Thursday, June 19, 2014

They're not fossils yet!

Nope, they aren't fossils. But there are four adorable baby birds that hatched in the microfossil sorting station sometimes earlier this week. (Ashfall is a state park... there are things other than fossils, as cool as the fossils are.)They are says phoebes, a grey-brown bird with a yellow belly. Their mom has been feeding them and doesn't seem phased by the people who are exploring the park. Funnily enough, they are a lot like many small children that I've seen who only start crying if their parents are nearby and watching. Otherwise, except for a fuzzy head poking up, you wouldn't even know they were there.

I'm pretty sure that there are also badgers around, on account of the really big holes that we keep finding. Why such shy creatures would deem it wise to put their holes in the middle of a path frequented by humans is beyond me, but maybe that's why nothing has been spotted in the holes for a while. I'd like to see a badger, but maybe not this close up!! That, honestly, would go for any wild life, particularly those with sharp teeth. However, today I was walking down the path and heard rustling in the grass on both sides of me. I was surrounded. I stayed put for a minute, just to see what it was. I could tell it was something a decent size, but not too big. Just too big to be a bunny and too small to be a deer. That meant it had sharp teeth. Then over on the left, I saw two balls of fuzz climbing up a tree. Oh my gosh, baby raccoons. If that hadn't meant that mom was nearby somewhere, angry and probably itching to bite whoever had disturbed the babies, I'd have been thrilled to get their picture. I still was, actually, though from a decent distance. At least, until Mom crossed over to the side of the path they were on with her back arched like a mad cat. I sprinted past them as soon as she was far enough into the grass to not be able to jump out at me quickly. Cute babies. Mad mother. They left me alone, and I'm going to keep an eye out for them so I can stay a comfortable distance away. The babies are still slightly smaller and fuzzier than their mother and won't leave her until the fall. Currently she's teaching them how to find food, shelter, and hide. Well.... they were too curious to hide. They kept peeking out at me. Mom then followed her babies up the tree and stayed there, at least until I had passed by to my cabins.


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My Story (Very briefly...)

Lots of people claim that they wanted to be paleontologists at the age of 3. So did I. The problem is, I never really grew out of it. My third birthday party had dinosaurs. Everywhere. I grew up digging in fossil dirt from Aurora, NC, looking for coral and shark teeth. I practically lived at my local science museums (and still do, only now I get to do research, fossil preparation, and work in collections!) When local paleontologists discovered a dinosaur with a "fossilized heart" (no longer considered such) when I was little, I got to meet the man who led the work. And then, years later a dinosaur bone with soft tissue turned up. I was officially hooked.
No longer was I dreaming about dinosaurs. I was actively pursuing the science behind prehistoric creatures. I didn't want to read about it, I wanted in on the action. So I started working at the museum, and finally going on my own adventures. And thus, I needed a place to share them and maybe inspire others the way I was inspired. I have gone from watching fossils be prepared from one side of the glass at the museum to working on them on the inside of the glass. I am a student working toward my goal. I can finally start to call myself a paleontologist.