Fossils collected from the field are carefully wrapped in toilet paper, placed in a box and labeled with the collectors name, date, and position in the section (so distance from the top of the collecting trench). All boxes are then taken back to the only place available for processing and storing fossils, “The A-Frame”. Here, the fossils are carefully unwrapped, trimmed, boxed and given a catalog number. They are then placed in one of the collection cabinets. The group of fossils collected this summer will be transported to the University of Colorado Museum to be researched by myself and Jenell Thoene (Museum and Field Studies Graduate Student).
 

As you can see, this space is less than ideal! First, the space is way too small. Our paleontology team can’t even fit in the room at the same time. There is little work space and little storage space – boxes are stacked on the floors and it’s hard to keep track of items. The other issue is the rodents! As soon as you walk in, the smell will hit you! Then you can see little pellets in the corners (right next to the rodent deterrent devices – clearly not effective). 
 

 
Hopefully the folks at Florissant will be able to build a much better work space and I hear that plans have been in the works to build facility for visitors with new exhibits and a collections facility. This has been the plan for many years, but the funding keeps getting delayed. This is so unfortunate. Although Florissant is a small park, the research and programs offered there are so important and they have a great need for those funds and those facilities!
 
 
    
 

Today started with a very special visitor, PITA the hedgehog, who belongs to one of the park's interpretive interns.  The little guy was so cute, I couldn't resist posting images here!
                
After visiting with PITA we headed out to the field again. Lots of wonderful and unusual fossils, including this nice one, which is probably a Carya seed.
 
      
 
After collecting, we spent the day planning and doing paper work and all sorts of less fun, but important stuff.  As our time here at Florissant is winding down, we focused on making plans for transporting fossils back to the CU Museum.  Some of the materials that we will be bringing back have been stored in a barn that has Hautavirus warnings on it.  Luckily, there will be some decontamination taking place before we work with the materials.
         
Clearly this small, but important park is in need of more support from the Park Service.  It is such an important place and yet there is not even enough space to store all the fossils.  The collections building (A-Frame) is getting close to capacity and their currently isn't internet service availabe in the building.  This makes working with these fragile fossil materials here at the park that much more difficult.
 
 

--> Today consisted of another day digging in the Real Scudder Pit.  This is the locality where Samuel Scudder first collected fossils in the late 1800s.  This is also likely to be the place where Charlotte Hill collected that famous perfect Butterfly.  We call our excavation area the Real Scudder Pit because this is where Scudder actually collected. There is another area that has been developed for visitors, that has signage calling it the Scudder Pit as well.  This area provides an opportunity for the interpretive crew to develop programs and show visitors what an excavation site would look like and it also gives them an opportunity to talk about Scudder and his initial work in the park.  However, as Scudder never actually worked in the area, the paleo crew prefers to call it the “Fake Scudder Pit”.

We found some more excellent insect fossils, including nice weevils, a possible saw fly, a nice ant and some possible heteropterans.  We also found several seeds and some nice leaves that are less commonly found in other areas of Florissant.  Excellent!

So, we had originally planned to camp and work in Florissant this week too.  But the weather is continuing to not cooperate.  When it rains too much, its hard to see the fossils on the pieces of shale (you lose all the contrast) and you have to worry much more about damage.  Wet shale that dries quickly has a tendency to shrink, which can destroy fossils.  It's also not as much fun to camp when its super cold and wet (there were a couple of nights with a rain/snow mix in the forecast).
 
Now the plan (B) is to go back again for a longer trip in July. 
 
In the meantime, we'll be picking through some beautiful shale from the Lower Twin Rocks Rd. roadcut.  I'll post images of cool things that we find while splitting shale in the lab.  Then when we're back at Florissant in July, we'll post images and info from the field again!
 
So, keep checking back for updates!
 

We woke up nice and early. There had been no rain in the night, so it was dry and comfortable. We packed up camp and had breakfast at Costello Street in Florissant – delicious again!!! Friends and family left to dig fossils at the Florissant Quarry (which ended up being a bit too expensive) and visited the Dino Museum in Woodland Park. I headed back to site and joined the group. They had finished marking the trench and we spent a nice sunny day digging. There were lots of amazing finds today! Multiple crane
flies, ants, beetles and other insects. There were also many nicely preserved leaves, some from rarer groups, and lots of cones. A very exciting day and an excellent start to the season!!!