CRINOID LIMESTONE SPHERE 3″

Description

Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are members of the largest crinoid order, Comatulida. Crinoids are echinoderms in the phylum Echinodermata, which also includes the starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers.  They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters (30,000 ft.).

Report on trip to San Saba Texas (Fossil Ferris Limestone pink and black)

I have just recently retired from my constriction job that I had for 34 years for thirty years of that I was a superintendent and spent over half of my time on the road (working out of town) in 1992 I went to Willowbrook Texas (NW Houston) where I was going to build a 125,000 retail warehouse for Home Depot at that time it was a company out of Atlanta Ga. The first thing I would do when I got to a new state was to research what rocks, minerals &fossils were in the state and the availability. Texas is a big place, and I found a number of places Crinoids in Cisco, agate in Marfa, pet wood in Live Oak, limestone in San Saba, Lanite in Llano and Urchin fossils and Tarantella limestone in Centerville. I read up on all of the sites available, I checked the map and with several other sites along the way made the most interesting starting point is San Saba. CB Lamberts Ranch to collect (Limestone it makes killer cabochons and spheres) the Pink Limestone was abundant and the chance of getting some of the Black Limestone, made it appealing. I left about Five AM It was a three hour drive and about half way I went by a road cut in Lino where stopped to stretch my legs and I collected some Linite. I ran into the local Sherriff but that’s another story. Then went on to CB ranch I arrived around ten / ten thirty. I met CB we talked he was 82 at the time a tough old cattle rancher, the lime stone was an outcropping in the far back corner of his ranch. He told me that he would take me back to the collection area so I could pick up some rock. On the way back to the site he told me that the pink was easy enough to collect they could blast to break to up and was two bucks a pound and that there were crinoids, brachiopods and other fossils. I asked him about the black limestone? CB told me that it was only in one seam six inches plus or minus under a five foot layer of clean rock and they couldn’t blast it so the only way to get it was with hand tools, most people didn’t collect it. I had him show me where the black was he told me that they kept half of what I dug and that it was five dollars a pound for my half. I told him that I was going to work on the black for awhile and told me good luck and that he was going back to the house for lunch. He asked me if I could find my way back to the house and I told him sure. I asked him how long I could dig and he told me I could stay till six or six thirty before dark around seven. He left I proceeded to hammer and chisel on a five foot limestone face chiseled on the top chiseled on bottom of the layer of fossil rich rock trying not fracture the fossil layer. Sun started going down before I know it so I had to break out what I could and pack it out to the truck five hours and I figured I had twenty pulse pounds. I got back to the ranch and CB asked me how I did, I said U tell me, I put the rock on the table and he said U did good. He said bring it over to the scale I did. There was eighteen and a half pounds five rocks we slit I got the two bigger rocks and he kept the three smaller ones the two piles were close to the same weight. I took my nine pounds and gave him forty-five dollars. It is Saturday night seven thirty I asked CB if I could come back tomorrow Sunday (he said U want to do that again)(I said hell yes) CB said that I could come back out but he would be gone all morning so I would have to plan on being there till early afternoon so he could get with me check out. I thanked him for his time and the opportunity I went and got a room. I was up early headed back the ranch at sun up six am I got out my hammers & chisels and started cutting two lines in the lime stone one line across the top of the fossils and one line below the fossils about eight inches apart. I took a break and went over where the pink limestone was it was very cool and had a lot of good fossils in it tons I got one hundred lbs or so will weigh later. Went back to the black and worked until I saw CB at around two o-clock I broke out the areas that were ready and loaded them up. I though there was more on this run. CB was standing by the table where I parked the day before. CB weighed up the Pink Limestone and it was one hundred twenty pounds @ two dollars a pound was two hundred forty dollars. Then we weighted up the Black Limestone there was only eighteen pounds again I was depressed lot of sweet for little rock, CB totaled 135.00 witch was three times the amount from last night. When I looked unsure CB told me not to worrier he had not lost his mind. CB gave me all of the Black Limestone that I mined he told me that he hadn’t run into anybody that worked that hard for a few rocks befor. So I left there with Thirty six pounds of the black and one hundred twenty pounds of the pink. A weekend some twenty-four years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday. The whole point of this story was to introduce myself John Hammond and Kay Kane and to tell you all that you can see Spheres, Cabochons, Slabs made from the Black Limestone and Spheres, Cabochons, Slabs made from the pink lime stone and also Thousands of fossils and rocks come by my Rock and fossil shop ROCKSANDBONES at 1233 West Fairbanks the hours are 9:00 to 5:00 Monday thru Friday and will open any time on weekends if you’re going to be in the neighborhood call myself @ 407-832-6680  Thank you for your time and Looking forward to seeing you’ll.