PRICELESS Dinosaur Fossils Uncovered in Boneyard

Hey. Hey.
How you doing, buddy?
>> Hey.
>> Well, we’re doing good.
>> I feel like I’m in a lot of fun. See that? This is cool. I’m John.
>> John Flyer. I think the only thing that was not on here is dinosaur bones.
>> But I’m looking for Stegosaurus.
>> Okay.
>> My name is Alan Dietrich and this is my gorgeous genius wife who has been taking care of me finding dinosaurs and digging in dinosaurs for over 20 years. She’s amazing.
>> Hey, how are you? I’m Mike. Nice to meet you. Mike, how are you? John, nice to meet you. So, what you guys got going on?
>> Nice to meet you.
>> Um, Lynn and I are working on a gigantic triceratops dinosaur.
>> Okay.
>> And it’s going to Italy.
>> It’s right here.
>> These are dinosaur bones of a triceratops.
>> Big white side of this.
>> That’s correct.
>> Wow.
>> This is triceratops dinosaurs bones that how how they’ve been captured in Montana. When you’re saying captured, you mean unearthed? You know, taken out of the ground. You’re you’re shipping them off exactly the way you found them.
>> I used to put these things together.
>> Okay.
>> I’m making too much money now.
>> Okay.
>> I don’t want to sniff glue.
>> So, the dinosaur business is good.
>> It’s good.
>> A triceratops dinosaur is a one with three horns and has a giant frill for protection. Now, it could take down a T-Rex.
>> Really?
>> Yes.
>> So, this is the big shield at the front.
>> This is the shield on the bottom. this bottom.
>> The whole the whole shield was bone was bone.
>> Wow.
>> Wow.
>> It’s kind of like bulletproof.
>> So, have you have you ever approached a land owner where you’re like, “Hey, if I find anything on your property, there’s a percentage that you might be able to do.” >> Our leases state clearly.
>> Okay. What?
>> Oh, you actually have a documented lease.
>> Absolutely. And the first place you stop in a county is a courthouse and find out who has the largest amount of land. You know, these land owners in Montana don’t own acres or sections, >> okay?
>> They own townships, >> okay? So, they got their own zip code.
Even though we’re in completely different businesses, our approach to how we do business is so similar. I mean, we drive back roads, we knock on doors, we try to dig up tax records to find out who owns a property because we can see cars buried in the woods behind a house or something. Over the years, we’ve dug a lot of stuff out of the ground. I can remember we’re two blocks away from the Indian factory in Springfield, Massachusetts and we’re digging a Power Plus Indian out of the ground. That’s looks like a rear fender.
Oh my gosh. This is it. This is it. This is it. We found the tanks, the front end, the frame. You know, the the thrill of the hunt was there. So, in some respects, I’ve always loosely thought of myself as an archaeologist. I think this is a a tibia, a leg bone, a tibia, >> but then the fibula is right here along the >> They want it exactly the way it was found because that’s the way it is with old motorcycles like we’re at years ago.
People were restoring stuff, weren’t they, Jersey?
>> They restored motorcycles to death like crazy. And now we we want them untouched. We want barn finds. We want original paint because it’s it shows us what it was. Same way finding dinosaurs.
We’re finding motorcycles.
>> Yeah. We want like what you guys do, like we actually if we see one in a barn that’s in its what we call its natural setting, we want tons of photographs >> probably just like you guys do. I mean, I’m sure your customers want >> pictures of the process.
>> Yes.
>> We take pictures of them before they’re completely jacketed.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> So, the potential is called jacketed.
>> It’s called jacketed, right? Yeah.
>> And it’s protection. In order to protect these ancient creatures from getting damaged, the best way to do it is to expose the bone and then cover the bone with foil because you’re going to add plaster of paras to that bone. And the foil will keep it from sticking to the bone, but it’ll also offer a perfect cast of the bone. But if you don’t have that, that dinosaur bone turns into gravel, >> right?
>> And the collecting of it. So, you got to do it.
>> You know, when you find one of these and you you see it poking out and you realize you’re the first person to see this for >> very exciting.
