To me, nothing compares to fossiling in Florida's creeks, especially those that are shallow enough to snorkel. In the part of the state where I live, these creeks contain some of the most interesting fossils to be found. The creeks themselves offer unparalleled beauty. Their banks are often 15-20 feet high and lined with sturdy oaks, old growth cypress trees and sky-reaching cabbage palms. They so
resemble eras gone by that I half expect to run face-to-face with a proud Calusa Indian or a ferocious sabercat. Stumbling onto great finds may seem like a talent reserved for only a few amateur paleontologists among the thousands, but I'm a walking testament to the fact that skill ain't everything. If someone as lanky and uncalculating as I am can find really cool stuff, I figure anybody can. Finding the good stuff is skill, luck and mostly persistence. I've had to hike several miles up or down creeks, in the water, along their banks, through thorns and thick saw palmetto shrubs, and over and under barbed-wire fences (being careful to get permission from the owner first). All this while wearing a steaming hot waders and carrying food, wine, mask and snorkel, as well as a fossil net (hopefully full of bones and teeth on the return trip)
