Skulls Unlimited is currently buying bulk domestic specimens, as well as more uncommon and exotic species. Let us know if you have anything we are looking for, or if you have something you think we may be interested in by filling out the form.
We are specifically in need of the following animals in bulk:
We also buy the skulls of more uncommon species like:
It is vital that you do not ship anything without contacting us first, as you risk not being paid for unapproved shipments. Purchasing will be done on a first-come, first-serve basis with the highest quantities offered being priority.
Specimen Preparation
Skulls Unlimited only purchases mature animals with good teeth and skulls that are free of damage.
We prefer to receive the heads skinned and with a few vertebrae attached. This lessens the chance of damaging the skull when it is removed from the body. Skulls should be allowed to drain of excess moisture and should be frozen for at least 48 hours prior to shipping. It is recommended to place the specimens in newspaper or paper towels before freezing to help absorb any additional moisture. For small animals, please send the entire animal. (i.e. shrews, moles, and weasels.)
Packaging Instructions
A packing list and signed invoice of the enclosed items must accompany your shipment. This will ensure no items are overlooked and discarded. Please place your packing list in a sealed Ziploc bag taped to the outside of your box. IMPORTANT: All shipments must include a printed copy of your current hunting and trapping license.
Federal law requires that all packages must be clearly marked as containing wildlife or wildlife parts. This can easily be done by alerting the shipping company and writing “Taxidermy items" or "Wildlife parts" legibly on the outside of your shipping container.
Use a sturdy box and, if possible, fill it with cedar wood chips to absorb excess moisture and control odor. Parcels should weigh no more than 70 lbs. Heavier parcels may tear open during shipping resulting in lost or damaged specimens.
Shipping Instructions
Once your transaction has been approved by us and you are ready to ship your products, please contact Skulls Unlimited with the size of your parcel(s). After confirmation of package size and quantities, we will send you a prepaid Fed-Ex shipping label and arrange a pickup, or if you prefer, provide you with the address of the nearest drop-off location.
Packages must ship on a Monday to avoid shipping delays. Any delays may result in specimens spoiling and being thrown away by the shipping company. Skulls Unlimited will not pay for or be held responsible for spoiled or damaged goods. If you experience trouble with a Fed-Ex representative accepting parcels containing wildlife parts, please refer them to the 2014 Users Guide Online Version, page 140, (c) "Animal heads and other parts for taxidermy may be accepted but must be properly packaged."
If you have additional questions about purchasing or shipping in bulk, please give us a call directly at (405) 794-9300. We can be reached Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Central standard time.
To request our FULL pricing list, please fill out the request form by clicking here. Once submitted, a member of our staff will be in touch!
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What is your primary role at Skulls Unlimited or SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology?
I refurbish, repair, and finish all human material. I process and finish all cat-size and smaller inventory items, including [material] for BoneBox. I also work and manage the bug room.
What is the coolest thing about your job?
I really like repairing old human skulls and skeletons. It's an equal split between anatomical knowledge and artistic ability.
Do you have a bone collection? If so, name your favorite or rarest specimen.
I have owned many skulls throughout the years, but my favorite skull related things are my dozens of Anthropology related casts.
What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
Studying music theory.
What is your favorite specimen in the museum(s) or your favorite thing we sell in the Gift Shop?
I have always liked primates, so I really like the great apes. Chimps, gorillas, orangutans, and humans.
What is your favorite part of each workday?
Working with the dermestid beetles.
Can you play any instruments?
Yes, I play guitar, banjo, ukelele, and some dulcimer.
Choose a movie title for the story of your life:
Sin Dios!
]]>What is your primary role at Skulls Unlimited or SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology?
My primary role is Custom Cleaning representative. I was [originally] hired as an Office Assistant almost 20 years ago.
What is the coolest thing about your job?
Definitely the customers. I LOVE my Skull Cleaning customers (Skulls Unlimited customers also). I love talking to them and getting to know them. I also love EVERYONE I work with. We are a family!
Do you have a bone collection? If so, name your favorite or rarest specimen.
I have a few skulls I have collected through the years. [My favorite] is a collection of small skulls with sticks stuck to their palate.
What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
I don't know if it's considered nerdy, but I LOVE GARAGE SALES!
What is your favorite specimen in the museum(s) or your favorite thing we sell in the Gift Shop?
In the museum, my favorite is the anteater skeleton! It is super cool! My favorite animal is an okapi though. In the Gift Shop, I love anything I can buy for my grandkids.
What is your favorite part of each workday?
Seeing all of my co-workers' gorgeous faces. I truly love my work family, including [our office cat] Indiana Bones. As I said before, I also love talking to the customers.
