Big Changes to Fossils on Wheels

[fossilsonwheels]

Carter and I have decided that we need to make some changes to Fossils on Wheels. This decision is being made in part because Covid forced it and in part because we both want thought it was just time to do some different things. We plan on continuing to educate people about fossils as soon as we can but that is still at least 6 months away, maybe more. The biggest change is that we have decided it is time to retire the Dinosaur Ed programs. This is not a decision that was made suddenly. It has been brewing since the lock down started and it is the right thing for us to do.

 

Much of the decision is based on a conversation that we had about the future of the entire fossil collection. The fossil collection that we use in our ed programs does legally belong to both of us but the time is coming when I will change that. The ownership of the collection will go to both of my kids with Carter being in charge of it. He was perfectly comfortable with the ever growing shark collection. He, like me, is a shark dude. He, like me, is just not a dinosaur guy. He really did not want to deal with the dinosaur stuff should something happen to me. My first priority in life is my kids and I need to listen to what he said. I give him a lot of credit for being honest and direct about that fact. I also give a lot of respect for saying he was ok with us simply saying he enjoyed doing the dinosaur programs but it was time for other things.

 

Another important factor, though not the most important factor, was the feedback we got from the people who enjoyed the fossils. Kids and adults all had the same suggestion as to how we could improve the programs. The suggestions were always the same and revolved around a glaring hole in our collection. We lack large, impressive, cool looking theropod teeth and stuff like raptor killing claws. It is just a fact and we knew it was the big hole in the program. The problem was that in order to recitify that situation, we would need to spend a significant amount of money. You can not really bargain shop for large T-rex teeth or Allosaur teeth. You also can not bargain shop rare theropd teeth or claws from outside the US. Well maybe some people can but we could not. Neither one of us had any intention of spending the kind of money it would have taken to fill that hole. There were always going to be limits on what we had.

 

The other factor is that we simply are not dino guys. We started with shark teeth and that is where will eventually end. The dinosaur collection was started simply as an educational tool. It was a way for us to spread the joy of fossils and to some solid education work. We are proud of what we did with the fossils. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 people got to interact with those fossils. They traveled all over Northern California and we had a blast doing it. It was one of the highlights of my life. I just had some much fun working with kids and most importantly, working with my son.

 

We had the big conversation and factored in everything, we knew the time had come though to let others enjoy those fossils. The time has come for us to find homes for our road hardened, battle tested dinosaur friends. It is the right thing to for us and the right thing to do for the fossils that logged so much time being education animals. Even though they are not alive, they really were education critters. They worked for hard for us and for that we are grateful. They were packed up, put in the truck of the car, unpacked, touched and handled by hundreds of kids during the course of a day, packed back up, put in the truck, and then stored until the next time. The amazing thing is that through all of that movement and being handled so much, not a single dino fossils broke or got any damage worse than an occasional chip. Remarkable I think.

 

We are also extremely grateful to the TFF members who helped us build the collection and gain knowledge. We made a commitment early on that we would not profit from selling donated fossils and we will proudly uphold that promise. ALL DONATED DINOSAUR FOSSILS WILL IN TURN BE DONATED. Our hope is that they can continue to help bring education and joy to people but not a single one of those will be sold.

 

The majority of the fossils were purchased and those will be sold. Now it is important to not that it is not worth your time to inquire about rare fossils, large theropod teeth, or dinos from outside of the US. We have very little, if any, fossils that meet those requirements. The collection was designed to be mobile, interactive, and was largely the product of extreme bargain shopping. museum quality stuff this is not lol Plus I only mention this to keep the number of messages here about the fossils to a bare minimum. This is not a sales post.

 

Covid did take its toll on Fossils on Wheels and we will no longer do dinosaurs but it is not the end of our education mission. That will continue. We may not call ourselves Fossils on Wheels. We did let our business license lapse and Carter thinks we should call ourselves exactly what we are, Two Shark Dudes lol We are still as passionate as we were prior to Covid but the game has changed. We need to change as well. This is not a sad event for us. We loved having the opportunity to take our little collection on the road and into classrooms. We are so thankful that we could do it and we look forward to a future when  we are back at it.

 

I want to wrap this up the only that seems appropriate......

