M&M Ranch in Nebraska

[MarcoSr]

5 hours ago, Mike from North Queensland said:

 

No I never travelled overseas much - my idea of a holiday is to go fossicking though and collecting something different is always enjoyed always like that upgrade in display specimen of something new. Always enjoy seeing quality specimens on TFF from the members. Most of my fossicking trips are only 7 hours each way to to visit family its 15 hours to the closest relative so needs time.

 

Ya, the drive from Australia is a bit tiresome ( and wet! )....better to take the train. 

Caldigger I have not attached a snorkel to my 4x4 yet and not keen to drive in salt water as not much good for the car

 

Mike

 

I would really like to get to Australia to fossil hunt, but I just don't see that happening.

 

Very sadly, Caldigger, Doren, passed away when a fossil excavation that he was digging collapsed on him.  However, I'm sure your comment to him still made Doren smile.

 

Marco Sr.

[hadrosauridae]

These finds are nothing short of spectacular! Thank you for reviving this thread.

[MarcoSr]

6 hours ago, hadrosauridae said:

These finds are nothing short of spectacular! Thank you for reviving this thread.

 

Thank you.  The M&M Ranch (formerly part of the Arner Ranch) has been very productive over the years, with each new rainstorm uncovering great new fossils.

 

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Both of my sons, Mel and Marco Jr., are at the M&M ranch this week leading a fossil trip.  Hopefully I'll be able to post some in-situ pictures of specimens from this trip.

 

Marco Jr. is collecting for me some more anthill matrix from high in the buttes this trip.  The different researchers studying the micro mammal specimens from the ranch are especially interested in specimens from high in the buttes because they come from an Oligocene time frame that not much is known about the mammal assemblage.

 

Below are pictures of another saber cat that Marco Jr. found on the ranch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

[FossilDAWG]

Nice of the prepper to leave it a big soft pillow to rest on!

 

Don

[fossilhunter21]

Thats a beautifull saber cat! 

[Randyw]

WOW!

[MarcoSr]

1 hour ago, FossilDAWG said:

Nice of the prepper to leave it a big soft pillow to rest on!

 

Don

 

Mel found another saber cat this year with a lot of articulated/associated bones.  I'm really looking forward to seeing that one prepped.  Mel really wants to find one with enough articulated/associated bones to mount it standing.  Although, one like that, would be extremely rare from the ranch.

 

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

59 minutes ago, fossilhunter21 said:

Thats a beautifull saber cat! 

 

8 minutes ago, Randyw said:

WOW!

 

I really like this saber cat, with the open mouth, the best of the 10 or 11 saber cats that my sons have found on the ranch.  Although there are still two saber cats with the prepper that Mel found this year that I haven't seen yet, that could change my mind.

 

Marco Sr.

[siteseer]

22 minutes ago, MarcoSr said:

 

 

I really like this saber cat, with the open mouth, the best of the 10 or 11 saber cats that my sons have found on the ranch.  Although there are still two saber cats with the prepper that Mel found this year that I haven't seen yet, that could change my mind.

 

Marco Sr.

 

Hi Marco Sr.,

 

That's a fantastic piece - great to get some bones with a skull.  In the old days, when someone found a "cat" that color, they'd call it "the chocolate cat."  in the early 90's, a friend bought a "chocolate camel" skull that was found on the Arner Ranch.  It was missing part of the left side so it was prepped later as a side mount in matrix to show the good side.

 

Jess

[MarcoSr]

On 10/6/2021 at 11:20 PM, siteseer said:

 

Hi Marco Sr.,

 

That's a fantastic piece - great to get some bones with a skull.  In the old days, when someone found a "cat" that color, they'd call it "the chocolate cat."  in the early 90's, a friend bought a "chocolate camel" skull that was found on the Arner Ranch.  It was missing part of the left side so it was prepped later as a side mount in matrix to show the good side.

 

Jess

 

Jess

 

A good number of chocolate skulls are found on the M&M Ranch (formerly part of the Arner Ranch).  If I'm remembering correctly, all the saber cat skulls that my sons have found on the ranch were chocolate.  I think the chocolate skulls look much better than the ordinary white ones.  The only bad thing about the chocolate skulls is that the exposed portions bleach white very quickly.  The nose area of the saber cat skull, which is my current avatar, shown in the below picture is whitish.  This white color is not from restoration, but a change of color from being exposed to sunlight.

