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ANIMAL PLANET TELEVISION PROGRAM FILMS IN FLATHEAD COUNTY • BY MOLLY PRIDDY

When Rob and Mike, who typically goes by

the name “Animal,” rode their motorcy-
cles into the Flathead Valley last Septem-
ber, they were ready to go hunting.
It wasn’t wildlife they were after; Rob and Animal
would be joining up with Moonlighting Bail Bonds in
Kalispell to track down fugitives in Flathead County
as part of a new show on Animal Planet called “Rocky

Mountain Bounty Hunters,” which premiered April 13.
The show follows two pairs of bounty hunters – Rob
and Animal in Montana and Clint and Dayson in Colo-
rado – as they get to work in the beautiful and scenic
Rocky Mountains.
In Kalispell, Rob and Animal, who go by irst names
only for safety purposes given the nature of their work,
helped ind seven fugitives, six of whom will be shown

on the six-part television series.
Rob and Animal said they had a great time ilming
and working in the Flathead, due to the great scenery
and the fun they had with the crew at Moonlighting
Bail Bonds.
“We’re bounty hunters, so any time somebody stops
pointing a gun at us, we’re having a good time,” Animal
said in an interview last week.

The pair, who spoke with the Beacon last week from Animal and Rob walking
Spokane, said it did get a little chilly for riding their mo- through the woods.
torcycles during their three-month stay from Septem- COURTESY ANIMAL PLANET
ber to November.
“I’ve lived around (Washington, Idaho and Mon-
tana) my whole life,” Animal said. “I’ve spent a lot of
time in Glacier and such; I just enjoyed myself.”

“It’s beautiful country,” Rob added.
Joining up with Charles Pesola, owner of Moon-
lighting Bail Bonds, was also fun, the bounty hunters
said, because when the stress wasn’t on, they had time
to get to know one another and realized they were all
pretty similar.
“When we met with Charles and his guys it was like “It really isn’t the circus show; it’s a little bit more
Animal said the Kalispell business and its employ- a mirror image,” Animal said.
realistic than what (other shows) portray,” Rob said.
ees are very similar in nature and personality to an Pesola said it took a little bit of time to get used to “One of the biggest diferences is we don’t pray with

outit he and a partner run in Coeur d’Alene.
having a production crew ilming during work, but
our people when we get them in custody,” Animal said.
eventually everyone fell into an easy rhythm.
“We igure they’ll get religion in jail.”
“We had a good time together,” Pesola said. “It was Pesola said he was contacted last September about
a very good experience for us, particularly with the
being part of the show, and met Rob and Animal and
camera crews.”
the production crew not long after. It was a valuable ex-
Rob and Animal started the show after a twist of
perience to be in front of the camera, he said, and so far
fate brought them in touch with ITV Studios America he’s gotten only positive reviews from the public.

– a tattooist friend of Animal’s was approached about “I think we’ve gotten pretty good results from the
doing a show on the tattoo work, and the friend men- community,” Pesola said. “I haven’t heard anybody
tioned he had a bounty hunter friend as well.
that hates us for it.”
“The woman said, ‘You’ve got a friend who’s a boun- Rocky Mountain Bounty Hunters is on Animal
ty hunter and his name is Animal?’” Animal recalled. Planet on Sundays, at 8 p.m. local time. For more infor-
“The rest of it is pretty much history.”
mation, visit www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/rocky-
The bounty hunters said they feel this show is a mountain-bounty-hunters. For more information on
more accurate representation of their line of work than Moonlighting Bail Bonds, visit its Facebook page at

other similarly themed shows, because there are few www.facebook.com/pages/Moonlighting-Bail-Bonds.
Rob and Animal standing outside a door of a home. COURTESY ANIMAL PLANET
bells and whistles involved.
[email protected]