another one of my creek threads :

i went down to the creek yesterday and decided to walk upstream. all the way to the highway, which is a little over a mile walk..

found some interesting things on the way.

first i found a raccoon jaw laying ontop of some pebbles on the stream bank. it only had 4 teeth in it, and i found a molar laying about 4 inches away from the jaw. i searched for more bones but came up with nothing.

further upstream i walked under some powerlines. after i got past them, the terrain totally changed. it went from real thick woods with a lot of undergrowth to open woods with almost no undergrowth, just sparse trees.

from the powerlines to a waterfall about 1/5 of a mile upstream the creek bed was just littered with old shells. there were so many it was unbelievable. what was more interesting was that there were no shells downstream of the powerlines, and there was not a single shell upstream of the waterfall. they were all within that little stretch of creek.

i took some of the good, intact shells, and a really big one (biggest i saw, its about 7" across) and the raccoon jaw home with me.

i whitened the jaw overnight so it wasn't all gross looking:

Wow thats impressive! Did you ever consider becoming a dentist? There is a creak that runs through my pasture but I never find anything that cool. Neat post!

Wow thats impressive! Did you ever consider becoming a dentist? There is a creak that runs through my pasture but I never find anything that cool. Neat post!

nope, never considered it. i wouldnt want to anyway, too technical.

i was really looking for some fossils/sharks teeth in that section of the creek with all the shells, but i couldnt find a single one.

none of the shells were fossilized.

are there any fish in the creek?

are there any fish in the creek?

so far i've caught black nose dace, golden shiners, warmouth, eastern mudminnows, one shorthead red horse, and a few crawfish.

Wonder what's up with the shells. Maybe deposited there by long ago flooding?

BTW, as you were describing your walk, I was picturing little Jeffy's zigzag trail from home to the store in the Family Circle cartoon.

Wonder what's up with the shells. Maybe deposited there by long ago flooding?

BTW, as you were describing your walk, I was picturing little Jeffy's zigzag trail from home to the store in the Family Circle cartoon.

the shells are from long long ago. they weren't deposited by a flood, they were just deposited.

the entire southern maryland peninsula used to be under the sea a long time ago (i'm not sure how long ago), so these were just deposited on the sea floor.

i'm [probably] going back there tomorrow and i'll bring the camera to take a few pics along the way.

are there any fish in the creek?

so far i've caught black nose dace, golden shiners, warmouth, eastern mudminnows, one shorthead red horse, and a few crawfish.

have you caught the blacknose dace on a rod and reel, I know that they school heavily here during the dead of winter and maybe if I have ten minutes after finishing my homework some day i could go hook some.

How far off the coast are you?

me?

Ya, I guess that was open ended.  I was just wondering how far Dave was off the coast.  He was talking about his area being ocean years ago, and was just wondering what distance there was from him to the coast now.  I would assume you are relatively close.

Pretty Cool Dave. Those shells are huge. When I was your age I used to collect shells, fossils and different rocks and gems that I could find.  

Nice  8-)

How far off the coast are you?

this far:

On the river leading to the flowage where I am at can be fun sometimes.  When they pull the plug people walk the shore lines and on occasion find indian artifacts.  From what I've been told and have seen, mostly arrowheads.

Those look like scallops.... very interesting.

Dave, you did good.

Keep walking and collecting.

Keep us informed as to what you find.

It is always fun to walk in the woods or along a creek and see what you can find.

If you drive over into DC and walk around the Capitol you can find a lot of idiots.  ;D   ;D   ;D

;D ;D lol, Good one.

Wow thats impressive!  There is a creak that runs through my pasture but I never find anything that cool. Neat post!

Same here.  I look when I'm in creeks for all kinds of stuff.  Never find anything.

Once in awhile I'll find a skull from a deer or cow but thats it.

Thats cool! 8-)

I have found a lot of interesting things too, but no shells like that.

Have you ever found any arrowheads?

                                                              Ian

Thats cool! 8-)

I have found a lot of interesting things too, but no shells like that.

Have you ever found any arrowheads?

                                   

                        Ian

That reminded me, our land goes down to a local river where the Donnaha Indians lived a long time ago. Now its about 300 acres of flat farmland. Some of my relatives donated 10 acres to Wake Forest University where they do archaeological digs. I've found a couple of arrowheads and pieces of pottery myself. You'd have a ball here!

Thats cool! 8-)

I have found a lot of interesting things too, but no shells like that.

Have you ever found any arrowheads?

                                   

                        Ian

That reminded me, our land goes down to a local river where the Donnaha Indians lived a long time ago. Now its about 300 acres of flat farmland. Some of my relatives donated 10 acres to Wake Forest University where they do archaeological digs. I've found a couple of arrowheads and pieces of pottery myself. You'd have a ball here!

Thats cool! 8-)

I've never found pottery.

I have found a few arrowheads and some stones used for grinding, and also some old chipping rocks.

I usually pick up any rock that looks cool, I have even found lava.

                                                        Ian