Can you play any instruments?
I am not talented enough to play any instruments...no one will be able to say that about my grandkids though. I will make sure of it!
Choose a movie title for the story of your life:
It's a toss-up between It's a Wonderful Life and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World!
Allyson's colleagues say...
"Ally is not only extremely knowledgeable about the company, but also so kind and thoughtful. It is truly a pleasure to know and work alongside her."
"She's really fun to be around. She's definitely the Mom of the group and treats us all just like her own children."
"Allyson is so helpful to everyone. She will literally drop anything she's doing to help me. The Mom of all of us!"
"Ally cares deeply about her co-workers, and it's evident in everything she does. For instance, she has each member of the staff's birthday written in her personal calendar and brings that person's favorite dessert to work for everyone to share on their special day. She's an incredible person!"
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What is your primary role at Skulls Unlimited or SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology?
I am the product photographer for SUI.
What is the coolest thing about your job?
Taking photos of animals that I have never heard of or never knew anything about, then learning about them.
Do you have a bone collection?
Only the ones in my body.
What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
I still play and build with Lego. I also watch a lot about camera gear and photography techniques. I collect old film cameras and still shoot with them. Even a 4x5 Graflex Graphic View.
What is your favorite specimen in the museum(s) or your favorite thing we sell in the Gift Shop?
The humpback whale, it just shows how small I am in this world.
What is your favorite part of each workday?
Getting to learn something new every day.
Can you play any instruments?
I can play the drums and djembe.
Choose a movie title for the story of your life (you can choose an existing title or make up your own!):
Bubble Boy. I grew up a little sheltered.
Austin's colleagues say...
"Austin has brought a new level of professional experience to our photography and is a true asset to the company."
"I enjoy sharing an office with Austin. He has great ideas and is a very talented photographer! Bonus: He manages to make me gut-laugh several times a day."
"Austin is the best! He is like a Teddy Bear. Always willing to help in any way he can."
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What is your primary role at Skulls Unlimited or SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology?
I am the Lead Cadaver Technician and Driver. This was the job I was originally hired for, however, I have many more responsibilities on the Processing side.
What is the coolest thing about your job?
The coolest thing about my job is the number of rare animals I have had the pleasure of processing. It’s to the point where the rarest animals seem mundane sometimes.
Do you have a bone collection? If so, name your favorite or rarest specimen.
No, but I do have a decent collection of animal skins. I also have two petrified specimens, a turtle and a tortoise. Their names are Dave and Buster.
What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
Listen to books on tape.
What is your favorite specimen in the museum(s) or your favorite thing we sell in the Gift Shop?
The whale hanging from the ceiling now that I have an appreciation for how much work went into creating it. I also enjoy the different kinds of beef jerky in the Gift Shop.
What is your favorite part of each workday?
Interacting with my co-workers.
Can you play any instruments?
I have absolutely no musical talent whatsoever.
Choose a movie title for the story of your life (choose an existing title or make up your own).
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap or This is the Worst Fun Ever – either one describes my life pretty well.
Anthony's colleagues say...
"He is determined, calm, and professional."
"Anthony is always helpful and cheerful, especially in the morning."
"His stoic nature and quiet confidence impress me! Anthony's job can be tough at times, but he manages to make it look easy."
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What is your primary role at Skulls Unlimited or SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology?
I am an Education Coordinator [for the museum], which encompasses a lot of responsibilities! I teach classes, prepare field trips, develop curriculum, do animal identification and exhibit work!
What is the coolest thing about your job?
The coolest part of my job is getting to expose kids to new and exciting materials that spark interest in STEM fields. I love working in a discovery-based education position.
Do you have a bone collection? If so, name your favorite or rarest specimen.
Yes! I have a male hammerhead bat! His name is Phillip or Flip for short.
What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
I’m a video game completionist, which means I have to “100%” the game. It’s a problem.
What is your favorite specimen in the museum(s) or your favorite thing we sell in the Gift Shop?
My favorite animal is a hyena – so probably those guys. One of our hyenas on display actually has evidence of a pretty gnarly tooth infection.
What is your favorite part of each workday?
As much as I love working with kids, the best part of my day is developing new classes and curriculum. Right now I’m working on a class for Oklahoma Search and Rescue to help them identify human bone more quickly.
Can you play any instruments?
I play the violin.
Choose a movie title for the story of your life (choose an existing title or make up your own).
Kathryne Thorne and the Temple of Bones.
Kathryne's colleagues say...
"She's so funny!"
