9-20-20 Trip to my little slice of badlands

[joshuajbelanger]

I haven’t been getting out and about much now a days.  The heat and Covid has been keeping me indoors for the most part.  The weather is slowly changing to fall and I decided to hit up my white river spot.  It’s been a couple months since I’ve been, but boy, the spot just keeps on giving.  
 

Right out the gate, I was harassed by a rattlesnake...apparently they do exist.  After giving that little bugger plenty of breathing room, I began a several hour hike around my super secret, private property, land owner permission having spot!

 

it wasn’t long before I found a large ancient alluvial deposit.  Bones were strewn about, and here I found numerous oreodont jaw pieces of varying sizes.  
 

After scooping up all the low hanging fruit, I made my way up the hills that would have deposited said fruit.  Here I found a tortoise that I left there in situ because those things are impossible to put back together.  After dismissing the idea of another jigsaw puzzle turtle, I crossed a valley and made my way back to a spot that had produced some nice large bones in recent hunts.  
 

It wasn’t long before the find of the day caught my eye.  An oreodont upper jaw(in pieces but good condition and all there) laying upon the scry.  As I carefully dusted away the bits of sand and collected the jaw, I noticed that the whole lower jaw was buried just beneath it!  Two for the price of one!  And the lower jaw was fairly solid only being broken in half!  Lucky me!

 

I did also find three large bones that will have to be reassembled-but they aren’t as cool as my jaw.

 

Sorry the pics are out of order, but you guys get the idea.  Sorry if this reads like a 2 year old wrote it, I’m exhausted and it’s late.

 

Happy Hunting y’all!
 

 

 

 

[jcbshark]

Those are some great finds Josh! Love the rattlesnake pics too 

[minnbuckeye]

Ditto to Jeff's comments!! Looks like the environment is a little drier than the rivers of Florida. I did fly into Denver this summer to go to a Veterinary Conference in Wyoming. But due to Covid, I refrained from contacting you. Hopefully the vaccine AND masks will allow normalcy next year. Keep up the great finds.

 

 Mike

[Ruger9a]

Great finds, except for the one that rattles......

[Max-fossils]

Great finds! You're doing well out there!

 

3 hours ago, joshuajbelanger said:

What animal is that big tooth here from? Doesn't look like oredont to me. 

[joshuajbelanger]

3 hours ago, Max-fossils said:

Great finds! You're doing well out there!

 

What animal is that big tooth here from? Doesn't look like oredont to me. 

I assumed this was oreodont, I’m not too familiar with the stock out here yet!  Let me know what you think.

[joshuajbelanger]

4 hours ago, minnbuckeye said:

Ditto to Jeff's comments!! Looks like the environment is a little drier than the rivers of Florida. I did fly into Denver this summer to go to a Veterinary Conference in Wyoming. But due to Covid, I refrained from contacting you. Hopefully the vaccine AND masks will allow normalcy next year. Keep up the great finds.

 

 Mike

Maybe once the snows come and go, and we see some normalcy, you and Jeff can come on by and I’ll take you there.  I’ll agree to show you guys my super secret spot, only if you continue to live across the country 

[rand95]

Congrats on your finds.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Very nice indeed! 

Nice to get out hunting again, I'm sure. 

[Max-fossils]

2 hours ago, joshuajbelanger said:

I assumed this was oreodont, I’m not too familiar with the stock out here yet!  Let me know what you think

My first thought was Archaeotherium, and a friend of mine said it could be that or Hyaenodon. Both are a lot more exciting than oreodont! Definitely a very cool find  

Try finding a good match online, maybe I could give you a hand tomorrow. But I don't believe it to be oreodont  

[Ludwigia]

Great finds!

[joshuajbelanger]

That’s really cool @Max-fossils!  I don’t know too much about the white river formation fossils, so when I see that color I just assume oreodont. It did strike me as more carnivore though, even reminding me of the dire wolf teeth I have found in Florida!  Very very cool!  

[jpc]

I agree... either Archaeotherium or Hyaenodon.   There is a lot more than oreodonts out there.  You just have to train yourself to leave them and go find the next coolest find.  I say this after having spent two days in the White River this summer and collected mostly oreodonts. I always hope for something else.  

[joshuajbelanger]

@jpc  They are just so new to me!  And anyway, I pick up every dang thing I see.  I have to tell myself to leave the chunkasaurus on the ground or my wife will leave me!  Lol

[henpecked]

Josh those are some great fossils.

[taj]

Nice finds ! That snake looks like extremely aggressive .. I would not like to face it on my path !

[Harry Pristis]

2 hours ago, taj said:

Nice finds ! That snake looks like extremely aggressive .. I would not like to face it on my path !

 

The prairie rattlesnake brought back memories!  I nearly stepped on an adult coiled on the sand in the dry streambed in Toadstool Park (Nebraska).  His darker saddles were green!  Green like the occasional low-lying shrubs growing in the streambed.  My late wife saw it before I did, thank goodness. Their venom is quite dangerous.  Later, we encountered a neonate of the same species which we brought home.  The tiny snake never calmed down, and I sold it to a collector of venomous snakes.

 

[Monica]

Awesome jaws, Joshua!!! 

[joshuajbelanger]

Oh yeah, as I started piecing this jaw back together, I realized it isn’t a large jaw, but a small skull!  Wonder how much I’ll be able to puzzle together!

[Opabinia Blues]

Those are definitely nice jaws! I myself have made the *mistake* in the past of picking up complete yet cracked tortoise shells from the white river and trying to piece them back together - I've never completed one, but I do have several gallon bags of shell pieces.

[joshuajbelanger]

2 hours ago, OpabiniaBoogaloo said:

Those are definitely nice jaws! I myself have made the *mistake* in the past of picking up complete yet cracked tortoise shells from the white river and trying to piece them back together - I've never completed one, but I do have several gallon bags of shell pieces.

Yeah, it’s weird, I put together a whole turtle from the peace river.  That wasn’t that difficult; but those white river tortoise just break apart in an impossible way.  I just leave them where they are now.  I suppose if I ran across a mostly intact shell, I would plaster it, but it would have to be immaculate.

[turtlesteve]

On 9/24/2020 at 12:05 AM, joshuajbelanger said:

Yeah, it’s weird, I put together a whole turtle from the peace river.  That wasn’t that difficult; but those white river tortoise just break apart in an impossible way.  I just leave them where they are now.  I suppose if I ran across a mostly intact shell, I would plaster it, but it would have to be immaculate.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.  I’d re-assemble one (or try) no matter how bad it came apart, as long as almost all the pieces are there.  

One day I want to get one that is complete, unprepped, but exploded (rather than the partial one I’ve got now) - I would like to present / display it like a modern tortoise shell e.g hollow inside.  It would never make sense to take a good one apart to reassemble it this way, but no harm if it’s already disarticulated.

 

Steve

[joshuajbelanger]

13 minutes ago, turtlesteve said:

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.  I’d re-assemble one (or try) no matter how bad it came apart, as long as almost all the pieces are there.  

One day I want to get one that is complete, unprepped, but exploded (rather than the partial one I’ve got now) - I would like to present / display it like a modern tortoise shell e.g hollow inside.  It would never make sense to take a good one apart to reassemble it this way, but no harm if it’s already disarticulated.

 

Steve

Your name checks out lol