But here in a leafy suburban paradise
lurks the latest villain to be created and destroyed by social media.
Dentistry clearly pays well in
Minnesota. Walter Palmer's imposing mansion is set back up a long drive.
Under a double storey porch a pile of
notes from journalists seeking an audience attest to the fact that he is not
in.
He could also afford hunting trips
costing tens of thousands of dollars.
But one of them in Zimbabwe has earned the American hunter a firestorm
of hate on social media.
He and his hunting guides are accused of
luring Cecil the lion out of a national park where he shot him with a crossbow.
They then tracked the animal for 40 hours before killing it using a
rifle.
In a written statement he has tried to defend himself.
"I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favourite,
was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt," Mr Palmer
said.
"I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to
ensure a legal hunt."
Mr Palmer has shot big game for years without attracting international
attention.
This is despite US court records showing he pleaded guilty in 2008 to
making false statements to the US Fish and Wildlife Service about a black bear
he fatally shot in western Wisconsin.
Mr Palmer had a permit to hunt but shot the animal outside the
authorised zone in 2006.
He then tried to pass it off as being killed elsewhere, according to
court documents.
He was given one year probation and fined nearly $3,000.
However, Mr Palmer's latest kill has gained him unwanted notoriety.
Outside his dental surgery is an unusual shrine to the slaughtered lion.
Local residents have laid cuddly toy leopards, lions and monkeys and
left notes condemning the hunter dentist.
America may be more ambivalent than most nations to hunting and shooting
wild animals.
Not least in Minnesota, a state of lakes and vast open spaces.
But Mr Palmer's conduct is unacceptable even here it seems.
Mary Woodward was putting up flyers condemning him.
The general consensus, she told Sky News, is he is finished as a dentist
here.
In less than a day, Mr Palmer has gone from suburban obscurity to global
infamy and could now face professional ruin.