And no, I’m not talking about the two legged type so prominent in today’s world. They’re too scary for this blog. I’m talking about the behemoths that wandered the world between 65 and 245 million years ago. The small display area of Black Hills Institute in Hill City, South Dakota is packed full of them. If you have children, be sure to take them there. They will love it. Heck, if you don’t have kids, take yourself! Peggy and I visited as part of our three month road trip last fall.
Can you imagine any more dinosaurs or replicas being packed into a small display area?
Peggy and I didn’t know what to expect when we visited the small dinosaur museum in Hill City, South Dakota. It’s located maybe 30 minutes away from Mt. Rushmore and not much more from Custer State Park. We had some time to kill, so why not. What we found was an absolute delight. Normally I take museums seriously, carefully noting what I am seeing and photographing. Not this time. While the museum is worthy of such attention, it was so crammed full I wouldn’t have known where to start. So Peggy and I just wandered around admiring big teeth and taking photos. Following are the results. Enjoy.
Definitely not taking dinosaurs as seriously as one should. I included this photo of Peggy shoving her head in a T-Rex’s mouth in an earlier post. We made sure no museum personnel were in the room or T-Rexes were hurt, but it’s probably on surveillance tape. This would have been a good scene for the “Night at the Museum” movies. Imagine them all coming alive. It would be great for a nightmare as well. My, what big fangs you have. Okay, I get how these chompers might frighten a potential dinner to death, but how good are they when it comes to eating the meal?These would be better for chewing. The head looks like you could hit it with a baseball bat and not do much damage. Run!And check out how these teeth lean backward. Once you were in this mouth, it was a one way street. There was no way out except through the stomach.And one certainly wouldn’t want to face these teeth! Has me thinking about Sobek, the crocodile god of Egypt.Maybe smaller teeth work if you have lots of them with a serrated edge— and cool armor. But enough on toothy set. Now on to some of the marvelous creations of nature that prefer eating green things.Even if you were a vegetarian, you would want protection from those who weren’t.A good old-fashioned goring might do the trick.Or possibly just looking weird and being hard to digest would suffice.A final shot of flying, leaping and running! It’s no wonder our small precursor mammals were good at hiding and waited for a ‘miracle’ meteor to wipe out the competition.
That does it for today. Next Monday we will be back in Egypt visiting one of Egypt’s first pyramids.
We found in on one of those ‘things to do while in the area’ posts. One of the challenges is that there are so many things to do while there! Thanks. We had fun with the visit and with the post.
Thanks to your post, I’ve been pondering something that’s never occurred to me: what, exactly, would the mating rituals of these things have been like?
Beyond that, can you imagine trying to compose an anatomically accurate version of “Dry Bones” for these critters?
That’s fascinating. The first thing I thought of when I read the link was the ritual of the male bower bird. It sounds like the dinosaurs might have been up to something similar. Do you suppose one looked at another and said, “Can you dig it?”
Or maybe, redo it until you get it right. I’ve been reading about how the females sometimes reject a males work.
:o) yes!
Crystal provided some fun answers on the mating rituals, Linda. As for Dry Bones, it’s been a long time since I heard that one! I imagine it could be done for dinosaurs if one had an hour or so!
Curt this post is marvelous! You did a great job of showing how crammed full this museum is. I am sure that curators think daily about how to get their collection into a bigger building. I agree that the clip from security cameras should be excellent entertainment. I vote it should be seized and posted on YouTube. ha ha!!
Thanks, Crystal. I’m sure the issue of a larger space is big on their agenda. We did find that part of the fun was bones, bones, everywhere. 🙂 As for YouTube, maybe Peg would have her 15 minutes of fame!
This was so fun, Curt! I know my hubby and I would love it. And look at all those teeth! Your sense of humor is spectacular, and the photo of Peggy is priceless. This takes me back to the years when the kids were little and we watched all the Jurassic Park movies. Of course, the first was the best. Thanks for taking us on this delightful tour.
Thanks, Lauren. We do have fun! Plus it’s a great little museum. it would have been a great place to take your children when they were watching Jurassic Park!
