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Inferno's blog: "Life"

created on 12/17/2006  |  http://fubar.com/life/b35414
Hastily Hunting For Monsters My blood flows freely as the white shark’s tooth pulls from my flesh. I scramble to escape, climbing to safety from the turbulent murky water. I must move quickly to escape my situation. Finally free from the immediate danger I examine my wound. All I can see is a hand covered in blood with no sign of the injury. I need to rinse the blood away and assess the damage to my hand. But first I follow my own blood trail to the clay face next to the water I had just made my retreat from. The trail stops and I see what I was searching for, a perfect two inch five to twelve million year old fossil megalodon shark tooth exposed through erosion from the clay. Paydirt! A fossil find well worth the injury and danger of rising water from the afternoon rain showers. Florida’s lush and green landscape did not always have the chance to exist. The landscape has gone above and below the ocean many times as time rushed forward. Through these changes Florida has a large diversity of fossils. Built upon limestone Florida has massive amounts of fossil shells, crustaceans, shark teeth, ray stingers and crusher plates, whale, dolphin, whale, manatee, and many other ocean fossils. Florida also has fossils from land mammals such as saber cat, giant sloth, horses, llamas, giant tortoise, dire wolf, giant armadillo like creatures, and over twenty different species of elephant just to list a fraction of the creatures that roamed the state. There are many different places one can go to find fossil remains of Florida’s past. The karst topography (sink holes) provides a place that trapped many species of unwary animals. When the sides collapse the bodies are covered and often preserved as fossils. Phosphate and limestone mining companies expose many fossils but due to liability issues people are rarely let in to search for them. Springs and caves are a good spot for divers to find fossils in a high visibility environment. The flowing rivers are a gold mine for fossil hunters but most all of Florida rivers are very dark from the tannic acid in the water giving them almost no visibility. Then there are creeks where the water is shallow and usually clear. I call my self a creek walker because that is the method I use to find fossils. This method requires one to cover as much area as possible and collect from the surface. The best time to walk the creeks is just after a heavy rain because the increased water flow often exposes new fossils. Each creek I walk is different from the others and not just in the way it flows. The plants, animals, water quality, and even the clay composition vary in different places. The difference in Gainesville’s creeks means that in different places different quality, color, and species can be found depending on location. When I go fossil hunting in Gainesville’s the first things to hit me are the sound of the running water and the smell of the water. The sound tells me how high the water is and the smell tells me the quality of the water. This tale is from mid summer of 2005 in Gainesville. Rattlesnake creek is a site where my sense of smell keeps me safe from illness. Rattlesnake creek is fed from Gainesville’s runoff water and quite often is tainted from sewage. This is the case this time. The smell hits me like a wall of stone. The scent causes a wave of nausea, my legs buckle, and I turn a shade lighter. The sound tells me if the water is flowing to slowly to carry the taint away for a while. With the condition of this site’s pollution I take my quest for fossils to a safer location. I arrive at my possum creek site and the smell is clean and fresh. It flows through me like the warm scent of a fresh baked pie. I think how much more inviting than the first site. I smile and march into the woods creek bound. I hear the light trickle of the water before I see it. I leave my tools on the path the landowner told me to take; I wouldn’t need them when I can surface collect. In the cool shade frogs chirp as they flee for their lives in to the water as I come upon the creek. As my feet enter the gentile flowing water it no longer feels like summer as I am cooled and invigorated. Almost instantly I find fossils and begin collecting. A tooth here a bone there I keep a quick pace upstream as to cover as much area as possible before the afternoon rains flood me out. I glance every patch of gravel I speed past in search of anything that could be a fossil. The only sounds are the crunch of the gravel I step on muffled by the splash of water made by my foot and the songs of birds that barely notice any more. I notice the minnows and smaller fish following my footsteps in search of a possible meal I might stir up. I forget about them until the larger ones nibble at my leg hairs. The tickle only holds my attention for less than a second. While my pace has allowed me to find many fossils from the length of creek I have covered I seem to be a little tired and decide to rest on a tree that had fallen across the deep creek bed. I hear the chirps and splashes of a frog coming around a bend of the creek. The amphibian comes hopping down stream like a bat out of hell. A second behind it I think I see movement of a fish in the water in pursuit. As they rush towards me I realize that it is a large banded water snake doing some hunting of it’s own. I watch as they pass under me totally unaware of my presence. Their haste reminds me I still have over a mile of creek to cover before I make my way back to my car. I get closer to the springs that feed the creek when I feel the pressure change. The pop of my ears and the taste of heavy moisture let me know that the afternoon showers will be upon me soon. I realize that I am so deep in the woods that I will not escape the approaching storm. Accepting my fate I continue my search for ancient treasures. The rains start and I end my pace and sit under a wide palm fawn until it passes. My ears fill with the loud sound of every leaf around me being violently pelted with droplets of water. Within 20 minutes the rain subsides and the water in the creek begin to drop. The smell in the air is sweet and fresh similar to a fresh salad. All the patterns of the creek bed have changed from the rush of water from the storm. I had the chance to walk a fresh fossil site twice in the same location on the same day. I walked the creek back to the swampy springs where it originates and then begin to trek the long route to my car collecting newly exposed fossils all along the way. Half way to the end of my hike I notice that I am being silently followed by a pair of barred owls, their presence reviled by their shadows projected on the trees. Recognizing that I know they are there they become vocal. I hear their hoots when I look directly at them. They look at me with a human like curiosity lightly turning their heads from side to side. The pair escorts me through a quarter mile of creek sometimes perching within reach when I pass them. The only sound they ever make is their hooting every few minutes. The sun is now out of view and I know I only have about twenty-five or so minutes left of good light left. This begins a more frantic pace for me .The loud sound of heavy slashing as I am almost jogging through the creek. I just want one more big fossil tooth before my day of hunting. I reach my sift and begin separating sand and silt from gravel. My adrenaline begins to pump faster as the darkness approaches. It is harder to focus in the fading light and frustration sets in. Finally I find half of a large extinct megalodon shark tooth. Though not what I was hoping for it is enough to leave me satisfied with my last moments of daylight. Tired and sore I retire to my home to catalog the finds of the day and plan for my next trip with anticipation.
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