Curt Johnson dies,Bobbie Kaszey, Crawford, Edwards and Facci Steal his snakes

Originally Posted by justinmorse

This is what I've been saying in my head the whole time I've been reading this thread.

"Rabid Hobbit", it seems to me, just needs to feel involved somehow. I'm sorry guy, but broadcasting someone's death and then calling out fairly big, clean names and calling them thieves for the world to see is just not the cool thing to do. Just your ethics and morals in the way you've handled all this make me not believe you. Sorry bud, but I think posting this was a mistake for you. It made you look like a bigger ass than everyone that you accused of theft.

I agree with all of you. Serafim hit the nail on the head. It appears they are not going to remove this thread. So why don't instead of imbellishing RH. We should only post good things about Curt. Let the last part of this thread . Be posts that only glorify his accomplishments and life. I personally didn't know Curt.
But from what I have seen from a few of his friends He enjoyed the Hobby of Breeding Snakes. From what I gather he done great work with several Species.That is an accomplishment in itself. It sounds as if he sacrificed things in his life for his love of snakes. Breeding snakes is one of the things that takes dedication and patients. In the world we live in today. Those Are admirable traits in a man .I'm sure he loved his family . We all do and I hope his family can find comfort that a few of us. Don't want his memory smeared through the mud. I hope some of his freinds can say something about the man that I can't. This I can Say " One of the people in our Hobby has past and all that can seem to be done is fight over the scraps left behind by him. I hope we all realize that life is short and we keep pets that everyone doesn't enjoy and sometimes we are the only ones knowledgeable of them. So remember to make arrangements that if something happens to you . Their is someone there to take custody of the snakes left behind. So your family doesn't have to go through what this family did. I called one of my most trusted friends and asked him. To come in and make sure my snakes are taken care of and any money made off them goes back to my family.

Now to address Curt. I hope you rest in Peace. My heart goes out to your family. I pray that God watches over them . I do beleive that you will be watching over them also. I also pray that God . Helps your family to deal with their loss. May the hand of God touch the hearts of all who knew you and are hurt by your loss. God forgives all sin and your is forgiven. I feel that in my heart. I hope the Lord welcomes you into the gates of Heaven with open arms. I didn't have a chance to meet you in this life. But the next life will make sure we are Brothers. I will patiently wait till that time comes. The Indusrty has lost someone great. You will be missed.
Rest In Peace Brother

This post has been made in the Memory of Curt Johnson
The Herp World will miss him.

curt was quite a guy .
most of my snakes came from him he never made me pay anything.
We will remember where all the water cobras and the yellow capes came from. now since he is gone who will be breeding the water cobras besides me[robby] ?
one day curt called me over to see the eggs hatching.
there were clusters of eggs black neck spitters,malayan pit vipers and he
They were all poping their heads out!
out of the blue he said how many do you want?
I had no idea he would give me over a dozen snakes just that visit!
He knew I would give them away later free also...
what a guy! he never wanted anything in return.
He started me breeding water cobras.
proven many years now.
black mambas and capes from his bloodline.
Showed me how to be on a one on one level with a black mamba.
Now fate has pulled me into all this mess once again.
Even though i post this i was not a every day buddy of curt
So do not take it like that ok.
We did talk now and then
so last I say
Thanks for the snakes curt!
I will take care of them!

I would like to say a few things about my friend Curt Johnson who passed away this week.

I’ve known Curt Johnson for eleven years. In this time we have become close friends talking on the phone for hours about politics, guns, plants, and reptiles. Curt had an extensive gun collection as well as one of the best venomous reptile collections in the world. Curt was a plumber by trade.

He loved his animals and kept them in perfect condition by cleaning and feeding everyday. His animals were always huge, beautiful, and most were very prolific. He took pride in the fact that his animals, many of which were considered the most deadly snakes on earth, were docile and easy to handle. He believed proper handling gave the snake nothing to fear so they were not aggressive. He never had a serious bite to my knowledge. He once kept me on the phone 5 hours after I was bitten because he wanted to be sure I was okay.

He liked seeing his animals breed successfully but did not like dealing with people when he sold them. He often sold them to Glades at a cheap price because it was the easiest way to get rid of surplus without any hassle. He worked for Joe Fauci at Southeast for years and considered Joe a very close friend. He sold Joe animals but Joe did not like keeping quantities of venomous on hand after Curt left.

