Hi,
I find that I don’t blog very much any more. I do post information and photos of my dinosaur adventures on facebook though. So if you’d like to see what I’m up to please join me on face book. Click on the box below and follow the instructions to become one of my facebook friends.
Cap’n Dave
Hi,
Busy Paleo weekend for me. I spent most of Saturday at the Valley of Fire State Park doing my World Famour show “What Jurassic Park Got Wrong.” I spoke to about 45 people, but no dogs this weekend. These will be my last lectures for 2009. I’m building my schedule for 2010 now.
On Sunday the Nevada Friends of Paleontolgoy was able to re-open the Gilcrease Bird Sanctuary dig site after two years. We had to shut down the dig site due to legal issues (lawyers make everything better don’t they?). The site is a ancient spring where late in the Ice Ages animals came to drink and in some cases die. Due to the chemical nature of the spring most of the bones have dissolved, but the animals’ teeth have often survived.
NFOP Vice President Josh Bonde was the dig foreman (or whatever the proper paleo phrase for the guy what’s in charge). He had me and NFOP president Aubrey Shirk do a quick “how to dig” lesson for the new comers and kids while he and the other participants cleaned up the site and re-layed the grid (with the famous NFOP pink string). I actually had to do two classes since we had some late-comers.
Once the classes were done Aubrey had the kids start working on their own grid squares. Last time we had kids work these squares they actually found a tooth. This time all they found were dead animal carcasses that got buried at the site over the last two years.
With the kids working on their grids I went to a grid that I had found some mammoth tooth shards a couple of years ago. I had to remove over 30 gallons of dirt to get back down to the fossil layer. Once at the right level I found another mammoth tooth shard. We mapped it and removed it to have it studied in the lab. I then uncovered what at first I thought was an orange rock. As I kept uncovering it I noticed it came to a point. Josh immediately identified it as a tooth. I switched from a small shovel to a brush, an awl and my fingers. I slowly exposed the tooth while periodically Josh put a sealant onto it to keep it stabilized. As I brushed dirt away from the tooth I exposed another shard next to it. I removed the shard (after it had been mapped) and then finished with the tooth. It was a small tooth and well worn. It was probably the tooth of a young mammoth that had been shed (mammoths, like their modern elephant cousins have six sets of teeth in their lives. They periodically shed the older teeth so larger teeth can grow in). It was a thrill to find this tooth. I was shaking while folks took pictures of it.
Next month I hope to join NFOP on more digs. Keep checking www.capndavedinosaurs.com for more info.
Dave
Hello,
I just got back from spending the day at the 3rd annual “Family, Fur & Fun Festival” in Summerlin, NV. It’s sponsored by the Nevada SPCA. I’ve set up booths at these events for the past two years now. It’s a great way for me to meet people who might be interested in dinosaur shows.
I spoke to a lot of people. Saw a lot of animals. Enjoyed the beautiful weather (last year’s event was held on a day so cold I froxe my xiphactinus off).
Some observations:
1. Dumbest question: “How do you know that’s a T. Rex?” Asked by a guy who was looking at my T. Rex skull. I told him I went back in time, found a young rex, asked him his identity, killed him, tossed his body in a slow moving river, went back forward in time, and dug up the fossil.
2. The booth next to mine had a monkey. Her name was Caico. Here is she and I bonding:
3. I also got to meet Las Vegas’ most famous cocktail waitress, The Cocktaildoll, aka Dollie Boop. What a beautiful woman. I also got to meet her son. What a lucky kid:
4. Rep Dina Titus (Commie-NV) was at the event. I didn’t talk to her.
5. Gave out more cards than ever before. Hope I get some folks asking me to speak at their schools, libraries, bar mitzvahs, etc.
In a couple of weeks I’ll be back at the Valley of Fire again. I’ll let you know how that went.
Keep checking www.capndavedinosaurs.com for more info.
Dave
Hi,
Busy weekend for me. Saturday I was at the Valley of Fire doing my special “Dinosaurs of the Valley of Fire” show. Had a great turn out. 50 Homo sapiens and 6 Canis familiaris. The shows went well. One little hiccup though. A homeschooled girl asked if the flood killed off the dinosaurs. I had three options:
1. Tell her that her parents hate her. This is demonstrated by teaching her that myths are fact.
2. Shun her.
3. Give her the scientific theories as to what killed off the dinosaurs.
I picked number three, although I wanted to do the other two. Creationists can believe whatever they wish. That’s the wonderful thing about living in the greatest country that has ever exisited. But I’m not going to help them perpetuate their willful ignorance.