That place is packed! How cool. I’ve been to the one in Dinosaur, Utah, and it isn’t nearly that full of bones. I love Peggy’s head in the T-Rex jaws. Lol. Great photos, Curt. It looks like a great museum.
Thanks, D. Peggy and I were having fun.Peggy is pretty much up for anything. Grin. I’ve been to the one in Dinosaur as well, where we camped out on the Green River.
” We had some time to kill, so why not.”
hahaha and good Peggy made it out alive with head in T-Rex’s mouth😂
What fun you had an had and how wild to think back on these creatures Curt!❣️
I have to say, Cindy, Peggy was very careful and putting her head in the mouth and in retrieving, it. 🤪 We were fascinated with the place. It was easy to do a post on.
Wandering through Time and Place 
How did we miss this when we were in the Black Hills? Great post!
We found in on one of those ‘things to do while in the area’ posts. One of the challenges is that there are so many things to do while there! Thanks. We had fun with the visit and with the post.
I second Wandering Dawgs above – on both points.
Thanks, Ray. Be sure to put it on your itinerary if you are ever there again.
love this line: “Or possibly just looking weird and being hard to digest would suffice.”
Laughing, Sylvia. It seemed to fit. 🙂
What a fabulous museum. I wish I could get a glimpse of the surveillance tape.
You just made me laugh!
Me too! Grin.
Thanks to your post, I’ve been pondering something that’s never occurred to me: what, exactly, would the mating rituals of these things have been like?
Beyond that, can you imagine trying to compose an anatomically accurate version of “Dry Bones” for these critters?
This is probably not exactly what you were asking, but you reminded me that I recently heard a story about how dinosaurs may have dug ditches to attract a mate. https://www.popsci.com/paleontologists-find-fossilized-evidence-dinosaur-mating-rituals/
That’s fascinating. The first thing I thought of when I read the link was the ritual of the male bower bird. It sounds like the dinosaurs might have been up to something similar. Do you suppose one looked at another and said, “Can you dig it?”
Or maybe, redo it until you get it right. I’ve been reading about how the females sometimes reject a males work.
:o) yes!
Crystal provided some fun answers on the mating rituals, Linda. As for Dry Bones, it’s been a long time since I heard that one! I imagine it could be done for dinosaurs if one had an hour or so!
Curt this post is marvelous! You did a great job of showing how crammed full this museum is. I am sure that curators think daily about how to get their collection into a bigger building. I agree that the clip from security cameras should be excellent entertainment. I vote it should be seized and posted on YouTube. ha ha!!
Thanks, Crystal. I’m sure the issue of a larger space is big on their agenda. We did find that part of the fun was bones, bones, everywhere. 🙂 As for YouTube, maybe Peg would have her 15 minutes of fame!
Some days I feel like an old dinosaur, I’d have fit right in.
Apart from the minor issues of not being all that old, and having teeth not nearly big or scary enough. That place looks like it’d be fun to explore.
Laughing. I have my dinosaur days as well, Dave.
This was so fun, Curt! I know my hubby and I would love it. And look at all those teeth! Your sense of humor is spectacular, and the photo of Peggy is priceless. This takes me back to the years when the kids were little and we watched all the Jurassic Park movies. Of course, the first was the best. Thanks for taking us on this delightful tour.
Thanks, Lauren. We do have fun! Plus it’s a great little museum. it would have been a great place to take your children when they were watching Jurassic Park!
🤗
That place is packed! How cool. I’ve been to the one in Dinosaur, Utah, and it isn’t nearly that full of bones. I love Peggy’s head in the T-Rex jaws. Lol. Great photos, Curt. It looks like a great museum.
Thanks, D. Peggy and I were having fun.Peggy is pretty much up for anything. Grin. I’ve been to the one in Dinosaur as well, where we camped out on the Green River.
” We had some time to kill, so why not.”
hahaha and good Peggy made it out alive with head in T-Rex’s mouth😂
What fun you had an had and how wild to think back on these creatures Curt!❣️
I have to say, Cindy, Peggy was very careful and putting her head in the mouth and in retrieving, it. 🤪 We were fascinated with the place. It was easy to do a post on.
You can never be too sure those teeth don’t come back alive. 🤣 fun to change things up!
💕
Chomp!