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In Memorium Curt Johnson
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A very close friend of Glades Herp passed away January 21, 2008. We have set up this page to allow his friends to share their thoughts about Curt Johnson
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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.
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 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.
Robbie Keszey
Glades Herp Farm Inc.
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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 that’s 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 acquisitions 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
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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!
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Bud Mierkey
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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 take 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 friends can say something about the man that I can't. This I can Say " One of the people in our Hobby has past. 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.
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 believe 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 Industry 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.
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Wes Harvey
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While I was keeping venomous for many years previous to meeting and picking up some baby kings from Curt, seeing his animals and the way he was able to work them caused me to rethink the way I had been keeping my animals. I respect only a few people in the hobby for how they keep their animals and the manner in which they conduct themselves when selling/trading their offspring. Not only was Curt one of these, he was everything that used to be great about our hobby before the Internet Experts, the showman clowns, and the venomous "market" put all of us on a dead end highway to not being able to keep the animals we love legally. While I didn't know Curt as well as I would have liked to, that meeting had a great impact on me and my outlook on keeping animals in general. I think this is the greatest compliment one can be paid, I will always remember Curt and how he blew the mind of a jaded guy who thought they had seen it all, I mean Kings won't REALLY do well on a rodent diet.
They’ll survive, but I don't think you'd ever get them to breed.....same with Water Cobras, they are a waste of time......right??. Can't keep them healthy...
Thank you Curt for getting me to rethink things and want to LEARN more by my own hand rather than believe what those who have failed have written as truth....It's obvious to me from what your close friends have written about you, that I really missed out when I kept putting off getting back in touch with you.
Bart Borchert
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Curt was 1 of a kind, a true good guy. I remember him best for the trips to my house he would make and the way that he would talk about the snakes. I had some wagleri and he stared at them like they were the Hope diamonds, I gave him a pair and ask only that if he produced babies that I could get a few of them. The next thing I know is he shows up and hands me a bunch of hatchling Malay pits. He was a great man to call for husbandry info. I will miss our phone and in person visit. Curt I will miss you, Thank you for all the knowledge to shared with me. As many have already said, Curt would rather give a snake to a person and would never ask for anything in return.
God bless you Buddy.
Dave Lawson
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