If Curt considered you a friend you new it because he went out of his way to hold friends close.

Curt kept to himself and did not like public forums like BOI because he felt they brought unwanted attention from law makers and people who would support more restrictive wildlife laws. He felt the same about gun laws and talked for hours about it.

At the funeral his dad was happy to learn how respected Curt was by his peers and that he was very successful with the things he cared about. Everyone that attended the funeral expressed their love and admiration and a since of loss.

While Curt would not have liked me writing anything about him on a public forum I felt I should share some of my thoughts about him. Let’s make this forum a positive expression of our appreciation of a great herper that we have lost.

Robbie Keszey
Glades Herp Farm Inc.

I too was blessed to call Curt my friend. I've known him for about 10 years, we spoke on a fairly frequent basis, at least monthly if not more often. Most times for hours and hours at a time. Curt truly was probably the most adept Venomous snake Keeper of this generation. If something needed to be bred, I'd say give em to Curt He'll breed em.

It's hard to believe how well he cared for his animals. Feeding and cleaning everyday. I still can't believe the size some of his snakes attained. Water cobras were a prime example, I never even believed they could get as big as some of his were. He easily had the largest, nicest specimens of all his snakes. This showed his ability to care for them very well. The fact that he bred almost everything he had is a huge indicator of the pride he took.

He was into the snakes for all the right reasons. He never tried to make a huge amount of money with any of his surplus critters. When I bought the Tree Cobra from him, I actually tried to pay him more than what he was asking...he wouldn't hear of it. He gave me snakes anytime he had them if we so wanted them. He always loved the fact that they would be put on public exhibit rather than sold or traded away. I think thats why he parted with his extra male goldii was so that others could enjoy it.

I work as a Zoo Curator and it is always difficult to send snakes to a private person. Integrity and Honesty were easy traits of Curts. He is to this day the only private person I have ever felt comfortable sending venomous snakes to from the zoo. I sent him a pair of Russian cobras and an Eastern Brown snake. I can still remember the excitement he had when he had gotten the Russians, having never had them before.

We would talk for hours about snakes mostly and he was always the first person I would call if something neat happened. When we first imported snakes from Australia, he was hopping with excitement as I rattled off new aquistions of Inland Taipans, Tiger snakes, Red-belly blacksnakes and all the others that he would have liked to have worked with.


We would talk for great lengths of time about all the idiots in this hobby and how they were forcing changes to the existing laws and giving ammo to make new ones. He was convinced that the venomous hobby would be gone in just a couple of short years. I hope that is not the case and responsible, intelligent people can continue doing what he loved for many years to come.

Go in Peace Curt - I miss ya man!
Terry Phillip
Reptile Gardens - South Dakota

Along with Terry and Robby, I was also another good friend of Curt Johnson. In the four short years I've known him, he never ceased to amaze me with the stories he told. He always had the wide ranging topics, from guns, exotic plants, and to what he loved most..venomous snakes. Curt was what every reptile hobbyist should be in terms of how he kept his animals and just in his morals and ethics. His accomplishment that Robby and Terry have noted were amazing. He never bragged, he just quietly did his thing and shared his joy with fellow friends. When he bred something, he would rather give them to good friends to keep and take care of, instead of worrying about what kind of home it could go to. The knowledge he had was amazing, considering he dedicated his life to animals and their care.

I sure will miss the weekly phone call from him, just to discuss all the happenings in the herp world and whatever else was the topic he decided to bring up. As Terry stated, he hated forums and just cringed everytime he saw a knucklehead doing something to harm our hobby. I will always remember Curt as a man who would give his knowledge and help to whomever needed it and just with the burning passion and desire he had for this hobby. We lost a great herper and a better person. RIP amigo!

Too bad this thread is in the BOI.

We are putting together a page on our web site dedicated to the memory of Curt Johnson. I will include any letters, notes, thoughts about Curt and send them to his family. Email directly or just send your permission to use your forum post on our site.
Thanks,

RobRoy MacInnes
Glades Herp Inc.
4258 S.W. 52 Terrace
Bushnell, FL. 33513 USA
phone: 352-568-1713
fax: 352-568-7639
robroy@gherp.com
www.gherp.com