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Showing results for tags 'experiences'.
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Tell me your craziest/most interesting fossil stories!
Pseudogygites posted a topic in Questions & Answers
Hi! While I've also been fossil collecting, I am also volunteering for a local theatre company right now. This month, we will hopefully be leading a free acting program for youth in our community. Among my roles is writer/co-writer for the script that the youth will be performing. Ideas for what the script will be about have been scarce, but I do have one idea. I am thinking of making a vignette play (essentially an anthology of related scenes) about the lives of fossil hunters and palaeontologists. The scenes would be transcribed from various historical accounts and stories published in literature, but I would like to have some modern day scenes as well! If you are comfortable with it, I would really love to hear some of your craziest or most interesting stories from your lives of fossil hunting and collecting! Maybe it was a thrilling brush with danger while in the field, maybe it was an interaction between you and a cooky character, maybe it was a moment that cemented your love for fossils early in your life. I'll take anything! Regale me with your tales in the replies section or by sending them directly to me! Details, names, etc. may be changed or omitted, but I'd like to keep them as accurate as possible. Please also indicate if you would potentially be alright if your story made it into the production somehow. Thank you!- 16 replies
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Dealing with questions from the public about your collecting while you are in the field.
Doctor Mud posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Believe it or not, not everyone is familiar with the world of fossil hunting. Sometimes we might attract the attention of the uninitiated while out collecting. "What is that person up too?" They might think. You could be hammering away at an outcrop on a public roadside or beach or turning up all dirty carrying your rock pick and a heavy pack in a car park. Through the years with fossil hunting and through collecting mud cores for work I've had this happen. The other day it was a group of surfers on a remote beach. "Are you looking for gold with that little pick axe?" This is is a common question as who might imagine that people would spend so much time and effort hunting for long dead things. Sometimes I wonder if I did spend as much time hunting for gold as fossils.... but this is what drives me and the reward is worth more than gold to me. Anyone else had to answer strange questions while collecting or have a common question they get asked? How did I answer the surfers? Did I lie and say, "No, not gold, diamonds mate!". I was tempted as they obviously thought I was one weird dude. I paused for a second and then explained what I was actually doing. Being surfers, they appreciated the stories of the long dead sharks (including mega sharks) that I've found on the beach. Through my job I do a lot of fieldwork and see this as a kind of outreach, we are ambassadors for our science when we are in the field. So, even though I've had much weirder questions throughout the years, I always try to explain what I am up to. Look forward to others stories.- 67 replies
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