THE NIGHT THEY WAKED UNCLE BOB

EMIL

Emil Robispear and his wife brought fifty‑five pounds of barbecued nutria. Nutria is the biggest rat in the world and cooked Cajun style, it is the best of good eating. A Cajun with several acres of swamp land is considered a rancher and barbecued nutria is a staple in the bayou swamps. Let me tell you, it is good! The beautiful pelts are cured and sold to the furriers up north.

Now, Emil was just last year released from jail for shooting down a crop duster airplane. Well, it was almost four years ago that he did it. I need to tell you about it because Uncle Bob was involved.

It seems back then in the summer of 1966, the marsh mosquitoes were worse than they had been in several years. The federal government hired crop duster airplanes to spray poisons in the swamp. This was to dampen the infestation of mosquitoes plaguing Rex, Lafayette, New Iberia and the surrounding areas.

As a result, Emil noticed many dead fish and birds. There were many dead and sick nutria, muskrats, weasels, frogs and other wild life. He wrote several letters to various authorities with no results. Finally, Emil called a meeting of other trappers and they met in secret. Thus, Uncle Bob was not informed of the meeting and didn't know of their plan.

Cajun's tend to view justice as something for which they are personally responsible and sometimes justice also includes judgement and punishment. So it was no surprise to anyone that the plan of the trappers was to shoot the crop dusters down. And so ‑ they did! Two downed crop dusters and one badly damaged airplane later, the federal authorities descended on Rex with antagonism, prejudice and swat team determination.

Uncle Bob had been retired several years, but when he found out the Feds were in Rex, he immediately involved himself. The Cajuns, true to form, knew absolutely nothing. That is, they would tell the federal agents nothing. One of the federal agents was overheard by one of the kids. The kid faithful reported the conversation. "How in the hell do these people know when to come in out of the rain. I never heard so many people use the same words. I am tired of hearing, 'I don't know nothing about it, me.' Do they rehearse together in church? Maybe we should try a little torture."

Uncle Bob knew the agents would stay in Rex, drive everyone crazy and keep up their investigation until someone was charged with the crime. So, he met with the agents and extracted a written promise from them. The agents promised to leave Rex if they could find the person who fired the shots, or find the person who organized the "rebellion" ‑ as they called it.

Uncle Bob met with some of the trappers and they swore on their mama's graves they would still shoot down any crop duster spraying poisons in the swamp. Uncle Bob said he felt the same way, but something else had to be done. He got in touch with the Environmental Protection Agency, newly reorganized, and he outlined the problem to them. Then he got in touch with his senator and representative.

It was at least a month later before the spraying was officially called off. However, for several weeks prior, the Feds couldn't pay a crop duster pilot enough money to persuade a single one to fly over the swamp. One crop duster said, "Those trappers don't miss. They are so used to shooting ducks, a crop duster is just a big slow moving duck to them. Their aim is deadly. Not me! I ain’t flying no more dumps over any swamp."

Having eliminated the problem, Uncle Bob spent hours explaining to the federal agents, and to the federal judge in Lafayette, that spraying poison in the swamp was like spraying poison in a supermarket, or in your own kitchen. It was finally agreed if Uncle Bob brought in the organizer of the "rebellion" they would give no more than a two year sentence and the culprit would stay in jail less than one year.

Armed with this agreement, Uncle Bob met with the trappers and laid it out for them. Emil immediately volunteered. He said, "Going to jail is not my idea of how I would like to spend my next year. My son is a trapper too, by damn. I would like to leave him a nice wild swamp to trap in. I damn well will do it, me."

After lengthy trial delays, Emil finally got to do his time. When Emil got out of jail last year, Uncle Bob pitched such a big party you wouldn't believe it. Hundreds came. Each of the trappers, and others as well, had put aside a little money each month for Emil and his family. After the party, Emil counted his money. He had a bit over six thousand dollars. Everyone around here thinks Emil and Uncle Bob are heroes. They are too!