"I love how smart she is. It makes things at work exciting. Kathryne's background in English and Humanities gives her such a practical and valuable viewpoint and it makes the Education department as a whole more well-rounded."
"She's so great with teenagers. Her playful sarcasm reads very well with them!"
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Gray foxes tend to live in deciduous forests that contain plenty of brushy woodlands. You won’t find these highly territorial foxes in open plains or in heavily snowy areas. Some prefer to live in the ecotones between farmlands and woodlands, but gray foxes tend to frequent farmland way less than their cousin the red fox. This species tends to be monogamous and chooses only one mate per breeding season, and will sometimes remain with the same mate throughout their life. They will remain solo for most of the year, but when autumn arrives, it’s time to choose or reconnect with their mate! They will then spend most of the winter socializing with their mates and producing offspring.
These animals are notoriously good parents, especially the males. Kits are born in either April or May after a 53-day gestation period, and most gray fox couples produce about 4 to 5 kits per litter. During the first four months of the kits’ lives, the father provides most of the food while the family remains in their comfortable den. At about the four-month mark, the kits emerge from the den for the first time, and both parents will work together to teach them to hunt. The gray fox father takes on the responsibility of teaching the kits stalking and pouncing behavior.
When autumn arrives again, it’s time for the kits to venture off on their own, establish their own territories, and for the cycle to begin all over again.
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While it’s true that the fierce American badger is the most solitary (and one of the more volatile) of the badger species, that doesn’t mean that they spend all their time alone. In fact, American badgers have been observed for generations hunting alongside an unlikely partner – the coyote. Cooperative hunting of ground squirrels between coyotes and badgers is well-documented, with this symbiotic partnership first being referenced in several sacred Native American texts before European settlers arrived in North America.
Scientists have been studying this symbiotic interspecific interaction between the American badger and the coyote for decades. These unlikely hunting partners each have a unique set of skills that, when combined, increases prey vulnerability and allows each member of the party to conserve more energy. The most common hunting situation observed is a lone badger hunting with a single coyote, but occasionally you’ll see one badger working with a pair of coyotes. More coyotes hunt with badgers than hunt alone, and coyotes with badger cohorts are able to catch approximately 1/3 more prey than a coyote hunting alone.
Coyotes are quick, nimble, and spry and are considerably better at chasing prey than the slow and unwieldy badger. Badgers may be a tad bit uncoordinated above ground, but they make up for it by being exemplary diggers. Badgers have evolved to pursue small ground-dwelling animals. Their wedge-shaped heads are just the right shape for diving head-first into holes and burrows, and their long, sharp claws are perfectly designed to dig and catch prey underground.
When it’s time to hunt, the coyote usually spots the prey above-ground and begins to chase. The badger will then attempt to corner the prey underground, while the coyote waits at the burrow's exit for the prey to emerge. While only one of the hunters may end up with the meal, the collaboration ultimately pays off long-term. Badgers with a coyote as a hunting partner will increase prey vulnerability significantly. Both species will end up consuming a higher rate of food, and badgers that hunt with coyotes ultimately tend to have lower locomotion costs and an expanded habitat base.
The badger and the coyote have had a pretty great thing going on for generations, but it is not a totally perfect partnership by any means. When two powerful predators spend time together, an occasional butting of heads is inevitable. The badger and the coyote have been known to prey on each other, but those instances are few and far between and generally only occur when an adult coyote attacks a vulnerable adolescent badger. This incredibly special two-species social system, even with its imperfections, still astounds and fascinates the scientists who continue to study these unlikely hunting buddies.
Sources:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2381&context=gbn
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/american-badger-facts-animals-of-north-america.html
https://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/coyotes-badgers-find-food1.htm
https://www.nwf.org/en/Magazines/National-Wildlife/1996/The-Benefits-of-Badgers
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What is your primary role at Skulls Unlimited or SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology?
I oversee all purchasing and inventory needs for Skulls Unlimited and BoneBox. I also lead the Shipping and BoneBox team. I started as a weekend Gift Shop attendant five years ago.
What is the coolest thing about your job?
This is a hard one! My job is so cool in so many ways... I'd have to say the people I work with and our customers. My co-workers are some of the most intelligent, talented, unique people I have ever met. Our customers are fun to work with. I meet people from all over the world and I love to hear how they use our products.
Do you have a bone collection? If so, name your favorite or rarest specimen.
My collection is small but slowly growing. It's not rare, but my Audad is my prized possession.
What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
Depends on what you consider "nerdy", but I've been called a nerd for running a book club for the last 12 years.
What is your favorite specimen in the museum(s) or your favorite thing we sell in the Gift Shop?
I can't pass up any of our tees or anything with elephants on it.
