Fossils And Football

[minnbuckeye]

Two weeks ago my wife and I experienced a wonderful a trip to Iowa for fossils and football. We started the weekend off great by attending the Iowa /Ohio State football game.  We are buckeye through and through and being  a visitor at sporting event such as this  just adds to the ambiance.  In preparation for our game, I created 10 necklaces out of buckeyes interspersed with scarlet and grey beads.

 

They were heavy on my neck as I enter the stadium. But each was created for the purpose of finding 10 special individuals to place them on. So by games end, my neck feels the lightened load. My favorite recipient was a rabid Iowa fan whose wife insisted on getting a picture of him with the buckeye beads draped around his neck. This gentleman and I decided to make this necklace a traveling trophy. He keeps it if Iowa wins the next time. If OSU wins, he must find a buckeye fan to carry on our new started tradition of passing the necklace to the victor. Hopefully future recipients can enjoy the camaraderie  that the two of us did. I do want to congratulate all Iowa fans for a game well played! The better team (Iowa) won that day. Here is a view of the buckeye trees on my farm in Minnesota that donated their nuts for the necklaces.  Spruce trees outline the buckeyes spelling  "Go OSU". 

 

 

The primary purpose for putting my football report in with my fossil excursion is to publicize what Iowa does during the time out between first and second quarter. A children's hospital was recently built next to the stadium and a Hawkeye student, through social media, has gotten the fans to take the time during this "intermission" to turn and  wave to all of the children pressed against the glass on the 15th story of the hospital. It brought tears to my eyes seeing 78,000 fans providing such pleasure to the many who peared down upon us.

 

 

 Even the Buckeye football players, who are supposed to be discussing football strategy, got caught up in it!!! I am proud of them.

 

My plan initially was to stay in town and participate in our fossil club's trip to a local quarry the next day. But motel rooms that my wife would accept staying at were all booked. As a replacement for some good old Devonian hunting, we elected instead to head to Burlington in search of  Mississippian crinoids the next morning. Lodging was not a problem there.

 

 Up early, I headed to a quarry site mentioned in some of the research I had done the previous night. It sounded promising on paper. But upon arrival at the quarry , it became apparent visitors were NOT welcomed, unlike what my research said. A sign saying "No Trespassing, Violators will be Prosecuted" greeted me.
A sign a little further up the access was visible so I strolled up to see what it said. "You are now on video surveillance" gave me some butterflies in my stomach. I looked further down the lane and a third sign was present just before the gate into the quarry. Of coarse I had to see what it said. To my surprise, the final sign said Take Another Step, The Bead of My Shotgun is on You. Wow!!! I pity anyone that took that next step.  My steps were backwards, and I retreated to the truck. As I sat there deciding where to go instead, a smaller sign was peaking out of the weeds next to me and it had the owner's name (Puc) and phone number on it. Do I dare call this owner  very early on a Sunday morning? Of coarse!!  I think I made the call just to talk to the creator of these unique no trespassing signs. After 4 or 5 rings, long enough for me to second guess my decision to call, someone in a deep baritone voice picked up. I explained who I was and why I was interrupting his weekend. After a long pause he replied that "the government" would stick me with a $20,000 fine if I allowed you into the quarry. Then for the next 10 minutes, he entertained me with what he meant by "the government" and it wasn't good. Quite suddenly, he quit his rampage and exclaimed, give me 5 minutes and I will be down there. I was going to target practice with my pistol anyways. That was a long 10 minutes as I sat in my truck wondering am I going to get to fossil hunt or is he coming to put the bead of his pistol on me. You must know the outcome since I am here to tell the story.  

 

A beat up pickup arrived slightly later than expected and a tall strong shouldered weathered man stepped out without pointing a gun though he carried it in his hand. That was a good sign. He reminded me of Jed Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies Show pictured here for you young bucks who may not recognize him.

 

I was invited into the scale house as he told me about the quarry's history and his gun collection and a little more about politics. No exaggeration, an hour later,  Puc finally said I will show you the quarry's rocks. And away we went. My own private hunting grounds with a guide!! Here are some of my finds: 

 

After 2 hours, I was enjoying myself tremendously but needed to take a break. Leaning against a 6x6x10 ft rock, I took a swig of cold coffee and as I sat the cup down, I noticed something on the underside of this large boulder. It was a nice crinoid!!! I just had to extract it from its matrix. I thought this will be easy, as I tried to fire up my ancient cement saw. No go! I anxiously waited 10 minutes and tried to fire it up again. No such luck. So out came my chisels and hammer. After 30 minutes of banging away, Puc came over (he was target practicing) to see what the commotion was. I showed him the specimen I was attempting to release from this boulder. My suspicions were that he had no idea what it was, but he sensed how important it must have been to me. I was instructed to quit pounding and he will be back in a bit. A few minutes later, I hear the roar of an engine and then a LARGE yellow piece of equipment came towards me. It was a jackhammer on wheels, dwarfing my pickup as it approached!! Puc asked me to point out the location on the boulder again and then had me step back. With precision, he whittled that rock down, eventually breaking the fossil free without a bit of damage. What a day!! What a find for me. And most importantly, what a new friendship was made. One lonely man and one fossil freak! I promised him that I would be back.

