I'm back home! A little bit blistered, very sun-burned and loaded up with amazing trilobite finds from the legendary site, Penn Dixie. None of my usual co-conspirators were available so I got to enjoy my own company for a few days. After 22 hours spent with pickaxe, shovel, sledge (Smoky Husky, more on Her later), wedge and pry-bar, I can say that this was my most successful outing at the site. A number of big beautiful Eldregeops trilobites were kind enough to make an appearance for me along with Greenops and Bellacartwrightia. A few of these pieces are going to cause me agony, "Do they go on the website or do they go in the display case?".
I continued the pit that was started by Richie Helms and widened by myself, James Hanna, Tony Petropoulos, Malcolm Thornley and a few other dedicated collectors. This trip made my 7th visit widening this hole and my 10th overall in the month of June. I attempted to pass my physical limits by slabbing out no less than 45 blocks of Smoke Creek trilobite bed. These blocks did not disappoint!
Overburden covers the sweet, sweet bounty of the Smoke Creek trilobite beds. A pickaxe and shovel are must haves for your dig arsenal here.
SMOKY HUSKY! This is my favourite tool, a 16lb sledge hammer named in honor of a famous New York trilobite hunter and mentor. This tool is essential for "popping" up blocks of Smoke Creek. On suggestion from Mr James Hanna, Smoky has an 'X' marked on her for every multi-plate piece she's broken out.
On site Tuesday morning, yet another news crew came in to interview the Penn Dixie staff including site Director, Dr. Phil Stokes and site supervisor Jonathan Hoag. They also did a short segment on me which was pretty fun (plus they let me plug this site!). I'm the guy with the bad farmers tan. I've been on TV several times in my former career as a touring musician but it's a very different thing to be talking about paleontology instead of slinging a guitar and singing my lungs out. A third, written interview is in the works as well. I always love talking up the importance of a place like Penn Dixie. On to the finds!
Just about as nice of a bug you can hope for! Eldredgeops rana
A stunning double Eldredgeops plate. The jokes write themselves for a piece like this. Who wants to have someone's ass in their face for 380 million years? No one.
Another double plate Of Eldredgeops trilobites. This one is highly inflated in a 'crawling' position. Should prepare out quite nicely. Although preparation on this species is comparatively easy to all others, care should be taken on stabilizing the pleural tips which often have hairline fractures running throughout them. This is best achieved with a low-viscosity cyanoacrylate glue like 'Starbond ultra-thin'. Some of these pieces will be showing up soon on the website and gallery so be sure to check back! I'm very much looking forward to my next outing at this gem of a fossil site. For membership or to just check out the lay of the land, go to: www.penndixie.org
Cheers for now and thanks for reading! -Mike Meacher June 22nd, 2023
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