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO OUR TFF FRIENDS THAT HELPED US. WITHOUT THE FOSSIL FORUM, THIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE  :)

 

[Ludwigia]

Hi Kurt,

 

I can well understand why you and Carter have decided to reduce your activities, but it's also good to know that you guys shall still be bearing the flag in the future. I know for sure that you have enriched the lives of many over the past few years, so please do keep up the good work as soon as circumstances allow.

[FossilNerd]

To some degree or another the pandemic has taken a toll on us all and forced change upon us that we didn’t expect.  I’m glad that one of your changes is not seen as a sad one, but rather the ending of one adventure to make way for the start of the next. May “Two Shark Dudes” be as enjoyable to you (and the kids) as Fossils on Wheels was. I wish you and Carter all the best!  

[fossilsonwheels]

On 5/24/2021 at 2:06 PM, Ludwigia said:

Hi Kurt,

 

I can well understand why you and Carter have decided to reduce your activities, but it's also good to know that you guys shall still be bearing the flag in the future. I know for sure that you have enriched the lives of many over the past few years, so please do keep up the good work as soon as circumstances allow.

Thank you and we do plan on getting back to it. No doubt. We enjoy it too much to give it up and the changes are needed. 

On 5/24/2021 at 4:40 PM, FossilNerd said:

To some degree or another the pandemic has taken a toll on us all and forced change upon us that we didn’t expect.  I’m glad that one of your changes is not seen as a sad one, but rather the ending of one adventure to make way for the start of the next. May “Two Shark Dudes” be as enjoyable to you (and the kids) as Fossils on Wheels was. I wish you and Carter all the best!  

Change is inevitable and you have to adapt to those changes. We had plans but Covid said go back to the drawing board lol Thank you ! 

[fossilsonwheels]

Super happy to report that we found an excellent home for some of the donated fossils, including a fossil that was a real work horse. I guess it’s more appropriate to say work thescelosaurus lol 

Very early on @Troodon sent us a box of fossils that included some Thescelosaurus pieces. One of those was a fantastic toe bone. It is a fossil that probably introduced over 2000 people to a new dinosaur. I think maybe 10 kids had heard of Thescelosaurus. It was used in every single Dino program we did after we got it. It logged as many miles as any in the collection and met as many people as any in our collection. 

 

I am super excited to send this and a few other fossils to our good friend, @Captcrunch227. Beau is a Dino educator and a good guy so our fossils we be in good hands. They will also continue as education Dino’s. We think our dinosaurs will enjoy Texas very much !!

 

[Randyw]

Glad to hear that they (and you) will be continuing to educate the next generation into the future! I applaud your choice to donate the fossils that were donated to you. ( and I’ll be watching to see if any of the Dino stuff you’re selling ends up on the sales forum)

[siteseer]

Hi Kurt,

 

I am just reading this now though I noticed you were selling some dinosaur stuff.  I thought you were just rotating some stuff for other stuff.  Yeah, collecting dinosaur teeth and bones is becoming an even more expensive hobby than it has been especially if you want specimens of familiar animals like Tyrannosaurus, Diplodocus and anything seen in "Jurassic Park."  It's tough to get stuff for a teaching collection.  Troodon and others were very generous, going above and beyond the call.

 

Yeah, concentrate on sharks but keep a little of everything.  That's how I've built my collection.

 

Sharks are better dinosaurs.  Did I say that out loud?

 

Jess

[fossilsonwheels]

Hi Jess

 

I was actually going to post an update. Carter and I did decide to keep some Dino stuff. Enough to do a really solid program. Instead of a program focused on diversity, we’re focusing on the relationship to birds and the Sauropods. A more streamlined program. We got to donate a few fossils to other educators and sold some too. It makes sense to keep a variety of stuff but I’m also happy to thin it out quite a bit. 

 

I do like dinosaurs and we enjoyed those programs but a change was needed. I feel good about keeping some and saying so long to some. 

 

I will say I love birds. Did field studies, owl banding, surveys, rescue/rehab for years. I can totally see picking up bird fossils. In fact, I know I will. So it’s just Avian Dino over non Avian Dino as far as further collecting goes. It was the HC bird claw we have that got me thinking we should keep stuff. I couldn’t sell it. Its just cool. 

 

Sharks are just a bit more fun for us lol one shark nerd to another, I agree