Saddest Trip Report Ever....

[brachiomyback]

Redacted version:

I almost quit this hobby....

After over 2 hours of hunting I finally found my first Virginia tooth.

Embellished version:

Work brought me back to the great state of Virginia again this past Monday. I anticipated that I would finish my project early afternoon and you know what that means.... fossil hunting time. I was planning to hunt some more scallops, Chesapecten jeffersonius at the Chippokes Plantation State Park again, focusing on just the big / better specimens and maybe pick about the beach area formations with my mattock.

I made correspondence with a fellow fossil hunting from Virginia whom I helped a year back by putting him on some of my favorite areas to hunt at the Green Mill Run (GMR) in Greenville, NC. He was kind enough to return the favor and gave me directions to a less traveled area of the James River which he frequents routinely.

So with my project completed and with the skies opening up with some much needed rain, I opted for the latter location. I figured the rain with scattered downpours was an omen; however, after receiving a call from him, he stated that having this rain was good as it would wash / reveal teeth along the sandy beach. This got my heart rate up as I drove along the rural roads passing the cotton fields which looked like a light snow storm in my blurred peripheral vision.

After back tracking a few times, I finally concluded my drive to the James River only to see a truck parked at the termination of the dead end road. Coprolite! I then realized that I’m not the only one here, and definitely not the first. In the rain I speedily changed into shorts, t-shirt, aqua socks and a 99 cent emergency poncho. I put on my backpack, my beige beach hat, locked the car and headed down to the river.

I noticed that the fellow fossil hunter about 200 feet away as I started my quest to find my first Virginia tooth. This beach area didn’t have the bigger scallops like at Chippokes, so I lightened my load and left my bucket along the vegetated beach buffer and grabbed a small stick to poke / turn material over along the beach. A half hour went by and nothing was found other than a cool looking shell that looked like modern specimen based on the colors / patina, some small fossil oyster “lids” that took my fancy (which my wife usually makes into necklaces), a unique small vertebrae and an unidentified fossil.

I was in a deep scanning trance when the fellow hunter snuck up on me. We made our introductions and had some fossil discussions for a while. I asked if he found any teeth and he replied a “few” (which I estimate to be around 20 in his ziplock bag. One really caught my eye and he indulged me by bringing it out for further inspection. It was a beautiful sand tiger with a brilliant orange / red coloration which reminded me of the GMR belemnites I am quite fond of. After seeing his haul I figured at least I have confirmation there is teeth here.

One of my first finds was an unidentifiable specimen. It looked unique so I decided to put it in my bag. I asked if he knew what it was. He stated that he has found some of these before; however, did not know what they were.

We concluded our talk and just as were we to depart our ways, he reached down in front of my feet and picked up a tooth. He walked past me to wash the sand off it only to reveal a lower cow shark tooth. Coprolite! He was quite pleased with his find.

He stated that it takes a while to acquire “beach eyes” to be able to distinguish teeth from the shell fragments. I guess I can relate to it being similar to wild morel / mushroom hunting. The times in the woods with my dad teaching me what to look for took years to master. Many of times I was right by one and could not see it amongst the fallen leaves. My dad would always say, “If it was a snake it would have bit you.”

I shook my head is disbelief as he wished me luck and headed back along the beach towards his truck. I continued my quest looking in shell piles along the beach, the sandy beach area and also in the surf. My first tooth was still eluding me. I must have grabbed over twenty times at what I thought were Makos in the retreating surf only to find, as expected, was just a gray triangular broken shell piece.

I ended up getting a small cut from a shell as I grabbed these ghost teeth in the surf. I figured maybe a blood offering to the fossil gods would make them pleased and grant me the eye sight to find my first Virginia tooth. Another hour went by with no tooth found; however, I did find a complete ray tooth. I let out a huff as I mumbled that beggars can’t be choosers. I was finding more dead fish on the beach than teeth.

I came across Randy again and he asked if I found a tooth yet. I said nope, not yet. Sure enough, just as I replied, he bent down and picked out another tooth in the surf. Coprolite! This was just wrong. It was like rubbing NaCl in that small cut on my hand. As he put the tooth in his bag I told him that I did find a nice little complete ray tooth. He looked at me and said he also found one. He sifted thought his toothing bag and finally pulled it out. My jaw dropped, it was the biggest ray I have ever seen and had to almost 1½ inches long. It looked like Bert’s eyebrow.

His earlier cow find in addition to informing me that his wife was holding down the fort / his kids allowed him to hunt some more. He then pulled out a “special bag” from his pocket only to show me a bigger and more complete cow than his first one in addition to a nice complete and rarer upper lateral. My jaw dropped and I shook my head again in disbelief. I didn’t have the energy or will to get out my camera and take a picture of these two beautiful teeth. I did however, debated on taking out my handkerchief to wipe my tears. I told him I must have got some sand in my eye. sniff sniff... He soon left to call it a day...and a good day for him at that.

I was getting despondent and depressed in this endeavor and swore if I didn’t find a tooth I was going to quit this hobby. I felt the fossil gods were laughing at me as they showered rain in my face. Were they calling my bluff in a game of fossil hunting Texas Hold'em? I imagined they were holding a boat, Megs over Makos as I looked down at my pitiful hand of a pair of shells, a small vertebra, a ray tooth and an unidentifiable.

