Oh-Man Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 MikeD and I were hosted in Austin by BobC on Saturday. We dragged three pre-teens along, too, so BobC was a little concerned about balancing time to hunt and time to monitor the kids. Thankfully we didn't have to do too much of the later! Bob headed us out to some productive roadcuts, but first confiscated our GPS's and camera phones! Security is important with the prospect of visiting Salenia heaven! So after driving blind folded, in circles, for a half hour (I kept peeking since he was the lead car and I had to avoid running off the road with my wife's minivan) we started hitting the outcrops! Mike and I have never been some place so productive for "round echinoids!" Bob starts yelling "here's one" and "here's another one" before we had even figured out what we were looking for. My two kids and I came away with around 30 salenias, some loriolias and a few dozen heart urchins. It was a great day and the rain held off until we were at the deli for lunch! THEN it poured, which should be great for Bob to get back out to the reworked formation on his own today. Thanks Bob!!! Pix to follow. What is geology? "Rocks for Jocks!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traviscounty Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Glad you guys had some fun. It was kinda hit or miss on the rain yesterday. Lets see some of those critters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Owen--yesterday was about the best time I ever had hunting fossils with other people. Unfortunately today I went out with my dogs--and we were having a stellar time--until some fat slob decided to roll up and inform me that if my dogs came onto his property, he would shoot them. I am so frikkin respectful of property and my dogs are so well behaved (especially my 12 YO Black Lab Otis who has cancer)--and we were on nobody's property--just the side of the road. I explained to this guy that I would never allow my pups to harass any goats or sheep--and I thought that would be the end of it. Then he said "Make sure they don't." And he glared at me. I said I wouldn't let my dogs cross onto private property and he started to drive away--and he said "you better not." I said "you dont have to be nasty about it--my dogs stay right with me." "You aren't from around here--and I will shoot your dogs if they cross that fence." Right then, I saw red. I am 42 YO and I have never had ANYONE threaten my little friends. If you met my dogs, you would understand. That is a line you do NOT cross. You can threaten me all day long but if you turn a gun on my dogs--be prepared! I basically told this fat slob that if his son was not in the back seat--I would have invited him to step out the car and settle this man-to-man. Then he said he had a gun on him--and I lost it. I told him get out the F-ing car without your gun and let's settle this --He declined. The whole time Noodles, Otis and Ellie were wagging their tails, wanting to say hi to this idiot who wanted to shoot them. GRRRRRRRR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 What a yahoo... "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 That's not the term I'd use. I am still furious. I am so thankful that people out there in these rural towns seem to always like me and trust me so today was so outta nowhere--but if you threaten my "family" you had better think again for your own sake. Moving on.. Anyway--getting back to the trip with my new pals Owen and Mikey--these guys are welcome to come out with me any time. I was proud, being such a clueless newbie, to lead these guys to some places where they could collect stuff that was somewhat unusual for them. They brought their kiddies--and at first I thought OMIGOD am I gonna be leading a circus of unruly ADD brats to some boring rural local? But within an hour I wanted to adopt all of them!!! Great Kids! All of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Thanks again Bob! The trip was great. Sorry about the ! For the record, I'm sure Bob would have kicked that guys @ss and I'm sure his family would have joined in if necessary. A bunch of nice dogs they are. I'll get some pics up soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreekCrawler Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 BobC, sounds like you ran into a true .I'm ashamed to say that Tx is full of them.And you are very brave to stand up to someone who claims to have a gun,particularly in Tx.I would have called the Sheriff immediately.... and probably still would! Man you guys cleaned up ..Congrats on a fine haul!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh-Man Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 Bob - I'm sorry to hear about the jackass you encountered today! Wish we were there, too!!! As for an update I actually set most of my finds out on the driveway for an initial rinse and posted some pix before I did that. Ends up, including the couple of dozen that Bob gave us, that we ended up with over 70 salenia! Good heavens - literally! This final pic has a close up that show some of the loriolias. There were two other types of echinoids also present, but I haven't cleaned them up enough to have ID'd them yet. Enjoy. What is geology? "Rocks for Jocks!