Lt. Jim Tile: Tyree's best friend and former bodyguard, an officer of the Florida Highway Patrol Nils Fishback: the "Mayor" of Toad Island Roger Roothaus: owner of the construction company developing Toad Island Karl Krimmler: construction project supervisor on Toad Island Dr. Steven Brinkman: staff biologist employed by Roger Roothaus Boodle/McGuinn: Palmer's Labrador Retriever; Major themes Although some of the themes of the novel may suggest an autobiographical element the author himself shrugs off at least one aspect of this parallel. The main character Twilly and himself both had attorney forebears who lived in Southern Florida, but the development in this area came as a surprise to him and his attorney father and grandfather. Allusions to actual history, science, and current events One of Stoat's most annoying (to his wife) habits is using snippets from classic rock songs in everyday conversation, especially because he always gets the lyrics wrong: "I read the newspaper today, oh boy." (A Day in the Life by The Beatles) "Come on, baby, light my candle." (Light My Fire by The Doors) "I'm having a tough day's night." (A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles) "You're thick as a stick." (Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull) "Blond sugar, like the song says." (Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones) "He's a no-place man." (Nowhere Man by The Beatles) "Wouldn't It Be Great" (Wouldn't It Be Nice by The Beach Boys) "Happiness is a hot gun." (Happiness Is a Warm Gun by The Beatles) "You can't always do who you want." (You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones) Krimmler, Clapley's project manager, justifies his decision to bury the oak toad habitat on the island by referring to the Snail darter controversy. Twilly renames Stoat's dog after guitarist Roger McGuinn, one of the founding members of The Byrds. Several years after the book's publication, McGuinn himself met Hiaasen at a book signing and thanked him for the tribute. Palmer blames Desi's aversion to cigar smoking on then-President Bill Clinton, "and his twisted bimbos," a reference to Monica Lewinsky's allegation that Clinton penetrated her with a Cigar Tube. Skink humiliates Governor Artemus inside the executive mansion in a way that reminds Artemus of the fate of Ned Beatty's character in the film Deliverance. A subplot of the novel is based on Stoat's, and later Clapley's, obsession with the use of rhinoceros horns as an aphrodisiac.