And you may ask why there were 6 dogs at my show. Well they were visiting the park and wanted to learn new information about other tetrapods.
Today (Sunday), I was part of Josh Bonde’s slave labor force at the Valley of Fire. Josh took us near his dinosaur site. We dug at a 100 million year old pond that had been covered by volcanic ash. We were there to expose more plants to get an idea what the evironment was like when the dinos that Josh is digging up lived in. Two dogs joined us on the dig. The performed no useful function other than periodically watering the desert.
In about a month we’ll be heading back to the Gilcrease Bird Sanctuary after a 2-year gap in digging at this site. We had to stop until the lawyers could figure out who is responsible if one of us puts a rock hammer into our own head. Being a Republican I say that if you put a rock hammer into your own head it’s your own fault. But since most lawyers are Democrats they say that the rock hammer lept into the person’s skull due to a vast right-wing conspiracy.
Keep checking my website, www.capndavedinosaurs.com for more info.
Cap’n Dave
Hi,
I spent all day yesterday at the Washington County Fair near Hurricane, UT. I was hired to do my world famour “What Jurassic Park Got Wrong” show. The show went well, except I had to use a hand-held microphone. I hate these things. I use my hands A LOT when I talk (no, I’m not Italian) and this really threw me off at times.
I also set up a display along with the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at the Johnson Farm folks. It was a lot of fun talking to people one-on-one instead of just doing a presentation. It was weird though how many people asked me about my mammoth tooth, yet ignored my phorosrhacus skull. Odd.
Next month I’ll be at the Valley of Fire State Park doing my special “Dinosaurs of the Valley of Fire” show. Visit www.capndavedinosaurs.com for more info.
Thanks,
Dave
Hi,
Just got back from doing a special lecture for a summer camp program at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve . Spoke to about 20 kids. Good group. They seem interested in the subject. I did a new show: “Prehistoric Critters of the Las Vegas Valley (who are not Harry Reid).” I spoke about the paleo finds in Southern Nevada. It went pretty well.
It’s a pretty slow summer. The recession is hitting the dino business pretty hard. Won’t be doing another lecture until August (although anything could happen before then). Keep checking my website, www.capndavedinosaurs.com to see what’s up next for me.
Dave
Hi,
I joined the Utah Friends of Paleontology and Andrew Milner, City Paleontologist for St. George, UT to clean up and repair the early Jurassic theropod tracks at Warner Valley. Some of the tracks had been damaged by a-holes making illegal molds. These morons used plaster, which was relatively easy to clean, and in one case CONCRETE!! These tracks are on BLM land so it is illegal to take the tracks, make casts of them or otherwise damage them. But the BLM is a federal agency and therefore inefficient, incompetent and useless so they’ve done little to protect the tracks from vandals. The new regional director has said he’ll do more to protect them, but I’ll believe that when I start believing President Obama is a moderate.
Here are some photos of the clean up:
Below is a photo of Anneli Segura, Museum Coordinator for the Dino Discovery Site at Johnson Farm in St. George (I really wish they’d get a shorter name), the new BLM regional director and Andrew Milner:
Here are a couple of the tracks:
Here we see geology student Melinda Hurlbut and I trying to pick concrete out of a track with dental picks:
Next week I’m going into the lion’s den. I’ll be doing my first kid’s birthday party. Wish me luck.
Keep checking www.capndavedinosaurs.com
Dave
Well my Dinosaur Vacation to Utah is coming to an end. I’ve been in Price, UT for the past couple of days visiting their museum and the world famous Cleveland-Lloyd quarry.
Yesterday I visited the College of Eastern Utah (CEU) Prehistoric Museum. This museum features paleontological and archeological finds from the northern/central Utah region. It’s a very nice museum, but some of the displays are a bit out of date (and you’ll see below in the case of the Camptosaurus mount about 30 years out of date). Here are some photos from the museum:
The museum’s entrance:
The Huntington Mammoth. This is one of the most complete mammoths ever found in the USA. It’s the same mount that’s on display at the Museum of Ancient Life.
A mammoth skull wearing my hat:
Arcdotus, the short-faced bear:
This Camptosaurus mount is very incorrect. The head is wrong and they mounted it dragging its tail. Dinosaurs did NOT drag their tails:
A new, small species of ankylosaur:
Today I visited the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. Thousands of dinosaur bones, mostly theropod, have been found there. There are numerous theories as to what happened there. It was some type of predator trap, but nobody knows why most of the bones are perfectly intact, but not articulated. The four major dinosaurs found there are Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Camarasaurus and Stegosaurus.
