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WELCOME to Northwest Wildlife Online and thank you for stopping by.  My name is John Regan, but call me "Jack," the nickname I've had since before birth, I believe.  I am your host for what I hope will be your number one stop for the information and news on wildlife in the Northwest.  Each month NWWOL will bring you up to date on the wide variety of fauna in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia. 

       I'm probably best described as a world traveler who's come full circle.  Like most people who are passionate about a particular subject, my fascination came to light at an early age.  In my case it happened at the ripe old age of four.  I was playing in our backyard when our next door neighbor discovered a big garter snake.  I'm sure he sought to encourage a youthful scientific curiosity when he showed me the reptile, but my horrified mother quickly banished man and serpent to the woods behind our house.  Enormously disappointed, I waited in agony for my father to come home from work.  As soon as he pulled in the driveway I insisted we journey into the woods and find the astounding creature.  And much to my father's dismay we did - curled under a log exactly where it had been released as if waiting for me to come back. 

    That snake opened a passion for animals led me to devour every book I could on the subject.  I collected frogs, toads, snakes, salamanders, insects, you name it.  If it lived it upstate New York and was not human I had to get my hands on it.  Eventually it led to a job as Curator of Hoofstock under Jack Hanna back in the seventies and a degree in biology.  I knew I'd found my life's work.

    But life takes unexpected paths.  Instead of a zoo I found a home in the Army.  For 23 years it was my life and profession, and might have been for 23 more were it not for a peculiar set of circumstances while stationed in South Korea in the late nineties.  While still a soldier I found myself training elephants and rhinoceroses.  The passion still lurking under the skin exploded back to life.

    It's been many (too many) years since the sight of that garter snake.  At last I've returned to it again, but this time I'm staying, fascinated like you by all things animal and forever trying to learn.  I hope that through this website I can give something back to that snake, those elephants, and all the animals and people who've meant so much to me.   

    But starting a new project is always a challenge and no one person has all the answers.  So if you have suggestions, criticism, or feedback please contact me and give me your thoughts.  I'd be honored to hear from you.

HOOAH

Jack

Member:  American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Friends of Northwest Trek, Northwest Trek Citizen's Advisory Council (CAC) here in Pierce County, WA.

Birds  Mammals  Reptiles  Amphibians  Fish  Invertebrates  Library  NWWOL Online Store Home

Mission  Editor Bio  Site Map   Contact   Wildlife Park Links  Further Study  Wild Employment  Northwest Trek