What is your favorite part of each workday?
When Fed-Ex pulls up! I love deliveries!
Can you play any instruments? Please don't say the "trom-BONE" (unless it's true).
No, but I sing my heart out at every opportunity! You can catch me singing to [our office cat] Indiana Bones almost daily.
Choose a movie title for the story of your life (choose an existing title or make up your own).
Both The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly & It's a Wonderful Life
Brenna's colleagues say...
"She's passionate, peppy, and dedicated to helping our customers."
"She is so bubbly and outgoing, she almost radiates positivity."
"She's like a sister - she makes me laugh, and I am happy to see her every morning."
"Brenna is hard-working, dependable and consistent, and a great positive spirit to have in the office every day."
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The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a synanthropic or “edge” species, meaning they live near and directly benefit from human-altered environments. These foxes are solitary hunters and are highly adaptable to suburban environments. Places like farms, yards with large gardens, and garbage dumps provide an ideal living situation for red foxes, giving ample cover and protection with easy access to food.
What is an “edge” species?
Red foxes prefer to live in an ecotone, the border between two habitat types. An ecotone offers a vast amount of resources that allow animals to thrive within that environment. Grassland between a forest and a desert is a great example of this. Humans have created induced ecotones (think the boundaries of a city) that mimic a natural ecotone environment. Abundant with resources, suburban environments attract many an opportunistic animal. While foxes may sneak into human environments to hunt for food and occasionally to seek shelter, they prefer to den in a more natural setting further away from human developments. Even still, with our ever-growing cities and business development growth, human-fox encounters are steadily increasing.
Food Availability and the Birth Rate Connection
One of the most important things to remember if you are to encounter a wild red fox is…DO NOT feed it. Similar to feeding an urban coyote , feeding a wild fox teaches it to rely on humans as a food source and can have disastrous consequences. Feeding a wild animal, especially by hand, will increase the chances of being bitten by that animal, and of possibly contracting a deadly disease like rabies.
Additionally, the fertility and birth rates of red foxes are based on food availability within their habitat. When food sources are abundant, foxes will give birth to more kits per litter. Feeding the animals directly, leaving garbage uncovered or leftover food unattended outside creates an artificial food supply, leading to a false sense of security for the animals. Once the feeding ceases or tourist season ends in that area, heightened competition for remaining resources is likely to occur. This can lead to starvation, higher susceptibility to injuries, and worst-case scenario: death in higher numbers. It is simply irresponsible to feed any wild animal, no matter how adorable they may be. The humane approach with a population of wild animals is simple: Do not interfere. It’s always best to let nature take its course!
Sources:
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Bobcats are a relatively small wildcat, about twice the size of a domestic house cat. They weigh around 30 pounds on average but make up for their diminutive stature with their notorious ferocity. Bobcats are known as one of the most aggressive of any North American feline species, and are known by many as the “spitfires of the animal kingdom”. A bobcat emits a growl so deep and fearsome that passersby can often mistake them for much bigger cats. Even larger wildcats steer clear of bobcats. For example, Mountain lions will do almost anything to avoid an altercation with a bobcat because of how aggressively they fight.
Bobcats are stealthy hunters and quite skilled in this area. Their small stature does not stop them from taking down prey much larger than they are. Their favorite thing to eat are rabbits, but they are known to hunt other small rodents, birds, and deer on occasion. Once they have chosen a meal, they will lie in wait for the perfect moment, then perform a leaping pounce called a “deathblow” that can cover up to ten feet!
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One such inspiration is Paladin the Peregrine falcon. In life, Paladin was the Education Ambassador for the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center and Mission Wild Bird located in Tavernier, Florida.
Photo by Jordan Budnik
The facility currently provides a home for over 90 non-releasable birds who have suffered injuries that prevent them from flying and performing other natural behaviors. It also houses an avian rehabilitation hospital. Due to a wing injury he had sustained before reaching the rehabilitation center, Paladin was deemed non-releasable and was subsequently given the important task of becoming an Educational Ambassador for the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center and Mission Wild Bird. These bird ambassadors are taken out on community outreach events and serve as a unique educational tool for the public, giving an exclusive up close and personal look at large and sometimes rare birds of prey.
After Paladin passed away, his caretakers at Mission Wild Bird decided that it would be best for him to continue his journey as an ambassador and recruited Skulls Unlimited to help. It was important to the sanctuary’s leadership that Paladin serve as an educational source of interest in death, just as he had in life. After Paladin was cleaned and prepared by the Skulls staff, his articulated skeleton was carefully shipped back to the facility in Florida, where he remains on display today.
