Chris Benesh

Mottled Owl ensnared on barbed wire fence.

Extracting Lefty from barbed wire fence.

Lefty freed from the fence before being taken to rehab center in El Valle.

Visiting Lefty the following day, awaiting a visit from a veterinarian for evaluation. Alive to see another day.

The highlight of this year's tour to central Panama turned out to be the rescue of a Mottled Owl that had become entangled in barbed wire fencing in the mountains of Altos del Maria. We rescued Lefty, as it was soon to be known, and had it transferred to wildlife rehab in El Valle (PWR).

04.01.2026 16:42 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

This animal is on the edge of extinction. Trump just fired the people trying to save it. Job cuts and frozen funding could inch one of the world’s rarest species even closer to extinction.

The black-footed ferret has been coming back from the brink of extinction thanks to the work of US government scientists. They just got fired. www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

27.02.2025 17:43 — 👍 237    🔁 121    💬 7    📌 15

A Diplocentrus diablo, a burrowing scorpion with big hands and a really restricted range.

A Maaykuyak waueri, a small scorpion found in west Texas. It is shiny and dark with tiny hands.

Snuck in a bit of black lighting in Rio Grande City, Texas last night and had a couple of nice finds. Found a tiny colony of Diplocentrus diablo and a few Maaykuyak waueri. It was also a bit surprising not to see a single Centruroides vittatus, Texas's most abundant scorpion.

18.01.2025 12:32 — 👍 5    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

World breaches 1.5C global warming target for first time in 2024 Data for warmest year sparks fears climate change is accelerating faster than expected

World breaches 1.5C global warming target for first time on.ft.com/4gNG2DX

10.01.2025 12:39 — 👍 71    🔁 44    💬 4    📌 2

Head and flipper shot of green sea turtle out of the water.

Overhead shot of green sea turtle out of the water.

Found a green sea turtle today that was out of the water, cold shocked near Corpus Christi, Texas. We were able to get sea life rescue to come out and take it to a warming facility. We later heard that it was doing well and fully revived. That felt good.

10.01.2025 03:54 — 👍 6    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Wildfire climate connection Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last ...

I continue to be dumbfounded by much of society’s inability to grasp the impact the global climate change. The evidence reveals itself in so many clear and often tragic ways.

www.noaa.gov/noaa-wildfir...

09.01.2025 03:30 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

A P-8A Poseidon flies right over my head at 16000 feet.

An EA-37B Compass Call II on final approach to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base seen in afternoon light.

FlightRadar24 track showing extensive flying around the Tucson valley.

Flight track of the EA-34B arriving in Tucson from FlightRadar24.

A bit of #avgeek - ery the past couple of days here in Tucson, Arizona. Yesterday, a P-8A Poseidon spent most of the afternoon doing circuits around town at 16000 feet. Today I got my best view of the newish EA-37B Compass Call II, which are based out of Davis-Monthan AFB. Flightradar24 maps.

14.12.2024 04:55 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The Waiting Karen Lips is researcher and lives for several years in a tiny little shack in Costa Rica to observe frogs. When she leaves the cloud forest for a short time and…

A poignant video with fabulous animation documenting the rapid decline of amphibians globally.

vimeo.com/1036802517

10.12.2024 16:31 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

This whale species is so rare it's never been seen alive. A dissection may decode its mysteries Scientists and culture experts in New Zealand have begun the first-ever dissection of a spade-toothed whale, the world's rarest whale species.

Beaked whales are some of the least well known marine mammals. Scientists are about to learn more about the Spade-toothed Whale.

apnews.com/article/rare... This whale species is so rare it's never been seen alive. A dissection may decode its mysteries

03.12.2024 17:25 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Genetic connectivity of wolverines in western North America - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Genetic connectivity of wolverines in western North America

I'm very excited to share a new paper that used the largest wolverine genetic dataset ever assembled in North America to explore genetic connectivity of wolverines across western NA. Special congrats to lead authors C. Day, E. Landguth, and M. Sawaya
#wolverine #DNA

www.nature.com/articles/s41....

26.11.2024 00:24 — 👍 32    🔁 7    💬 1    📌 0

Frontiers | USA-Mexico border wall impedes wildlife movement

Just published study on the effects of border walls on wildlife movement between Arizona and Sonora. www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...

22.11.2024 15:08 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

This one is a Cooper’s Hawk.

17.11.2024 05:12 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Back from spending much of October in Australia. So many wonderful and unique animals found there. A few of my highlights this year included a fabulous Numbat encounter, a tiny Western Pygmy Possum, a spectacular Perentie, and my first ever Thorny Devil!

15.11.2024 02:20 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

BugGuide might still be somewhat outdated and incomplete with scorpion taxonomy. iNaturalist has a pretty thriving scorpion ID community that can confirm the identification. I am azgulo there.

14.11.2024 18:46 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

This looks like Catalinia castanea.

14.11.2024 12:45 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

The most noticeable trait is the red patch on the nape, not found on pure Red-shafted, but a feature of Yellow-shafted. Otherwise a bit more buff in the face and gray on the crown than is typical of Red-shafted birds.

13.12.2023 04:43 — 👍 9    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

This is a cool intergrade with both Red-shafted and Yellow-shafted characters.

13.12.2023 04:22 — 👍 7    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Honey Possum staring back at the photographer among scalloped Hakia flowers.

Celebrated my 60th birthday in Australia this past week. The highlight of the day was this encounter with a couple of Honey Possums, Tarsipes rostratus at Cheynes Beach in Western Australia.

20.10.2023 10:25 — 👍 8    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 2