attacked with hatchets and knives. When illegal loggers have tried to run
him off the road with their trucks, he has not hesitated to fire on the
vehicle. He confesses rather sheepishly that, during raids, he tends to use
up more ammunition than anyone else. However, his bullets are directed
toward tires and radiators, or simply fired for effect. Trush is clearly
proud of the fact that he has never shot a person, “although,” he is quick
to add, “I have many times been within my rights to.” But this is what
makes Trush such an unusual presence in this brutal milieu: he is a man
who relishes the role of the authoritarian heavy, and he has carefully
honed himself into a dangerous weapon that he is more than ready to
unleash. And yet this capability is tempered by deep veins of mercy and
compassion; life is hard in the taiga for man and beast alike, and Trush
understands this. When he finds bear cubs orphaned by poachers (eight at
last count), he nurses them in his apartment. Somehow, he is able—even
in the heat of the moment—to keep both sides of the story in mind, and
both sides of himself under control.
“I could have started criminal proceedings and he would have gone to
jail,” said Trush of a poacher who shot at him and whom he subdued and
handcuffed while he was trying to reload. “But I took pity on this young
guy and decided not to ruin his life. We wrote a report on him citing
hunting violations and we confiscated his gun, but I felt sorry for his
parents; I saw the conditions they lived in. That boy went into the forest
in order to put some food on the table, and that fact played a significant
role in my decision.”
Trush is well aware that, for many of Russia’s disenfranchised citizens,
the acts of owning a gun and using it to procure food represent a last
vestige of independence and self-respect. However, even if they were able
to get their hands on a hunting license, most tayozhniks’ firearms would
fail a modern inspection, and new rifles are prohibitively expensive by
Russian standards. To make matters worse, the process of getting
licensed to own a gun is onerous and time-consuming: not only are
medical and psychological tests required, but the applicant must pay for
them. This doesn’t include the cost of transportation to the appropriate
offices, which might be a day’s travel from the applicant’s village, and
ron
(Ron)
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