Getting Nasty

I headed back to the Potomac on Sunday, and was shocked to discover that the shoreline was buried under a thick layer of aquatic grass. Conditions there haven't been great lately, with most of the gravel buried under sand, and now I couldn't even get to the sand! Plus, the smell of all that stuff composting in the sun is enough to turn your stomach. But of course, I wasn't about to turn back empty handed, so my crazy self headed north, trying to find a clear area to hunt.

The grasses cleared a bit once I got around the point, and I found several Otodus teeth. Two are as nice as any I've found but a bit on the small side, with the larger measuring 1-1/4 inch. I also found what I believe to be a worn posterior Otodus, the first from that jaw position that I've found. It's pictured at the far right of the top row, and other opinions on ID are appreciated.

Finally, I found a complete, articulated dentition from the Northern Water Snake, Nerodia Sipedon. It's shown in the third photo below.

Good Hunting!

Tom

nice teeth - 7/7/2008 Reviewer : sharkdentist from	Total Rating : 9.667
	Content Quality : 9 of 10 Drool Quotient : 10 of 10 Picture Quality : 10 of 10
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Snakes in the grass - 7/7/2008 Reviewer : Daryl from Maryland United States	Total Rating : 10
Tom, I love the picture of the snake. I haven't googled it, but my guess is that this type isn't poisonous. I collected down there for 10 years before I saw my first snake a few years ago. Ever since then I think I see two or three on every trip. I hate when I come up on them while my face is only a few feet away, close to the ground. As for the sand, the winds tend to pile it up more often than take it off there. My theory is because the river runs north-south there, and with a lot of westerly winds after the rains, those west winds push the water and sand, as well as all of that floating debris that floats down from DC, and stacks it up along the shoreline within that cove. Once it's there, it's difficult to remove by the slow motion of the tides in the cove. I remember years ago when the sans would get sucked off exposing about 50 yards of nice gravels. Now, you're lucky to get a couple feet of thin gravels here and there. As you demonstrated, you can still find some teeth, but nothing like you used to years ago. I sure wish the walk (few miles round trip) was shorter on these hot days. Daryl.	Content Quality : 10 of 10 Drool Quotient : 10 of 10 Picture Quality : 10 of 10
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- 7/8/2008 Reviewer : Down by the banks from	Total Rating : 9
get it man	Content Quality : 9 of 10 Drool Quotient : 9 of 10 Picture Quality : 9 of 10
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