My back was aching from bending over and my vision was starting to blur from eye fatigue or that my glucose level was getting low (diabetic). I figured it was probably a little of both. As I made my way back along the beach I noticed my bucket. I retrieved it, placed it in the surf and sat on it. I looked across the expansive river, took off my aqua socks, rinsed out the sand / shells and put them back on. I turned and walked some more along the surf edge in a haze of misery. I finally could see my car and knew it was now or never. After about ten more steps I noticed something and fell on my knees in relief. I swear I almost cried. I reached down and after over two hours of hunting, I finally found my first Virginia tooth.

I made to my car and after verifying my blood sugar was low (42 mg/dL), I consumed a granola bar and drank a Caprisun to get my bearings back and headed for an area hotel for a much anticipated hot shower.

Be safe and enjoy....

[fossilselachian]

You are the hallmark of persistence!!

Enjoyed reading your VA collecting trip.

[Auspex]

You were being tested. You passed.

Display that tooth in a Faberge egg

[Fossildude19]

Well, at least you weren't totally skunked!

Congratulations on keeping your hobby.

Great report, as always! A pleasure to read.

Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

[JohnJ]

You mako me laugh.

[emmytee]

stories like these are only funny if you end up getting what you wanted. congrats!

[Fat Boy]

Great report Brad, congrats on your first tooth. My daughter and I have a simple Maryland version of your plight, called, "getting the eye". Sometimes it takes just a few minutes, other times longer. You can have the eye for a long time, and then lose it...it happens. Anyway, the more you collect there, the more you'll have "the eye".

Your unidentifiable is similar to some that I've found there. I believe them to be fish otoliths from Melanogrammus, not sure of a species but it could be aeglefinus, a large haddock like fish. The sharp edges are eroded away, which really maked identification difficult. Then again, I'm still not 100% sure what they are, it's my best guess. If anyone knows for sure then please chime in. (thanks )

Here are some pics of some that I found, alson along the James:

Edited September 30, 2010 by Fat Boy

[Sundancer73]

As Chief Dan George said in the movie 'The Outlaw Josie Wales', "endeavor to persevere"!

~Mike

[barefootgirl]

I'm glad to see you finally found a tooth. I've had desperate moments like that while hunting and they suck.

BTW is that another tooth in the pict? I see what looks like a tip of a tooth sticking out directly to the left of the one you found.

Edited September 30, 2010 by barefootgirl

[FF7_Yuffie]

Glad you didn't give up and that you ended up finding one in the end!

Hopefully next time you go down you come up with a bag full of teethies:)

[Craig]

Congrats on your first VA shark tooth. Thanks for the fun read.

[MikeD]

Quite an entertaining report!

[siteseer]

That sounds like a great area to keep checking.

Orson Welles once said "The Outlaw Josie Wales" was the best western ever made.

As Chief Dan George said in the movie 'The Outlaw Josie Wales', "endeavor to persevere"!

~Mike

[jpc]

stories like these are only funny if you end up getting what you wanted. congrats!

I dunno... any story featuring Bert's eyebrow is great even without a happy fossil ending. Hey, nice tooth.

[jpc]

I'm glad to see you finally found a tooth. I've had desperate moments like that while hunting and they suck.

BTW is that another tooth in the pict? I see what looks like a tip of a tooth sticking out directly to the left of the one you found.

Wow... good eyes, BFG. I see it too, but never would have seen it without a prompt.

[Foshunter]

Great story, I can relate, felt entirely drained after reading your report, had to go lay down and take a nap.--Tom

[brachiomyback]

I'm glad to see you finally found a tooth. I've had desperate moments like that while hunting and they suck.

BTW is that another tooth in the pict? I see what looks like a tip of a tooth sticking out directly to the left of the one you found.

Wow... good eyes, BFG. I see it too, but never would have seen it without a prompt.

Luckily I always use the highest resolution on my camera....

I'm assuming you are taking about this one Barefootgirl...

Based on the zoom, I think it is another one of those ghost teeth.... or I'm really going to cry

[Auspex]

Don't tell me you left that laying there! It's the rarest of the rare, Keenedgus splityourthumbus!

[barefootgirl]

Yup, that's the one. I see it's just an evil shell.

[MikeDOTB]

Brad I feel your pain, Virginia can be pretty stingy with the teeth sometimes. Great post though.

[Nicholas]

That sounds like quite the... interesting adventure.

At least you didn't come home empty handed.

[Blastoid]

Thanks for the trip report. Amazing beach picture... that's the most interesting beach "gravel" I've ever seen, around here it's all sand and pebbles. Do bear in mind that fossil collecting takes time, and regular skunkings are to be expected. It's like fishing, you can't get upset at not catching a monster every time you go! Even the pros that work hard and dig big holes estimate that it's maybe one in ten holes that has the good stuff.

[Govinn]

BRAD!!!! I wish I had known you were going there. I would have given you a really sweet spot to go check... You were on my beach!!! I used to live on that beach, seriously... like in a house and stuff... lol I've pulled over 10,000 teeth from that beach including some 4+ inch megs and 3.3" Makos. PLEASE keep that location a secret because it is already becoming overhunted which is one reason you didn't find much... I know Randy very well too. He is a really good hunter and doesn't miss anything. The second reason you didn't find much was because he beat you down there... I get sick to my stomach when I drive down there and see his little maroon SUV parked there... I had to laugh at the fact that he found teeth at your feet because he does that snarge to me all the time!! LOL Shoot me an email from BRF if you are going to be down there for a few more days... I'll hook you up.

[Govinn]

oh, by the way... about that "thing" you found... I've gone thru this about 2 years ago... It was ID'ed as a Tilly Bone or a Ballast/Bladder bone from a fish... I find them all the time... so much that I had to quite picking them up which is unlike me because I never pass up a fossil...

[megateeth]

That was a great read. Congrats on the find.