Ant Hill-Bakersfield, CA
Sat. 10am
This will be a co-op field trip Conejo Gem & Mineral Club, Tri-clubs, and CFMS

Our October field trip will be to the Ant Hill area, near Bakersfield California. Come out for a fun day of digging for shark teeth fossils, the weather should be nice, cool. The dig site is a walk of 500 yards over semi flat ground, then up a hill 100 yards. Once there most of the time you'll be digging in small area. This time of the year there is always the chance of rain, bring the necessary clothing. If it is raining, we won’t be digging.

When: October 16, 2010, Saturday, 10am-3pm.

Distance: Ant Hill is 136 miles from my house in Thousand Oaks, drive time 2 to 2.5 hours.

Tools: Rock pick/hammer, gad pry bar, hand sledge, sifter, large pry bar, shovel, pick, eye protection, newspaper to wrap your fossils in, collecting bags, wide brimmed hat, suntan lotion, lots of water, lunch, There is no shade morning, afternoon, and it can be hot, but it will probably be cool, so dress accordingly, layers. I would recommend a day pack, to put your tools in. It’s a bit of a walk and it will be easier carrying your gear.  

Material to Collect: Shark teeth fossils, many types, sizes, from the Miocene Epoch 10-15 million years ago. There are other fossils, bone fragments, teeth to be found.  The fossils are found in a layer about 3', you will see the exposed holes from previous digs. They are in a semi soft clay that you will dig out the biggest pieces you can, then carefully break apart to find the fossils. I usually use a gad pry bar to dig out bigger pieces of the clay, about golf ball to baseball size or so, If I see any sign of a shark tooth or fossil, I’ll wrap it into newspaper and later I will use dental tools or dremel motor tool to remove the clay to reveal the tooth. I keep some of the teeth still in the matrix, it makes a nice display. The
main thing is patience when working with fossils.

Contact: Robert Sankovich 805-494-7734 home,  rmsorca@adelphia.net   Mike Miller 805-498-9586 rockfmdr@aol.com
CFMS: Adam Dean 909-489-4899   theagatehunter@verizon.net Shep Koss 661-248-0411   freudonetoo@yahoo.com