“The falcon has been a source of interest for staff and visitors alike -- especially since the injury that rendered him non-releasable is much more visible on the skeleton,” states Wildlife Rehabilitation Manager Shylyn Pierce. “It's a wonderful piece to have to show people the permanent, underlying damage that injuries can cause and also how fascinating the skeleton of Peregrine falcons are.”
Executive Director Jordan Budnik says, “Visitors come to this location to learn about the history of our organization, our mission, and about the natural history of different birds. This Peregrine skeleton has inspired awe in many of our visitors. It usually stops people in their tracks. Paladin touches the lives of our guests even to this day and shows our visitors the stunning intricacies of bird anatomy.”
We are incredibly proud to have worked with such an important animal and honored to help further the educational mission of the sanctuary. We’re confident that Ambassador Paladin’s skeleton will continue to spark curiosity in the visitors of the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center for decades to come!
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What is an invasive species?
As nutria began to invade the swamps of Louisiana through the 1940s and 50s, they quickly made themselves known and began to cause significant damage to the land. To be considered an invasive species, an animal must meet a few criteria. First, they must cause major disruption to the ecosystem around them, physically degrading the health of said ecosystem. Next, the animals will not be native to the area in which they are wreaking havoc, and finally, once the invasive animal is introduced to the area, it will cause significant environmental harm and sometimes even harm to human health. The nutria quickly met all the criteria and within less than three decades, earned themselves the “invasive” title.
Living in freshwater and coastal marine areas, the North American river otter are the most abundant species of otter. They can be found in the lakes, rivers, ponds, and marshes of (you guessed it!) North America. River otters only really need about 3 to 5 square miles of land to call home, and they will only choose areas that offer protection and coverage, such as areas with rock piles and an abundance of vegetation.
River otters are comfortable on land, but their bodies are designed to swim. Featuring webbed feet and a long, flat, muscular tail that helps the otter to steer, these little swimmers can dive to depths of up to 60 feet! In the water, river otters are considered apex predators. They have unique flaps that close off the nostrils and ears, allowing them to remain submerged for up to eight minutes with one single breath. Because of how deftly they move through the water, they tend to have very few run-ins with predators. On land however, otters are not as swift and can easily fall victim to wolves, eagles, bears, bobcats, and coyotes.
Otter groups tend to be comprised of females and their pups. When they are in a group, otters famously engage in playful behavior that serves a few purposes. In addition to strengthening social bonds in the group, specific play activities teach and help to hone survival techniques for the otters. For example, one of the most common play behaviors for this species is sliding. Groups of both wild and captive otters are often observed sliding face-first down the same snowbank or muddy hill. Some theorize that this sliding behavior is simply the most functional way for otters to travel from point A to point B. While this is technically true, groups of otters have been observed sliding down the same hill repeatedly within a short period of time, proving that sliding can be fun AND functional!
Want to observe some adorable otters at play? Check out this live stream hosted by our friends at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. Hopefully you’ll be lucky enough witness a game of “hide-and-smell”, in which “the animals will scent mark their favorite locations and Aquarium experts will occasionally introduce treats and new scents for the otters to discover.”
]]>We realize that it isn’t just human beings who display individual personalities. Anyone who owns a pet, has tended to livestock, or even visited a zoo will tell you that all animals have very distinct personalities of their own! Have you ever wondered which animal personality you might relate to the most? Considering the sheer number of “Which Animal Are You?” style quizzes online, we’re guessing most of you have. It’s simply in our nature as humans to connect ourselves to the things around us, and to try relating on a personal level. So, what’s your spirit animal? Read the following animal archetype descriptions. Once you have a good idea which one most closely resembles you, be sure to take our What is Your Spirit Animal? quiz to confirm your animal personality!
Does everyone in your life turn to you for advice? Then you may be the Spanish goat, known for its practicality, wisdom (they are the oldest breed of goat, after all), tenacity and ability to survive the harshest of conditions. They are quite intelligent, and their keen eyesight allows them to modify their behavior based on observation.
Human counterparts: Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter), Professor X (X-Men)
How is it that the weight of the world always ends up on your shoulders? Perhaps the world realizes that you can handle the tough stuff better than anyone else, kind of like the longhorn. These gentle giants are the most adaptable of cows, not only surviving but thriving in a variety of harsh climates. They’re intelligent, easy to work with, brave, strong, and for the most part, docile.
Human counterparts: Jon Snow (Game of Thrones), Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)
If your favorite pastimes are making your own wooden furniture by hand and watching the latest MMA match with your buddies, the ram may be your spirit animal. Dominant, competitive, physical, and relentless, rams are some of the toughest dudes in the animal kingdom!