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreekCrawler Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 [that we ended up with over 70 salenia! Good heavens - literally! Now you know what Dan Woer and JohnJ feel like after a successful hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Awesome finds, I love echs. Sorry about the , been here my hole life and have seen my share of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 To paraphrase a line from some movie, "Pets rule, humans drool". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Now thats a pile of echy's. No wonder you had so much fun. But dont give that guy a hard time about your dogs. He doesnt know your dogs and I would probably be the same way. But really, its not dogs that I hate, but irresponsable dog owners and most are iresponsable in my book! I wont ruin your thread by the dozens of stories I could tell you about. Anyways, glad you had a great time. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Owen--I was gonna say that I thought that initial estimate of 20 or thirty was kinda low! We founds tons of those little guys! Now here is why I hate Mike: We were all having a great time, finding tons of heart urchins and Loriolas and Salenias, and as always they ranged in quality from barely recognizable to very good. That was until, at the very end of our hunt, Mike just turned to me and chirped "Oh look at the one I just found, it's huge and it's perfect." He held the salenia up and it was about twice the size of any of the ones Owen and I found, and it was so damned perfect I almost accused him, on the spot, of having a porcelain model of one planted at the site. I mean that thing probably had diamond tips on it's tubercles! Even though I was riddled with petty jealousies, I tried to act non-nonchalant as I mentally planned an "unfortunate accident" for Mike that involved a hammer and a treacherous cliff face. Just then, Mike's son Adam came prancing up and screamed "GREAT FIND, DAD!!!! We fill the holes in our driveway with that snarge BOB finds. At least SOMEONE around here knows what he's doing." My face cracked straight down the middle! That's when Owen turned to me said "Really Bob--we are usthed to much better spethimens than theeth paleontologiithal frauds. Lookth like Linda was right after all. About the only thing you could lead us to is the conclusion that you have no idea what you're doing. Pleath remain silent for the rest of this hunt and pray for forgiveness for the five hours you have stolen from our lives." He put a cigarette out in my forehead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbowden Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Great finds, glad you guys had such a good time. And oh ya, that "You aren't from around here--and I will shoot your dogs if they cross that fence." thing, some can be real pigs, remind me to show you the knife wound in the palm of my hand where a guy just didn't like what I was doin'. Don't - - - - with an X COMBAT MARINE, he didn't get his truck back ether. Why want they just mind their own beeswax! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh-Man Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 Conversely on Saturday we had several folks stop by and chat, and ask about what we were looking for. THey were all pretty much nice and on top of that just about everyone that drove by gave us a smile, wave, or both. There were a heck of a lot more good, nice folks out there than the dumb @sses. Anyway, hopefully Mike will get to post some pix today, too. What is geology? "Rocks for Jocks!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 ...Don't - - - - with an X COMBAT MARINE... My best employee was a Marine H-46 pilot in 'Nam ('67-'68); 42 air menals and the silver star. One day, while discussing a recent encounter he'd had with an agressive driver, he 'splained something to me that put it into "perspective". Bruce is one of the nicest guys I know, and the comment was made as simple fact, with no hint of bravado: "Marines aren't trained to defend themselves, they're trained to kill". Word. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jax Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Wow, thats a ton of the round guys. Most I ever found in a day was 4. Bob, I think we should get taser guns to knock people down like those. Wouldnt kill then, but make then think of how stupid they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbowden Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Hey, in a punch a palm can be a Buckler if need be and if you close you own the blade, guns can be taken too if you get close enough. Most people just leave you a lone. But it's good to see these guys have done so well, but sad that not one oyster (ducks foot) was found.LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Well I'm sorry for ruining this happy thread--Owen is right that we were approached by several people and they were all very nice. I shouldn't have even put Sunday's incident on this thread--I was just so angry I could barely type. I love my dogs so much and they love everybody. So anyway--after