Here are some photos from the quarry:
Three theorpods and a crocodyle. From left to right it’s torvosaurus, croc, allosaurus and ceratosaurus:
Me looking handsome by a camarasaurus leg:
Allosaurus:
In the pit:
I got a special tour of the hills above the quarry. My tour guide, Ariel, is seen here sitting by a dinosaur bone that is oozing out of the hillside. Yes she’s wearing sandals:
Well this ends my dinosaur trip to Utah. If you want to follow in my footsteps I strongly suggest making the Thanksgiving Point musuem your last stop. It kind of overshadowed the sites here in Price.
Keep looking at www.capndavedinosaurs.com to see where I’ll be next.
Dave
Hi,
I have just returned from visiting the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point (Lehi, UT). It was absolutely amazing. There are over 60 mounted dinosaur skeletons. They also have an extensive exhibit on Cretaceous marine life and prehistoric mammals. Words cannot describe how much I loved this museum. My only complaint: the gift shop sucked. Nothing in there for adults. All kid stuff.
Here are some photos from my visit:
Stopped by this wild place on my way from Blanding to Lehi. It’s a tourist trap outside Moab, but it’s cool in a kitchy kind of way:
The Museum:
A life-sized Quetzalcoatlus in the lobby. This thing was freakin’ huge:
Dimetrodon:
Utahraptor:
Gastonia:
Brachiosaurus head:
Fighting T. Rexes. These are both “Stan.”
A male protoceratops:
The Terro Bird Gastornis:
Smilodon. Don’t call it a Saber-toothed tiger. There’s no such thing:
Tomorrow I’ll either visit The College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum in Price, UT or the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry nearby. It all depends on the weather. If it looks like rain I’ll go to the museum. If the weather looks tolerable I’ll go to the Quarry. Check out tomorrow’s blog to see where I ended up visiting.
Keep checking www.capndavedinosaurs.com for more information.
Dave
Hi,
As promised I am blogging about my trip to various dinosaur museums and sites in Utah. My first stop was at the Dinosaur Museum in the little town of Blanding, UT. The museum is a nice surprise. Although a bit small it is packed with outstanding cast skeletons and lifelike reproductions. The museum is run by famed paleo-artist Stephen Czerkas and all the life reproductions are his work. They’re incredible. It was a 500 mile drive from Vegas, but well worth it. The museum also has three special exhibits:
Feathered Dinosaurs
Dinosaur Tracks
Cine-saurus: The History of Dinosaurs in the Movies (this is why I wanted to visit this museum)
Here are some photos from the first day of this trip:
Here is one of the plateaus I saw on the way to Blanding:
Cap’n Dave in front of the Dinosaur Museum:
An allosaurus life reproduction by Stephen Czerkas:
Styracosaurus
A feathered pterosaur:
Why I drove 500 miles. The “brontosaurus” puppet from the original 1933 “King Kong.”:
The 1910 hadrosaur mummy:
Deinochyrus arms reaching for a Tarbosaurus:
A reproduction of a pueblo that was found on the outskirts of Blanding. It’s located at the Edge of the Cedars State Park. A wonderful archeology museum focusing on Indians of the Southwest:
Some things about Blanding:
1. It’s a dry town. That means no alcohol. Which means it gets pretty dull here at night. Luckily my friend Kristine Wendt entertained me on facebook chat to keep me sane.
2. When I returned to my motel from the museum I discovered that you don’t have to be a Southerner to be a redneck. A group of folks were parked next to me. One of the men asked me about “Cap’n Dave’s Dinosaur Lectures & Shows” and queried if I were hiring. Well I’m currently a one-person company so I’m not hiring at this time. If I were hiring I have an important requirement. My employees must be smarter than a stegosaurus’s coprolite. This gentleman clearly was not. And I’m pretty sure that neither was his sister/mom nor his brother/dad.
3. If you visit the visitors center in Blanding they’ll give you a bag of free stuff. I have a cold and it had cold medicine. The bag also had granola, gum and dark chocolate. What a nice town.
I leave for Thanksgiving Point tomorrow. I plan to visit that museum on Thursday.
Keep checking www.capndavedinosaurs.com to see where I’m speaking next.
Dave
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