It's election time and Detective Ray Bartell has just landed a slick diversion from his routine on the Rozette, Montana, Police Department. Merle Puhl, king of the good old boys, is a long shot candidate for United States senator, and the former President of the United States is coming to town to lend support. Detailed to the Secret Service, it's Bartell's job to keep tabs on the local lunatics. The job should be fun. But Bartell never planned on Henry Skelton, a hardheaded loner, whose prison record and illustrious odd ball reputation marks him as a major potential threat to the former President. Bartell isn't so sure that Skelton belongs on the Secret Service's A-list, but the Puhl campaign needs some juice, and Henry Skelton makes a dandy eco-terrorist. One night, however, when violence threatens Bartell's own family, he must decide which side he is on. Wild Animals tells the provocative story of two well-matched adversaries who find themselves on the same side. Too often, though, life just doesn't leave decent people alone. Both Bartell and Skelton play out a bad hand, and by the time the last raise is in the pot, neither man is able to fold.