Jose Gabriel Martinez from Nicaragua, and currently – as of 2022 – in Arizona, is a naturalist, photographer, scientist and all round legend.

He has organised and guided some spectacularly successful mammal trips in Nicaragua and the USA, including this record breaking 86 species in 8 days with me. He has almost supernatural skills when it comes to catching small mammals. I have seen him pluck bats out of the air and leap into bushes to emerge with a mouse. Imagine if house cats were sent for special forces training…. Here is a fun account of him catching Nicaragua’s first Red-nosed Tree Rat.

When Jose isn’t jumping out of moving vehicles to wrangle animals, he is finishing his PhD; an exceptional wildlife, landscape and astrophotographer; editing the mammalwatching podcast; guiding mammal trips; and now co-authoring field guides with mammalwatching.com stalwart Charles Hood, like this excellent one on the herps of the Western USA.
Jon