Guy Bradley - Game Warden

Game Warden

When the Florida legislature passed the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) model law to outlaw the killing of plume birds, this created a need for qualified and competent wardens to enforce it. Kirk Munroe, a friend of the Bradley family and a founding vice president of the Florida Audubon Society, recommended Guy for the position. Seen as different from the other "wild" young men in Flamingo, Bradley was described as "pleasant, quiet… fair, with blue eyes, always whistling and a pretty good violinist… social asset to the isolated, frontier community, clean-cut, reliable, courageous, energetic and conscientious".

Bradley was at this time a reformed plume hunter, who had given up the profession after the passage of the Lacey Act of 1900. In a letter to William Dutcher, president of the Florida Audubon Society, Bradley wrote "I used to hunt plume birds, but since the game laws were passed, I have not killed a plume bird. For it is a cruel and hard calling not withstanding being unlawful. I make this statement upon honor." Soon after being accepted for the position, Bradley traveled to Key West to secure his appointment as both game warden and deputy sheriff, which gave him the authority to arrest those hunting illegally.

As one of the first game wardens, Bradley was responsible for reporting suspected poachers and the businesses with which they worked. He was paid a monthly stipend of $35 ($917 in 2010) to single-handedly patrol the enormous area stretching from the Ten Thousand Islands on Florida's west coast, through the Everglades, to Key West, which served as nesting areas for popular plume birds such as egrets, herons, spoonbills and ibis. Bradley took his job seriously; he educated locals about the newly implemented laws which made plume hunting a punishable offense, spoke to hunters directly, and posted warning signs throughout his territory. He also set up a network of spies who watched for suspicious behavior, and employed his brother Louis and others close to him to work as assistant wardens during the height of the plume season.