 

 

 

 

The ranch also has chocolate and other color tortoises.  I think the colored ones look much better than the plain white ones.  My big tortoise from the ranch, in the picture below, (this tortoise at 23 inches X 17.5 Inches X 8 inches is one of the largest to be found on the ranch), is an example of a tortoise with great color.

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

[Titan]

Wow, what an amazing fossil!!! Living the dream!

[RuMert]

Spectacular!

[MarcoSr]

1 hour ago, Titan said:

Wow, what an amazing fossil!!! Living the dream!

 

1 hour ago, RuMert said:

Spectacular!

 

Thank you.  My sons were extremely lucky that they were given the opportunity to purchase the fossil badlands portion of the Arner Ranch after Milton Arner passed away in 2016.  They had been fossil collecting on the Arner Ranch for many years.  The ranch purchase was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and my sons are living the dream.

 

Marco Sr.

[Titan]

8 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

Thank you.  My sons were extremely lucky that they were given the opportunity to purchase the fossil badlands portion of the Arner Ranch after Milton Arner passed away in 2016. 

To quote someone much wiser than I, “Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity.” So cool that they were able to seize such an opportunity and all the more so that you all share a passion for it as well! Truly inspiring! 
 

 

[MarcoSr]

On 10/7/2021 at 7:03 AM, MarcoSr said:

 

Jess

 

A good number of chocolate skulls are found on the M&M Ranch (formerly part of the Arner Ranch).  If I'm remembering correctly, all the saber cat skulls that my sons have found on the ranch were chocolate. 

 

Marco Sr.

 

I guess my memory on the saber cats wasn't quite accurate.  I just came across the below picture of specimens that my son Mel has found on the ranch.  There are two saber cats in this picture, including a white one.

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture from a recently completed October 2021 fossil trip to the ranch.  From the left, my sons Mel and Marco Jr. and then two friends on the trip, Theresa and Zsolt.  Note the color of the grass.  It has been very dry on the ranch this year.

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

 

[MarcoSr]

I haven't posted to this thread in awhile.  Below is the latest saber cat skull that my son Mel found on the M&M Ranch this Spring.  A collector on a fossil trip to the ranch just this September found a partial saber cat skull.

 

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

[jpc]

ooooohhhh

 

[MarcoSr]

1 hour ago, jpc said:

ooooohhhh

 

 

JPC

 

Mel has so many saber cats, that he now hopes to find dogs.  Mel also found a beautiful dog skull this year which actually made him happier than the saber cat.  I'm not sure if he took pictures of it before jacketing,  but if he did, I'll post them. 

 

Marco Sr.

[jpc]

funny...cross the state line into WY... I have one cat skull and about five Hesperocyon (=dog)

[Randyw]

11 minutes ago, jpc said:

. I have one cat skull and about five Hesperocyon (=dog)

 

30 minutes ago, MarcoSr said:

Mel has so many saber cats, that he now hopes to find dogs. 

LOL! I'd slap my momma silly for even a partial if either one and you guys are sounding bored about finding so many of them!

[Tidgy's Dad]

So glad that I finally found this thread again and caught up.

Just fantastic stuff.

 

[MarcoSr]

2 hours ago, Randyw said:

 

LOL! I'd slap my momma silly for even a partial if either one and you guys are sounding bored about finding so many of them!

 

I understand what you are saying.  The ranch is just so productive that my sons are definitely spoiled.  I must have at least a hundred jackets from the ranch in my basement that belong to them like tortoises, oreodonts, horses, camels, dogs. saber cats etc.  I keep having to buy shelves to get more and more jackets in my basement space (2,000 square feet plus).

 

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Mel actually found two Daphoenus dog/canid skulls on the ranch this year.

 

This first picture shows an approximately 8 inch skull.  Although in pieces, Mel thinks everything is here so it will be complete when reassembled.

 

 

 

 

These pictures show a more intact smaller, approximately 5 inch, skull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

[automech]

This entire thread has been, extremely, entertaining!

May I ask, what kind of ranch is it? Do they have cattle? Horses?