Instagram story viewer> @jbhewlettwild> Posts

John Hewlett

@jbhewlettwild

4.1K

followers

2323

following

Dad, Field Biologist, Fixed-wing & Helicopter Pilot, Diver, EMT. Wildlife, Wildlands & Conservation. 🧭🗺️🏞️ Fellow @the_explorers_club Fellow @rgs_ibg

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

I spotted a friend on his tractor and hovered over to say hi. Here’s a 30 second clip of me preventing him from doing his job. by @jbhewlettwild

88

6

10 months ago

The best way to fly a helicopter and count wildlife is to do it in the fall, with the doors off, and right at sunrise. #nature #helicopterpilot by @jbhewlettwild

120

4

3 years ago

Several Eastern Indigo snakes (Drymarchon couperi) found during sampling.

The Eastern Indigo Snake often called "Emperor of the Forest" belongs to a largely tropical genus of large bodied colubrid snakes which includes the Central and South American Cribos, and yet is found throughout the southeastern coastal plains of subtropical and temperate North America. There is a Texas species as well. Below is a specimen that was caught as part of a survey effort, the differences in lighting as the clouds passed over offers and interesting view into the iridescence and colors that gave it its common name.

This species is an irreplaceable and priceless piece of our natural heritage. An icon of the southeastern coastal plain and a species of conservation concern. The Indigo needs Gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) and Gopher tortoises need sandhills and grassy Longleaf pine. The Longleaf pine ecosystem was one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the North American continent and comprised over 90 million acres. However, over 97% of this priceless treasure was lost with a low of nearly 3 million acres. Now due to restoration efforts it is at slightly over 5 million acres. That’s still a loss of over 95% of its historical land cover. However with our help, inch by inch and acre by acre, the longleaf is a true to life Phoenix once again rising from the fire. So preservation of the Eastern Indigo snake isn't just about preserving a snake, it's about preserve an entire swath of biological diversity as a whole.

I would strongly suggest joining and or donating to the Orianne Society, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the science and conservation of these ecosystems. https://www.oriannesociety.org/

This species is listed as federally Threatened and is protected under the Endangered Species Act. Surveys and handling done with proper permits.

@oriannesociety @stegenghis_khan @culvert_kev

#biodiversity #wildlife #wildlifebiology #wildlifephotography #herp #herpetology #conservation #conservationbiology #ecology #conbio #nature #naturephotography #science #scicomm #biology #zoology by @jbhewlettwild

256

18

3 years ago

A couple of fellas end their day on the Arkansas River in Salida Colorado. Mt. Princeton in the background. #publicland #publicwater by @jbhewlettwild

26

0

7 days ago

Whether you’re way up high in the Chisos Mountains, out in the desert floor watching the Milky Way sprawl across the night sky, hiking down in the fertile flood plain of the Rio Grande, or standing below the mighty escarpment of the Maderas del Carmen - the Big Bend region never fails to impress. It needs our help now more than ever. I don’t think this fight is anywhere near over. Sadly the first pieces of the border wall in the region were stood up yesterday. An archaic 13th century solution to a 21st century issue is no solution at all. A destructive $25 billion mega project that can be quickly defeated by a $25 ladder isn’t exactly the “art of the deal.” It hurts people, it hurts the wildlife and it hurts the economy. #BigBend #PublicLands #Nature #outdoors by @jbhewlettwild

97

9

24 days ago

Marine mammals of the pacific part V. A few Homo sapiens attempting to wind down at the end of the day. We had just come out of a lunar period with dramatic tides along the California and Oregon coasts. Unfortunately, this was not it. Nevertheless, it was amusing to watch them try to catch some waves in the dimming sunlight. As an outdoors sports enthusiast, taking these makes me want to get back out to the North Shore of Oahu, the famous “Banzai Pipeline”, during the winter months and get some action shots of some “big wave’ surfing. #thePacifc #surfing #ocean by @jbhewlettwild

33

7

a month ago

Marine mammals of the pacific coast part IV. Unlike the California sea lions, their gentler, lazier and more conciliatory cousins, the Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are the diplomatic species. While the sea lions seem to enjoy nothing more than growling, snarling, and attempting to bite their conspecifics, the Harbor seals are quiet and cooperative. When they haul out, they tend to line up single file and mostly just lounge around. Harbor seals are quite curious with big bug eyes. In the water, they frequently approach swimmers, divers, and boats to investigate, sometimes playfully swimming alongside them or examining divers’ gear. #thepacific #wildlife #nature #ocean by @jbhewlettwild

