Four-year-old Jim Kavney was traipsing along the banks of the Erie Canal near his grandmother’s house in upstate New York, looking for frogs and salamander that were forever finding their way into his pockets, when he flipped over a piece of tin, only to find a clutch of new-born garter snakes.

Although he was only four years old, holding those baby snakes in his hand, totally in awe of them, marked the beginning of an infatuation with snakes that would last a lifetime.

On Jim’s fifth birthday, the Kavney family packed up and moved from the cold north to Miami, Florida. Although he didn’t know it then, south Florida would provide the Everglades as his own backyard, where he would be able to hunt to his heart’s content and find snakes, alligators, various mammals, like raccoons and possums, and wildlife in general.

As a little boy in Miami, he had little access to snakes, only catching the occasional green snake or racer that slithered across his yard. In junior high, however, he began his “herping” career in earnest. (“Herping” is the term used to refer to reptile hunting, and “herpers” are the hunters.) He and a friend would hitch-hike, preferably on eighteen-wheelers, up US 27 to the south end of Lake Okeechobee, which provided the headwaters for the Everglades.

There the boys would spend the day finding and catching snakes, putting them in bags, and taking them back to Miami, where they sold the creatures for 10 to 15 cents a foot. Sometimes, Jim reports, they had difficulty getting rides back to Miami when people found out what was in the bags. Later it was bicycle rides out Tamiami Trail along the canal that borders the Swamp.

Water snakes were a favorite catch, and they had increased in size and number as a result of tourist-caused decrease in the alligator population, which had been the snakes’ predominant predator.

In high school, the fact that someone usually had a car made it easier to access places to “herp.” It also enabled them to “road-cruise.” “Road-cruising” is a technique used by herpers to try to spot snakes as they make their way across a road at night.

They drive very slowly, mostly in the middle of the road so they can see both sides. Then, if they see a snake, they stop, jump out – first determining whether or not it is venomous. Then, if it is not dangerous, they pick up the snake and put it in a bog. This was a favorite weekend pastime.

After high school, it was work – first as a helper for Florida Power and Light, then as a Realtor in Miami. Work and family took most of his time and attention. One day, when feeling particularly stressed out and in need of a vacation, he sought the advice of a travel agent friend about where he could go to fish, experience wildlife and relax. His friend’s advice led to his first trip to Costa Rice in 1973.

Frequent visits to Costa Rica continued, but the next several years left little time for herping, what with family and building a successful real estate business in Miami. However, with retirement came the opportunity to invest time once again into his passion, beginning by getting involved with a Herpetological Society in Miami.

He began buying and selling snakes, and ultimately breeding them.

He never kept venomous snakes, but among the reptiles he did breed were Asian rat snakes, a variety of boas and pythons, different types of lizards including leopard geckos and bearded dragons, and different species of reptiles from around the world. His knowledge and experience made him a “go-to” guy when questions about snakes cropped up in Islamorada in the Florida Keys, where he had moved in 1989.

In 2001 Jim was able to combine his hobby with his love of Costa Rica. On his web-site, Hiss-N-Things, he issued an invitation to other herpers to join him in Costa Rica for a week of herping in the rain forest, with him as their guide. He has since had 16 trips during which time 46 species and 801 snakes have been found and photographed.

Sometimes they abandon the forest and the road on go out on the ocean and look for sea snakes. Frogs, turtles, caiman and crocodiles, as well as a variety of mammals are also objects of a camera lens. All 16 trips have been on the Pacific slope near Carrera National Park. Trip 17, which will begin May 12, will be the first one on the Caribbean slope, just north of Tortuguera.

Jim’s website, now called Costa Rica Herping Adventures, is available to anyone interested in reptiles and has summaries and pictures from all the trips to date. Jim states that he would be happy to answer questions and identify snakes for anyone who wants to send a picture to his email address, which can be found on his website.

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Anne and Jim love the Central Valley with its small towns and local personality. With Atenas as their headquarters, they are visiting and exploring many of Costa Rica’s wonderful and exciting places. Jim and Anne divide their time between their homes in Florida and Costa Rica. Anne confesses that her horizons have been broadened and her awareness of the world heightened by her visits to this amazing country – the land, the native people and the cross-section of ex-pats from all over the world. She never knows what language will be spoken at the table next to them when they go out to eat.

When Anne says: “It isn’t the destination; it’s the journey,” she is referring to her continuing journey during which she sees amazing places and meets amazing people….and her world continues to expand

The AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) ranks Atenas as one of “The Best Places to Retire Abroad.” For more information about homes and land for sale in the area please contact our Recommended Realtors in Atenas Dennis Easters and Gerardo Gonzalez-Porras using the simple form below:

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.