This story appears in this week's Westside Community News and West Indianapolis Community News:
Bucky the T-Rex resides at the The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. She is the first teenage dinosaur fossil ever found. As amazing as she is, she can't tell you what the world was like when she lived, what she ate, or how she was discoved. Luckily for us, Bucky Derflinger, who discoved Bucky will be at the museum to share his stories on Saturday October 11th, from 1-3pm on the Main Floor of the Dinosphere.
Bucky, who is a rancher and rodeo cowboy and lives in South Dakota, discovered his first dinosaur bones at the age of eight. When he was twenty he discovered two T-Rex, one being Bucky and the other E. D. Cope.
I asked Bucky how Bucky the T-Rex ended up at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. He replied with this interesting story. 'When I was a little kid, I went to a Museum in Rapid City, SD. They had a T-Rex mounted with it's head way up in the air. I remember being frozen in amazement. I couldn't get that image out of my head. That single field trip changed my life. When we were in the process of finding a place for this one, I kept thinking back to that day. TCM had contacted us, and they were looking for a juvenile Rex. They flew me out to tour the Museum, and see if this would be a fit. The first day I was there, over 4,000 kids walked thru the door! Everyone was so nice and friendly. They told us about the concept of Dinosphere, and what they would like to do with Bucky. Thinking back to the first time I saw the 'real king of beasts', knowing how I felt, and wanting to share that feeling with as many kids as I could, we realized TCM was it's new home (Didn't hurt that the greatest football team on earth plays in the city either)!'
I asked Bucky to explain what is unique about Bucky T-Rex. He answered, 'At the time we excavated this Rex, it was number four for all time completeness, and is the most complete juvenile T-Rex anywhere on display. It was also the first Rex found with a furcula or 'wishbone'. This is really cool because it shows the similarities between therapod dinosaurs and birds, and how closely they are related to each other!'
Back home Bucky, with his wife and daughter, raises black angus cattle and performance quarter horses. He loves his colts and our Indianapolis Colts. He states. 'I get to Indy about three or four times a year. I have so much fun visiting the Museum and my girlfriends(Bucky and Cope are both female)! I've met some amazing people who have become really good friends, and I try to watch the Colts dish out a whoopin' a least a couple times a year!
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
3000 N. Meridian Street
Indianapolis, IN 46208
Hours 10 am to 5pm Tuesday- Sunday
Free parking is available in the museum's parking garage on the west side of Illinois Street.
http://www.childrensmuseum.org/
