Bogue, Gary 1938- (Gary L. Bogue)

Personal

Born 1938.

Addresses

Office—P.O. 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94596-8099. E-mail—garybug@infionline.net.

Career

Naturalist and writer. Lindsay Wildlife Museum, Walnut Creek, CA, curator, 1967-79; Contra Costa Newspapers, Walnut Creek, columnist, beginning 1970; Animal Rescue Foundation, Oakland, CA, executive director, 1992-93.

Member

International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (founder and former president), Western Interpreters Association (cofounder and former president).

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

The Raccoon Next Door, illustrated by Chuck Todd, Heyday Books (Berkeley, CA), 2003.

There's an Opossum in My Backyard, illustrated by Chuck Todd, Heyday Books (Berkeley, CA), 2007.

OTHER

(With Dave Garcelon) Raptor Rehabilitation (textbook), Lindsay Wildlife Museum (Walnut Creek, CA), 1972.

It's a Wild Life, Lesher Communications (Walnut Creek, CA), 1989.

Isis, Lesher Communications (Walnut Creek, CA), 1989.

Author of "Pets and Wildlife" Web log.

Sidelights

As curator of Walnut Creek, California's Lindsay Wildlife Museum, from the late 1960s to 1979, writer, educator, and naturalist Gary Bogue developed and oversaw one of the country's first wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centers. Among its many successes under Bogue's direction, the museum rehabilitated a native mountain lion and then successfully returned the creature to the wild—a first in North America. The Lindsay Wildlife Museum introduces patrons to hundreds of species of wild birds, as well as many of the mammals, snakes, and other reptiles native to the western United States.

In addition to writing several books that relate to his work in wildlife rehabilitation and education, Bogue has also teamed up with artist Chuck Todd to create the picture books The Raccoon Next Door and There's an Opossum in My Backyard. In the latter title, young readers join Nathan Green and his parents in watching a baby marsupial learn to survive a year in the boy's backyard, amid a world bustling with the activity of snakes, owls, and other woodland creatures. Predicting that young readers "will enjoy the story" in There's an Opossum in My Backyard, Susan E. Murray added in School Library Journal that Bogue's picture book "does a terrific job" introducing animal facts and demonstrating how to observe wildlife while not interfering with nature. In Booklist Ilene Cooper noted the inclusion of useful information and a Web site listing, adding that Todd's watercolor illustrations for There's an Opossum in My Backyard "convey … a constant energy and vigor" to supplement Bogue's text.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2007, Ilene Cooper, review of There's an Opossum in My Backyard, p. 86.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2007, review of There's an Opossum in My Backyard.

School Library Journal, February, 2008, Susan E. Murray, review of There's an Opossum in My Backyard, p. 83.

ONLINE

Contra Costa Times Online,http://www.contracostatimes.com/ (November 15, 2008), "Gary Bogue."

Gary Bogue: Pets and Wildlife Web Log,http://ibabuzz.com/garybogue/ (November 15, 2008).