37

5

a month ago

Marine mammals of the Pacific coast part III. Moving on to pinnipeds now. I’ve pretty well decided that California Sealions (Zalophus californianus) and sealions generally are kind of the Baboons of the marine mammal world, in that their whole existence outside of feeding and mating seems to center entirely on making each others lives as miserable as possible. This stands in stark contrast to their cousins, the more gentle and conciliatory harbor seals. This species can be found up the pacific coast and they can commonly be seen on rocks and sea stacks just offshore. You can usually hear them and smell them long before you see them. Another place you can see them is near man made structures. They love to “haul out” on docks so in a lot of places they have been deliberately given low effort low hanging fruit in the form of dedicated “haul out platforms” placed around harbors. This gives them a place to go growl and beat each other up without having to worry about them (hopefully) choosing a commercial dock or jetty. The harbor at Crescent City California is a well known place as is the infamous Pier 39 in Newport Oregon. #sealions #ocean #nature #wildlife by @jbhewlettwild

26

5

a month ago

“Marine” mammals of the pacific coast part II. A couple of River otters (Lontra canadensis) just before sunset at the base of a sea stack off the northern California coast. A lot of people assume these are Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) because they are actively hunting in a marine environment around kelp beds but alas they are not and it would be extremely unusual to ever find a true sea otter in this region. #ocean #thepacific #nature by @jbhewlettwild

38

0

a month ago

Leviathan; a word that conjures up images of religious mythology and gigantic serpents from the depths of the sea. A term that spans thousands of years; evolving from an ancient Near Eastern chaos monster of Canaanite and Babylonian myth to being borrowed by early Hebrews to describe a biblical sea monster. The word eventually transitioned into everyday English as a synonym for any massive aquatic creature or whale. This culminated in 2008 when paleontologists in Peru discovered the fossil remains of a hyper-predatory, 12-million-year-old extinct sperm whale. In a nod to both the biblical beast and Herman Melville’s literature, the apex predator was officially named Livyatan melvillei. The reality is that the peaceful creatures that likely inspired the religious stories exist in every ocean on earth. Here are a series of images of several Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) feeding in shallow waters off the Oregon coast one foggy morning where they find sanctuary from the onslaught of Orca (Orcinus orca) or “killer whale” attacks. These friendly mammalian cousins of ours are massive – over 40 feet in length and make one of the largest migrations on earth. They are at once poetically inspiring and scientifically fascinating, if a quick glimpse of their rolling back and spouts is all they will grant you. #whale #wildlife #ocean #thepacifc by @jbhewlettwild

61

2

2 months ago

So, though most of my research in a professional capacity involves the ecology of amphibians and reptiles I have largely stopped posting pictures of them because I’m deeply troubled by the amount of habitat destruction etc. that has been and is taking place as a result of social media users on a desperate quest for “street cred” and likes. Furthermore the species I am working on at this time are extremely sensitive and a high degree of conservation concern - none of which has any business being on social media. These days I tend to spend my online presence (what little of it there is left) advocating for broader conservation policies and procedures much of which focuses on land and water. However I will occasionally post common species and here is a pretty copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) a colleague and I found a few months ago of which I took a quick pic or two. I personally think common species need more appreciation in their own right anyway. #nature #publiclands by @jbhewlettwild

79

11

2 months ago

The Guadalupe Mountains, home to an exposed Permian reef, and over 10,000 years of human history, ranging from ancient hunter-gatherers in caves to the Mescalero Apache, Buffalo Soldiers, and early frontier ranchers. The mountains are a biological crossroads where four distinct ecological zones overlap: the Chihuahuan Desert, canyon woodlands, rocky foothills, and high-alpine coniferous forests. Home to elk, mule deer, javelinas, mountain lions, 5 species of rattlesnakes, over 300 bird species and the endemic Guadalupe Mountain Tiger beetle. #publiclands #publiclandowner by @jbhewlettwild

71

0

3 months ago