With the passing of another year, I thought it would be fun to ask everyone what their most memorable fossil hunting moment was during the past year.  I started hunting for shark teeth just this past April, so my fondest memory of 2007 would be the first tooth I ever found.

I had always been interested in fossils, but had never really tried to find any.  I saw a show on TV about hunting for Meg teeth, and after a little research on the Web, I learned that Meg teeth could be found at Calvert Cliffs.  So, one chilly Sunday in April, I headed down to the State Park with a small sifter and big hopes.  After sifting sand for about 3 hours, I finally hit paydirt- a 5/8 inch Snaggletooth.  It was complete but very worn, with the outside edge serrations completely gone.  To me, it was the greatest treasure in the world.  Today, it is still one of my favorite teeth, and it occupies a place of honor in my Hemi Riker mount.

I hope everyone reading this has a happy, healthy, and toothful New Year!

Tom

Compared to previous years this year was the worst as far as volume goes.  My favorite hunting spot as all but dried up.  In a way this was a good thing since I started a new engineering project at work and I was so busy I couldn't afford to take off much time to escape away for a hunt every now and then.  I also decided to hit a couple other places to look for some rare stuff.  I found two awesome Palaeocarcharodon teeth this year, and one of my nicest Megs from the cliffs came just a month ago.  Man I was so excited to find that Meg.  I only wish I had my camera, but after ruining two digital cameras in two years I can't afford to ruin another one.  My hunt at Lee Creek was a bust.  Everyone seemed to find stuff, but I still had a fun time.  Green Mill Run was also a bust, and again a few other people there that day found some nice teeth.  I did manage to come away with a really nice crow shark tooth in the end.

The winter time is usually the time of year that I set out a card table in the family room and start to sort through all of my findings from the previous months.  Throughout the year my collection seems to reside on paper plates stacked a mile high, and in sandwich baggies full of teeth.  It's work to sort through it all, but it's also really fun because it's like finding the stuff for the first time all over again. 

My plans for 2008 are to resume my two year long study on a particular shark that I working on reconstructing the dentition for. 

Daryl.

My most memorable moment came when I bumped into a fairly new PCS collector in that gray YT soil that has absolutely nothing in it. He had been told by someone (yeah, Mitch!) that I would help him find a meg. Since I am not a tooth collector, all I could do was laugh and sympathize with him at his choice of hunting companion for the day. We sat and chatted a while. As I stood up to leave for the bus, my eye caught a small tooth stuck in side of the gray clay where we sitting. Yeah, it was a "meg"-tiny by most standards-but still a "meg". Just luck of the day!! Of course, I let my companion dig it out and keep it. He'd not have been so lucky if it had been a complete whale periotic with posterior process attached.