Human counterparts: Ellen Ripley (Alien), Ron Swanson (Parks and Recreation)
People are drawn to you because of your totally unique look. You are fiercely protective of your family and friends. Sound familiar? Perhaps you are a wildebeest at heart! Wildebeests are known to be aggressive, speedy, and are widely considered to be among the strongest animals in Africa. On the flip side, these hefty vegetarians are incredibly social, playful and full of energy!
Human counterparts: Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Neo (The Matrix)
The Misunderstood Villain: Shark
You’re not vicious or out to hurt everyone, you’re simply misunderstood, just like the mighty shark! Being at the very top of the food chain, sharks can appear quite frightening to everyone else around them, but they’re simply trying to make sure everything in their world remains balanced. Fierce and sometimes pugnacious when it comes to food or territory, sharks are only attempting to live their best lives the only way they know how: Total domination of their environment.
Human counterparts: Regina George (Mean Girls), Loki (Thor)
You’re classy. Strikingly beautiful. Unique. Elegant. If the sight of rainfall literally causes you to jump for joy, your animal twin is likely the Springbok! These playful creatures are known for their “pronking”, a dancing behavior that is only displayed after a rare rainfall.
Human counterparts: Princess Buttercup (The Princess Bride), Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones)
Maybe you’re more of a Whitetail deer. If so, you might often hear, “You’re such a breath of fresh air” from family and friends. You are loving, gentle, sensitive, and shy. You do tend to be an individual, rocking a one-of-a-kind hairdo or getting new tattoos often, just like the deer who shed and regrow their antlers each year!
Human counterparts: Garth (Wayne’s World), Buddy the Elf (Elf)
]]>Coyotes are a fascinating, evasive, often misunderstood member of the Canidae family, having much in common with dogs, wolves, and jackals. Coyotes prefer open land to forests, and as such are sometimes referred to as “prairie wolves.” With the ever-growing population of coyotes and over 19 species currently residing in North America, more and more urban coyote populations have been documented in the last fifteen years in U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco. Coyote packs have begun moving south from Mexico to South America, and have even been spotted as far south as Panama. As the number of coyotes in major metropolitan cities increase, we should be conscious of how to best coexist with our coyote neighbors in an urban setting.
The coyote’s opportunistic diet is one of the major reasons why coyotes have adapted so well to urban environments. They’ll eat almost anything they can find, including carrion and human garbage, although these things make up very little of their overall diet. Active mostly at night, coyotes need at least one square mile of territory to hunt in, and tend to choose natural areas within cities in which to live, like parks and golf courses. In these more natural environments, coyotes will almost always feed on small rodents and insects. Within cities, small pets have occasionally gone missing in known coyote territories, one of the more unfortunate reasons coyotes have earned a bad reputation.
Contrary to popular belief, coyotes are not constantly looking for ways to harm or kill our pets. They are simply wild animals that will occasionally spot an “easy” meal and go for it, not understanding the difference between a ground squirrel and say, your beloved Chihuahua. One of the responsibilities we have as humans coexisting with coyotes is to protect our pets by always keeping dogs leashed when they are outdoors, and supervising them at all times of the day. It is not uncommon to spot a coyote in broad daylight, because as we’ve established, the coyote is an opportunist and will hunt any time of day that it deems convenient. It’s also incredibly important to never leave food outdoors. This includes scattered birdseed, accessible garbage cans, and even used BBQ grills. A person should never approach a coyote, as they view this as an extreme threat, and should never feed them. Coyotes are naturally quite afraid of humans, but they can quickly become aggressive and even demanding toward people once they have been fed.
Society’s lack of knowledge and an incorrect perception of the coyote is unfortunately what creates and spreads fear about these animals where it is not necessary. Coyotes have a number of positive attributes that far outweigh the negatives. For instance, did you know that coyotes are monogamous, choosing one mate for life? Or that they are constantly communicating with each other, being among the most vocal mammals in North America? It is even purported that coyotes have local “accents” and can recognize each other’s voices by using a series of yips, barks, howls, and yelps. This has earned the coyote another nickname, the “song dog.”
Thanks to activists like Janet Kessler in San Francisco, we are learning more and more about coyote behavior in urban environments. Ms. Kessler, who is known in San Francisco as “The Coyote Whisperer” or “The Coyote Lady”, has spent the last thirteen years observing and documenting the urban population of coyotes in the Bay area. Through this daily documentation of coyotes and their behavior, she has provided the world with valuable information, dispelling much of the negative perception surrounding these animals. We definitely recommend checking out Janet’s blog located at coyoteyipps.com to read more about her research. You’ll also want to visit the website she co-founded, coyotecoexistence.com, in which you will find an insightful educational video created by Ms. Kessler titled: “Coyotes as Neighbors.”
