Haul from Quarry 1, do you see Waldo?
The haul from the first site. Do you see him? Do you see him?
WALDO! What a Guy!
Yup, here’s Waldo! Unbelievable! He was just laying there as is! And Caleb from Midwestpaleo.com (sidebar link) identified him as a Anataphrus borreaus trilobite.
Last night as I dreamed, I was surrounded by trilobites, laughing cynically at me! Enrolled
Waldo is bigger than a quarter!
trilobites with their lips pursed and bouncing with taunts of, “You’re a sissy! Can’t hack it, can you?”
Laid out trilobites raised up and leering at me, “Double Dare Ya! We’re here, where are you?!” Yes, the trilobites were taunting me, and in the background there were crinoids high on their stalks pointing at me and laughing with them!
I woke up in a cold sweat at 3 am on the 4th of July. And I decided to be a very bad girl and take their dare! I slept soundly until the alarm rang after I made that decision.
Another enrolled trilobite!
That rare trilobite that I found a while back? Well, I realized that it was a posted quarry and never went back. Hey, I’m a good girl. I didn’t realize it was posted when I went in. But now, they were taunting me!
It was a beautiful morning! Blue skies highlighted by a few cumulus clouds. I scooped up my hat
Another one?
and my pack, called the dog, we jumped into the truck and off we went for a gett’em or go broke adventure—yes, there is a hefty fine for trespassing! But they shouldn’t be working on the 4th of July.
Waldo mooning me!
With pack in hand I made my way down the grassy bank and into the quarry. I sat down and was surveying the spot where I found the rare one AND there was WALDO!!! Just sitting there! Like he was waiting for me?! His lower lip was all stuck out, as if to say, “What took you so long to find me!”
Now tell me, what are the chances of having a weird dream, breaking the law, and finding an
Maybe a trilo exo?
almost totally prepped enrolled trilobite within 60 seconds of sitting down at the spot they were daring you to go back to?
There may well be Trilobite Gods! Or was fossilized Waldo calling to me from 500 million years ago to save him? Hmmm…
Crinoid 1
Crinoid 2
Okay then, way cool hunt! Found another roller embedded in matrix at the same spot, and some SWEET crinoids! I didn’t think to bring my hammer and the mud/rock had hardened in the dry weather. I walked maybe 300 feet and picked up the rest. And had to empty some fossilized rock out to bring only the best home—too heavy to carry!
Totally WEIRD Ceph with bumps on back!
On the way home, with Waldo tucked next to my heart, I decided to make a quick stop at my
Stewartville member of the Galena Formation slump.
favorite Stewartville member of the Galena limestone quarry. Nice haul of maclurites and a cross section of a recept. And I got to see a really cool Stewartville slump!
The BIGGEST horn coral I have ever found and maybe a trilo exoskelaton?
So now, I need to post these on thefossilforum.com to see what they are!
The Day’s Haul!
Thank You, Waldo!
Bev 😀
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