contact with each other as a very distinct smell omitted from the passing vehicle. That smell was marijuana.
Warden Sperling, being in his patrol vehicle, performed a traffic stop on the vehicle with Warden Burud and myself bringing up the rear and a North Dakota highway patrolmen enroute from just a few miles down the road. Soon, Warden Sperling and the highway patrolman had the two occupants out of the vehicle for questioning while Warden Burud and I searched the vehicle.
Just as Warden Burud and I were opening the doors to the backseat of the car to start our search, the passenger of the car says, “Watch out for the bees!”
Now, hearing those words will instantly stop anyone dead in their tracks.
“The-what?” - Warden Burud asks
“The bees!” - explained the passenger.
“Why are there bees in your car?” Warden Burud asks frozen in his tracks at the back door of the sedan.
“We are beekeepers and take care of the beehives that are all around the area.” – passenger.
“Ohhhhh okay, that makes sense.”
Hearing this news Warden Burud and I looked at each other and shrug our shoulders. Was this guy telling us the truth or was this the effects of smoking marijuana? We proceeded to search the vehicle and did in fact find some beekeeping suits, but most importantly we found the marijuana. They were just driving around the countryside after work smoking in their car like a Cheech and Chong skit. Fortunately for us, not a single bee was found in the car and the two got to ride in the backseat of a North Dakota highway patrol car back to Watford City.
Fast forward to the end of that same summer, we had another incident occur out at Skunk Hollow with the use of illegal drugs. Warden Sperling and I were patrolling the area taking full advantage of the busy shooting range and busy shore fishing, checking fishing licenses and making observations of legal and illegal activity.
One such illegal activity was detected again when a vehicle slowly driving past us while walking along the dike. The truck emitted that potent smell of marijuana. A quick hand gesture for the vehicle to stop and pull over to the side of the road was all it took to start our investigation. Once again, Warden Sperling was questioning the driver and passenger of the vehicle while I searched the vehicle for illegal drugs. Warden Sperling quickly got the driver to tell him where the drugs were, and he relayed that information to me a short shouting distance away. Warden Sperling said that the driver told him the drugs were “in the toilet.”
I shouted back “In the toilet?” and Warden Sperling nodded his head in agreement with a slightly confused look on his face.
“What the heck does that mean?” I muttered to myself as I went back to searching the truck.
In the center console of the truck, sure enough, I found a small ceramic figurine of a toilet about 4 inches tall with a working lid to the toilet bowl. Inside the toilet bowl was a small clear baggie with marijuana. The drugs were, in fact, inside the toilet.
These are just a few stories I have of us game wardens enforcing more than just Game and Fish laws in North Dakota.