Knowledge is power, and we should all utilize that power to learn how to better coexist peacefully with nature.]]>Since BoneBox: Limited Edition was announced in April, collectors and bone enthusiasts have been making themselves known, and subscriptions have been flying off the metaphorical shelves. New subscribers have been enthusiastically spreading the word to fellow bone collectors on social media, and at this point, we are nearly SOLD OUT! We want to first thank our new subscribers, we appreciate you! We know you are anxiously awaiting the arrival of your first box, and as of now, the first set of Limited Edition boxes are being prepared and will be shipped out to you later this month! For the rest of you guys, subscriptions will only be available until May 13 (that’s THIS Monday)! Don’t miss your chance to enhance your skull collection with this exciting limited-time series.
You can subscribe here: https://skullsunlimited.cratejoy.com/subscribe/
Contact the #BoneBox team with questions about your subscription any time at bonebox@skullsunlimited.com.
]]>3 Key Areas to Begin:
1. Pathology is a broad and generic term, but in this instance a companion item may help you distinguish abnormalities that lead to a diagnostic conclusion. Just like tissue shows bruises, bones show evidence of traumatic injuries that effected your specimen's life. In rare cases, you may find an instance of bone infections and metabolic bone disease.
2. Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the two sexes of the same species exhibit different characteristics beyond the differences in their sexual organs. In a large proportion of mammal species, males are larger than females. Differences may include size, weight, color, markings, and may also include behavioral and cognitive differences.
3. Age differences can also be determined in your comparative analysis. “Long in the tooth” is a common expression that stacks up! Fully erupted canine teeth and rear molars indicate an older specimen, while the presence of the basilar suture will tell you if you have an adolescent specimen. There are a variety of cranial sutures where their presence is typically found in young specimens, but the basilar sutures placement on the underside of the skull near the clivus. Well-defined ridges on or near connective tissue and tendons indicate full maturity, as well. Plenty of scholarly articles have been published on the subject of determining age from cranial sutures, if you want to take a deeper dive. See the images below for examples.
Source: Human Forensic Pathology Presentation Ch. 12
Warning: Images in this presentation are graphic.
Recently, Skulls Unlimited worked with Philadelphia's Mütter Museum on a new specimen for their expansive collection of human skeletons. Our work was even featured in a National Geographic article. A local advocate, Carol Orzel, donated her body to the museum to raise awareness of life with Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP). FOP is a genetic condition where bone forms in connective tissues such as muscles, ligaments, and tendons. This is the only known condition where one organ system modifies into another. When we received Carol’s remains, it was evident just how painful this crippling disease must have been for her.
We also learned FOP is frequently misdiagnosed as often as 80 percent or more of the time due to a lack of knowledge among doctors, being mistaken for bone cancer most commonly. This rare disease is a genetic condition that does not exhibit any patterns across race or sex. FOP has been confirmed in 285 individuals in the United States and 800 individuals around the world.
By carrying out Carol's wishes and preserving her skeleton for students, physicians, and the general public, we will have contributed our part to increase awareness of this rare diseases and those individuals living with it.
Our founder began this journey at Skulls Unlimited with education as one of our fundamental core values. We believe Carol’s donation will spur a long-term solution towards the diagnosis and care for people afflicted with FOP.
To learn more about our contributions to science, follow our blog. To see the full extent and variety of our work, view our full collection.
In this photo, the lower portion of the skull, jaw, and cervical (neck) vertebrae is visible. There is an additional bony structure fusing the skull to the rest of the skeleton where the nuchal ligament and neck muscles would be located.
To read more about Carol’s progression of FOP and her life as an advocate, view the full story by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
]]>Skulls Unlimited is excited to attend the annual National Science Teacher's Association conference held in St. Louis on April 11 -14, 2019. Our team will be there with insight as to our curriculum provided with our specimen product kits. Teachers and administrators will be able to view and purchase real animal skull kits and maybe even a human skull!
Our conference schedule will be jam-packed, and we are looking forward to attending sessions like the Life Science course on Butterfly Gardening, Using Maggots, Flies, and Flesh to Solve a Mystery featuring the legendary Forensic Anthropologist Diane France, and Shark Dissection: A Jawsome Experience, where we will have the privilege of dissecting a real dogfish shark!
Please let us know if you are planning on attending the conference, too. We hope to see you there!