>> 65 million years or more.
>> It’s the first experience. It’s just it’s incredible. You never forget it.
>> If you want to see um like an exposed bone, we’ve got one over here. So this is a vertebrae.
>> This is it here.
>> Yeah. So this is from a hydrasaur or >> the nickname is a duck bill.
>> There. So this is actual dinosaur bone.
>> Yeah. Well, the Edmonosaurus, they have a distinctive skull with a very large, if you want to call them, beak and then with these kind of lips at the end and that’s how they get the nickname the duck bill.
>> Those are called zyothesis.
>> This?
>> Yes. Okay.
>> What they are is the connectors. You got a little gross >> from one vertebrae to the next.
>> Oh, look at that.
>> That’s the backbone of a dinosaur.
>> This is >> Yeah.
>> So, this is part of the vertebrae.
>> Yeah.
>> How big was this animal standing?
>> This is a a robust uh Edmonosaurus. It’d be They got up to 35 37 feet long.
>> Wow.
>> Yeah. Big dinosaur.
>> Yeah. Where was this found? What state?
>> This was found in Montana also.
>> No kidding. Me and Mike are It’s like we’re going to dinosaur school 101 here.
It’s like pretty cool that we can have this experience with Allen because he’s educating us like what is the value of something like this >> in this stage about $2,500 after it’s prepped out and mounted and put on display.
Um it it’ll bring a lot more than that.
>> Well, it’s a lot more though.
>> All the person will ask.
>> Yeah, that’s what I’m saying to you.
Like I mean you’ve been doing this for a while so like what would that be on display if it was prepped out properly?
>> Well, if you go to a museum, Mike, they’ll tell you it’s priceless, >> right? Okay.
>> So, what’s it worth?
>> Yeah.
>> What’s priceless to me is I unearthed a 66 milliony old dinosaur bone.
>> So, what’s your bottom on this bone?
>> What will you get?
>> 1,500 bucks.
>> Deal.
>> All right. We’re doing it. Beautiful.
>> Really? We want a dinosaur bone, >> I guess. Yeah. I mean, you got me ALL JACKED UP ON IT.
>> THANK YOU, MAN. Appreciate you.
>> Yeah. Oh, I was delighted that Mike made an offer on the vertebrae of the Edmonosaurus dinosaur because, you know, it’s going to be exciting for him as well as the potential customers that come in into his store and sees this real dinosaur.
>> So, what is this box here? It’s like, is this like copoly or >> No, no. This is fragments. People in the field call this gravel, but what it is is dinosaur bone. If you look at it >> Oh, yeah. This is smooth like a bone.
>> Yes.
>> That whole box is bone. All bones, >> but it’s all pieces and parts. This is part of something that roamed the earth 65 million years ago or 100 million years ago. These were all little pieces of fossils, fossilized bones. What’s something like this worth?
>> They sell at six $6 a pound. That’s what it used to be 20 years ago when I was selling it. I don’t sell it anymore.
>> I mean, this would be cool for the shop.
This piece right here, you know, in a child’s mind who’s a treasure hunter is very curious to hold this. You never know what kind of mark that’s going to leave on them. Yeah, as far as like what trajectory they’re going to be pushed into the rest of their life just because they they’ve owned this since they were five or something, you know. Yep.
>> I say like 125 lbs of bones here. Rocks, too.
>> They’re in there. Um, how about 400 bucks deal, >> dude? You’re easy to get along with.
>> Thank you, John.
>> Awesome. All right.
>> You You can’t take this stuff with you >> cuz it’ll burn where most people going.
>> But I got to tell you, And that’s what my advice to anybody that’s getting up there in a few ages is sell your junk. Get rid of it. Sell it now. Woo! What a day. Fantastic.
>> I love the way that Allan and Lynn have bonded with each other over history.
>> This is the most fun I’ve had in history class ever.
>> You’re a good teacher.
>> You are teaches me.
>> They both are big kids at heart. They wake up every single day believing that they can discover and find the impossible.
>> Sweet pick.