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There have been a few times on this forum when a newbie has posted a photo of an object (not always a fossil) and asked for an ID and after just as little as a couple of hours follows up the post with another one expressing some level of disbelief that no one has answered ("No one?" "Anyone?"). A more experienced member usually pops in and advises patience. I would say, "Operators are not standing by." Well, early this month I was called "impolite" and "disrespectful" by another member because I didn't respond to a PM within two weeks. I had not seen the PM - perhaps overlooked it. It happened to be during an interval from sometime late last month to this week when I have hardly been on here. Normally, I try to check on the forum at least every couple of days and sometimes every day for several days depending on what's going on. Sometimes, I'm on the road for work I don't check in much for a couple of weeks. This time, one of my aunts had passed away during a time when my mom needed extra help with shopping, cleaning up the house and yards for Easter (also during a time we were trying to get her an appointment for a COVID shot which hasn't been easy in this county). It was a little more important this year because some of the family was getting together after no get-togethers last spring, summer, fall, and early winter. We had a small family thing for my youngest brother's birthday in February. Earlier this month, we were able to have a small, short service for my aunt at the cemetery which was a lot more than most people got last year. I tried to be polite in my response to the member. I could understand how my lack of response could have reflected carelessness or rudeness. I just want to say that we are all interested in fossils and many of us really look forward to acquiring specimens we see available or we have a burning question that we'd really like to get answered, but sometimes, real life interrupts even our favorite hobbies. We have to recognize that there will be times when someone might not reply as quickly as usual. They might be unusually busy with work or family or perhaps moving or gone on vacation. Jess

What is the etiquette on returning to spot shown to me by a fossil hunting guide? Last year a guide took me and some others to a nice creek in South Carolina. It's really the only spot I know of. Is it okay to return to it on my own, or is that frowned upon?

Hello, Why is it that we write the name of the author who described a species, after the species name? Here are three examples from the same paper I am currently reading: . Kosmoceras (Zugokosmoceras) ex grp grossouvrei Douville . Kosmoceras (Lobokosmoceras) ex grp phaeinum (S. Buckman) . Meleagrinella braamburiensis (Phillips) Format seems to vary between species also (in and out of brackets) Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated!

When I go fossil hunting it is always with my 4 kids who are 7 years old and younger. I've been trying to find books and read posts on here about fossil hunting etiquette to make sure that we are following the rules of the land. I recently read the one post about people digging out massive holes on a creek bed, leading to people falling as well as devastation to the wildlife in the area. When I'm with my kids I always try to get them to hunt in a way that leaves the slope of the area natural so that one doesn't create unstable areas where people can get hurt. I understand sometimes that fossil you want though is in the middle, and you might just have to chisel it out, versus taking down an entire wall. My biggest question is this I guess.... Is it ok for the kids to do a lot of excavation? My kids find the part of digging and hammering limestone more fun than just looking at what is lying around on the ground. Sometimes this can be a decent chunk of material. They aren't digging up anything really scientifically significant, so from a science standpoint, I don't think it is impacting anything. I make sure like I said that they are not destroying natural sloping. One place we collect sometimes is under a bridge so I make sure that they are not digging anywhere that will affect the structural integrity of the bridge(although unfortunately it is apparent that others do so). I always try my best to raise my kids right with good manners, and just want to make sure I'm doing the same when we're out fossil hunting. When I went to Minnesota this last summer they took down a good size chunk of wall with some other children, and it just got me thinking. I was sorting through their pile, and they looked through it some too, but I just wonder what the community's view is on kids and their activities.