JD@reptiles
06-07-04, 08:05 PM
Arriving in Jamaica it was a warm humid day. We had just purchased a condo in the western side of the island where the last remaining Jamaican boas are, this place is called Negril. It has the longest sand beach in the world. We got to our condo and the people who were working on it decided not to finish their work. So while my parents were talking to them I went snorkeling. Here are some photos
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/513/562underwater3.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562underwater2.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562underwater1-med.jpg
The next day I went into town where I ran into this guy with a smashed up leg. Unfortunately I could not afford to pay his medical bills so I gave him $500 Jamaican. Later on that day I did nothing but sit on the beach.
Day 3 was an exciting adventure we headed down to black river for a fun day of fishing and croc herping. We started out going north on the Black River. We found about 5 crocs and decided to go trolling for a while. We caught a bunch of fish and a meshed fish which was very, very, very strange looking. As we were heading to a different fishing spot, we startled a 14 foot American crocodile! Immediately he tried to take off into the mangroves! One second the river was calm. The next this croc made it as rough as the ocean! It’s hard to imagine how powerful that animal is! After we circled back, the croc was gone so I did not get a photo opportunity for it.
The next few days are bland and boring. Went herping in a spot that looked good. It had caves with bats. One of the caves we went into. It was really cool.
APRIL 18th the day of the reptile expo. Stuck in Jamaica. So if all you lucky people were going to an expo. I thought I would go looking for crocodiles again. No fishing. Just crocs! We headed out at 5 PM, found 5 crocs in the light and 9 crocs in the night! Here are a bunch of pictures.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562Jordan_night.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562croc5.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562croc4.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562croc3.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562croc2.jpg
I spotted this croc from 200 feet away.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562croc1-med.jpg
Heres some shots of the area. nice?
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/513/562sunset32-med.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562blackriver-med.jpg
Tuesday 2 days after the crocs, I wanted to find the illusive Jamaican boa. So I ask a cab if he knows where to find these snakes. He says “Yes Mon”. I figure great! So I go and I end up coming to a beach bar… I see some cages beside the parking lot with Jamaican boas in it. I was not impressed, but I did go in there and play with them! I got nailed once, but it was still a cool experience. Here are some more pics.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562cage.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/508/562jboa2-med.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/513/562jboa1-med.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/513/562boabite-med.jpg
We headed out one more time with a different driver. We had to go find someone named bob in Negril.......... Sounds promising right? Well after about 30 minutes we found bob… when I think about it, it’s like someone saying “Go find Jim in Toronto; he knows where to find snakes”. Later on that day we went out and found nothing. So he told us to come back when it’s raining. I did however find a skink! i am not sure what species it is. maybe somone here knows.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562skink-med.jpg
We came back when it was raining and found ONE. This boa was in a hole in a tree, after a few twists and turns, I tried to get him out, but he wasn’t coming out. Immediately bob grabbed his axe! He said “Don’t worry mon I get that snake for you”. I said “NO”. I had to explain how many there were (less than 500) and destroying ones home would be a horrible thing to do. He agreed and we left it alone.
We went out one more time. But it was a hot dry day. We found bob and he took us out to this guy’s house where one was caught the day before. This one was a sub adult male, they were housing it in a Rubbermaid with a sand substrate. They would not sell this animal to me so its fate was looking really bad. Here are some pictures.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562jboa4.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/508/562jboa3.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562bite.jpg
Future plans there are looking pretty good. I have one contact in Jamaica that says he will allow me to breed Jamaican boas on his property and he will take care of them. For him as well this is a good thing because he does boat rides up the river and another attraction would be a bonus. All the money would be coming out of my pocket for the cages and the boas themselves and the food and anything else. But I think it will be money well spent. I already have over 1000 dollars saved up and things are looking bright! I hope one day I will be able to get my own land and get some American crocs breeding as well. I hope you all enjoyed reading this story. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Thanks for reading
Jordan
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/513/562underwater3.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562underwater2.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562underwater1-med.jpg
The next day I went into town where I ran into this guy with a smashed up leg. Unfortunately I could not afford to pay his medical bills so I gave him $500 Jamaican. Later on that day I did nothing but sit on the beach.
Day 3 was an exciting adventure we headed down to black river for a fun day of fishing and croc herping. We started out going north on the Black River. We found about 5 crocs and decided to go trolling for a while. We caught a bunch of fish and a meshed fish which was very, very, very strange looking. As we were heading to a different fishing spot, we startled a 14 foot American crocodile! Immediately he tried to take off into the mangroves! One second the river was calm. The next this croc made it as rough as the ocean! It’s hard to imagine how powerful that animal is! After we circled back, the croc was gone so I did not get a photo opportunity for it.
The next few days are bland and boring. Went herping in a spot that looked good. It had caves with bats. One of the caves we went into. It was really cool.
APRIL 18th the day of the reptile expo. Stuck in Jamaica. So if all you lucky people were going to an expo. I thought I would go looking for crocodiles again. No fishing. Just crocs! We headed out at 5 PM, found 5 crocs in the light and 9 crocs in the night! Here are a bunch of pictures.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562Jordan_night.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562croc5.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562croc4.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562croc3.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562croc2.jpg
I spotted this croc from 200 feet away.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562croc1-med.jpg
Heres some shots of the area. nice?
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/513/562sunset32-med.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562blackriver-med.jpg
Tuesday 2 days after the crocs, I wanted to find the illusive Jamaican boa. So I ask a cab if he knows where to find these snakes. He says “Yes Mon”. I figure great! So I go and I end up coming to a beach bar… I see some cages beside the parking lot with Jamaican boas in it. I was not impressed, but I did go in there and play with them! I got nailed once, but it was still a cool experience. Here are some more pics.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562cage.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/508/562jboa2-med.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/513/562jboa1-med.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/513/562boabite-med.jpg
We headed out one more time with a different driver. We had to go find someone named bob in Negril.......... Sounds promising right? Well after about 30 minutes we found bob… when I think about it, it’s like someone saying “Go find Jim in Toronto; he knows where to find snakes”. Later on that day we went out and found nothing. So he told us to come back when it’s raining. I did however find a skink! i am not sure what species it is. maybe somone here knows.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562skink-med.jpg
We came back when it was raining and found ONE. This boa was in a hole in a tree, after a few twists and turns, I tried to get him out, but he wasn’t coming out. Immediately bob grabbed his axe! He said “Don’t worry mon I get that snake for you”. I said “NO”. I had to explain how many there were (less than 500) and destroying ones home would be a horrible thing to do. He agreed and we left it alone.
We went out one more time. But it was a hot dry day. We found bob and he took us out to this guy’s house where one was caught the day before. This one was a sub adult male, they were housing it in a Rubbermaid with a sand substrate. They would not sell this animal to me so its fate was looking really bad. Here are some pictures.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562jboa4.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/508/562jboa3.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/562bite.jpg
Future plans there are looking pretty good. I have one contact in Jamaica that says he will allow me to breed Jamaican boas on his property and he will take care of them. For him as well this is a good thing because he does boat rides up the river and another attraction would be a bonus. All the money would be coming out of my pocket for the cages and the boas themselves and the food and anything else. But I think it will be money well spent. I already have over 1000 dollars saved up and things are looking bright! I hope one day I will be able to get my own land and get some American crocs breeding as well. I hope you all enjoyed reading this story. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Thanks for reading
Jordan