Owen, Mike and I got done at the Salenia site, we moved on to Onion Creek because Mike wanted some huge devil's toenails. I didn't think we should go because there was a monsoon going and I assumed Onion Creek would have been under water. Inexplicably, it wasn't! It was bizarre! Shoal Creek, on the other hand, was easily four feet higher than normal and raging! The two creeks are not that far from each other so I can't explain why Onion Creek was not flooded--and Mike and Owen got some large devil's toenails for their collections. I have to say the kids who tagged along were so much fun and unlike most kids, they stood up and didn't complain or want to go home after five minutes. It was a pleasure having them around. Owen's daughter Wendy, a tiny slip of a girl--who is what? no more than ten? She totally kept up and believe me the Onion Creek area is not easy to get through. There are brambles galore, cacti, thorny trees, foot-deep mud--you name it. But Wendy totally handled it! I was amazed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbowden Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Well I'm sorry for ruining this happy thread--Owen is right that we were approached by several people and they were all very nice. I shouldn't have even put Sunday's incident on this thread--I was just so angry I could barely type. I love my dogs so much and they love everybody.So anyway--after Owen, Mike and I got done at the Salenia site, we moved on to Onion Creek because Mike wanted some huge devil's toenails. I didn't think we should go because there was a monsoon going and I assumed Onion Creek would have been under water. Inexplicably, it wasn't! It was bizarre! Shoal Creek, on the other hand, was easily four feet higher than normal and raging! The two creeks are not that far from each other so I can't explain why Onion Creek was not flooded--and Mike and Owen got some large devil's toenails for their collections. I have to say the kids who tagged along were so much fun and unlike most kids, they stood up and didn't complain or want to go home after five minutes. It was a pleasure having them around. Owen's daughter Wendy, a tiny slip of a girl--who is what? no more than ten? She totally kept up and believe me the Onion Creek area is not easy to get through. There are brambles galore, cacti, thorny trees, foot-deep mud--you name it. But Wendy totally handled it! I was amazed. Bob next time you go to Onion Creek let me know, I would like to check out the beds there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Sorry, Bob! I'll try to find a crappier specimen next time! I haven't unpacked everything yet, but here are a few pics. I don't know which formations we were in yet. I am going to have to look at my maps to pin that down. These are the salenias and various heart urchins from one of the places we stopped. A gastropod and a couple of porocystis globularis in an unusual place. I believe this is a Loriola sp. A well camoflauged mantis admiring a gastropod. Another Loriola and a porocystis (bottom right). On to another site. Perhaps this is why BobC calls it salenia heaven. I suppose you could also call it orbitolina heaven. A salenia eroding out of formation. Two more and a heart urchin on the left. A couple of small exogyra ponderosa eroding out of formation at another site. A larger one. A worn out crew. I also stopped at another site on the way home. I passed this place one day (when I didn't have time to stop) and had observed some people crawling on the ground and one guy sifting dirt. It was almost dark, I couldn't see anything obvious, but I did decide to pick up a couple of "yard rocks". I also looked at the strata the best I could in a fresh cut in the hillside where some construction was taking place. Interesting, but still nothing. I was talking to Oh-Man the next day and pulled them out to describe them. The first was not particularly unusual other than being a heavily iron stained sandstone (ok, good yard rock). The second one, I was describing the layering to Oh-Man, then I flipped it and saw this. OK, that was cool, but then on the other side! Now I know what those guys were looking for and I will be back there again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbowden Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Mike those ducks feet are great, but you have turned into a long haired hippy. Just Kiddin'............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Mike those ducks feet are great, but you have turned into a long haired hippy. Just Kiddin'............ I thought you would like them and yes I have..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbowden Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I got'st ta check me out some of them ducks feet!!!!!!!! B) B) I think the big one's from Holland cause it's wearin' wooden shoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I can't even imagine seeing that many salenias in one spot. You all found some first rate echs, some look perfect. Was half afraid to open your post, Mike D. Glad you have given up the ole fishnet... Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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