[minnbuckeye]

Here is my special find: 

 

 This is  Uberocrinus pyriformus, containing the stalk, the crinoid calyx,  AND the long anal tube. I tried to look for crinoid coprolites at it's anal orifice for Geschwhat but was unsuccessful.

[minnbuckeye]

Here are a few more representatives of items found

 

[Fossildude19]

Great report, finds, and pictures!

Thanks for the field trip!  

[jpc]

Great story... (OK, I will admit, I skipped the football part.) 

[minnbuckeye]

@jpc, you missed a very touching event if the football paragraph was skipped.

[minnbuckeye]

[Peat Burns]

Very enjoyable read.  I enjoyed the football part, even though I'm a devout Boilermaker.  

 

You have a lot more gumption than I do.  I would never have had the nerve to call. Persistence pays off. Epic find.

[FossilDAWG]

Great story, and great  fossil finds.  

 

Don

[thelivingdead531]

Amazing story and finds! How amazing of the fans and players to wave to the children, that was heartwarming. Congrats on that crinoid, it’s beautiful! 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I also skipped the 'football' part, but the finds are incredible, that crinoid is superb! 

Great haul ! 

[PFOOLEY]

Great report. Thanks for sharing.

 

This is cool...

 

 

...is it a tooth? 

 

This is the Mexican Buckeye...

 

 

...it grows out at Bachechi open space.

[minnbuckeye]

@PFOOLEY: a previous post:

 

Troodon    3,046

• Sept. 2015 MOTM; Feb. 2016 VFOTM
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• Editing Members
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Posted Monday at 07:48 AM

Shark tooth? Deltodus

 

I checked out Deltodus and the images matched perfectly. There is a thin layer in the Burlington Limestone that is known for it's fossil fish. I am assuming that tooth came from there. The quarry owner had placed large boulders along the entrance to the quarry and it was in one of them. I old him it was likely fish but I was shocked at it being IDed as a shark tooth.

 

As for the buckeyes, is there a way to send me some, of course, I would pay the postage? I am thinking it a present for my wife's 60th Bday!

[PFOOLEY]

9 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

@PFOOLEY: a previous post

I see...very nice find. 

[jcbshark]

Great story, write up and crinoid Mike. I’m glad you were able to smooth over the owner. Need to have you talk to some of the mine operators down here 

[minnbuckeye]

13 minutes ago, jcbshark said:

Great story, write up and crinoid Mike. I’m glad you were able to smooth over the owner. Need to have you talk to some of the mine operators down here 

I had practice Schmoozing you into showing me your secret spots. So he was easy to win over after you. Actually, Puc is such a lonely man. He recently lost his partner in the business. He functioned like a son to Puc. Beyond him, I know of no other friends, hence his attachment to me.

[jpc]

3 hours ago, minnbuckeye said:

 

@jpc, you missed a very touching event if the football paragraph was skipped.

OK.. ya got me.  That is a really good football story. 

[deutscheben]

Great story and great finds, you've got nerves of steel- I would have hit the road after the second sign!

[ynot]

Nice story, but great finds.

[DE&i]

Yes great story coupled with fossilng. Also interesting to hear the word " buckeye" . Here in the UK they are known as conkers. I've played in the World Conker championship a few times.

 

https://www.worldconkerchampionships.com

[minnbuckeye]

@DE&i, that is VERY interesting. The concept just blows my mind. I can send you some " Ohio Buckeyes" . Maybe they would be a tougher nut to crack. Not sure if a foreign buckeye would disqualify you.LOL Do they dry the nut first or are these fresh off the tree?

[PFOOLEY]

On 11/17/2017 at 3:58 PM, minnbuckeye said:

...is there a way to send me some...

I will see if there are any left on the trees next time I am there.

[DE&i]

1 hour ago, minnbuckeye said:

@DE&i, that is VERY interesting. The concept just blows my mind. I can send you some " Ohio Buckeyes" . Maybe they would be a tougher nut to crack. Not sure if a foreign buckeye would disqualify you.LOL Do they dry the nut first or are these fresh off the tree?

Hi @minnbuckeye it's truly a great day out steeped in history, with traditional ale's flowing all day. The rules are followed to the letter, with the Ashton conker society supplying a standard untreated conker. You are given a untreated standard size conker as you enter the arena to take your turn.

 

I do remember quite a few players flying in from America to play. Perhaps they had a few Ohio Buckeye's tucked in there pocket's.

 

Here's a picture of the competition conkers being made for the day.