]]>
We plan on attending Dr. Brook Niemiec’s canine and feline dentistry courses for hands on training in extractions. He uses our skulls for educational reference and frozen cadaver specimens for fine-tuning his techniques. If you would like sign up for his course, be sure to act fast as slots fill up quickly.
Skulls Unlimited can also be found in the Expo Hall in booth number 3236 in Zone C next to Kong Products. In our booth, one lucky participant will win a gift pack valued at over $300 including an A grade research quality cat and dog skull along with other awesome prizes! Swing by and say hello!
]]>Jason Clarke, Staff Writer, The Express-Star
When Chickasha Lumber Company employee Jeannie Douglas opened a shipment of gloves for the store Tuesday morning, she expected to find 480 pairs of gloves.
Instead she only found 48 pairs of gloves thrown on top of what is believed to be the skull of a hippopotamus.
"They've sent us wrong stuff before, but I never expected something like this," Douglas said.
After removing it from the box, Douglas said she had to get her boss because she didn't think he would believe her if she told him what she had found.
Store manager Steve Smart said customer Brannon Bordwine helped identify the skull. In his experience with big game hunting, Bordwine said he thought it was the skull of a hippo. He later brought a photo of a complete hippo skull, which strongly resembles Douglas' find.
Douglas said Bordwine estimated the skull's value between $1,000 and $2,000 because it is missing its lower jaw. If complete, Bordwine reportedly said the skull could be worth $5,000.
The only identifying mark on the skull, however, is a small handwritten sold sticker on the back of the skull.
Smart said the shipping company has requested the entire shipment be returned in the original box for investigative purposes. Douglas said the box should have contained a cardboard display filled with gloves.
Instead the bottom of the box had been removed and was replaced with a layer of packing tape. Also inside the box with the skull was a cylinder off of an office chair.
While the gloves are made in China, Douglas said the package came in from shippers in Dallas.
Smart said the company has issued a ticket for the return of the box. He said the boxed would be shipped as soon as that ticket arrived here, which could be as early as today or tomorrow.
The company has reportedly promised to replace the missing gloves.
]]>Like painters and sculptors, taxidermists develop their own artistic style and signature. Capes are their canvases and Styrofoam their clay, their medium for expression. But skull mounts are different. There’s no room for creative license or interpretation. Just the irreproachable beauty of bone shaped solely by the hand of God, or, if you prefer, by the forces of evolution.
Or maybe we, as hunters, love skulls simply because they look so darn cool.
However deep or superficial your attraction to wildlife osteology, you’re probably among the congregation of America’s foremost temple of skull and bone—Skulls Unlimited International.
Though few natural-history buffs realize it, many of them have admired the handiwork of this unusual company, located in the ragged outskirts of Oklahoma City, for decades. Skulls Unlimited is the world’s leading supplier of museum-quality skulls and skeletal specimens. Its products are everywhere, from local nature centers to the Smithsonian Institution, and from junior-high science classrooms to the labs at Harvard Medical School. And more and more, its craft is gracing the dens of hunters.
“We’re now cleaning and whitening more than 50,000 skulls per year, and one of our fastest-growing services is processing big-game skulls,” says Jay Villemarette, who founded Skulls Unlimited in 1986. “In 2013, we did more than 2,000 whitetails alone.” That’s at $125 a pop.
Bare-Bones Beginning
In the early years, Villemarette and his wife operated the business out of their kitchen. Today, the company has 21 employees and a campus with two buildings in a light-industrial area southeast of downtown. The main building houses an impressive 7,000-square-foot Museum of Osteology and a gift shop. On display are some 300 full skeletons and 400 skulls. It’s professional and orderly, but some visitors literally become faint or nauseated. Nevertheless, the museum is a growing attraction and can be rented for weddings, birthdays, and other private events.
An adjoining shipping area is a pulse of commerce. What began 28 years ago with a one-page price list is now a retail and mail-order firm with a 130-page catalog and online sales worldwide. Christmas is the busiest time. Need a stocking stuffer for your kid? See page 8 to order a shrew for $29, plus shipping and handling. A staffer will pluck one from a bin of shrew skulls and send it express. How about a bison? Page 75: $349 large, $260 average. In between those physical extremes are skulls, claws, eggs, and other artifacts from hundreds of species, game and non-game, common and endangered—even extinct—from around the planet. Some are replicas; many are real.
Villemarette is sensitive to perceptions that he is over-commercializing wildlife. A letter on the catalog’s first page assures customers that Skulls Unlimited resells specimens attained only through legal and ethical means, such as roadkills, natural deaths, and zoo attritions, and from regulated hunting and trapping.
Skulls also are acquired under unusual circumstances. In early 2014, the company purchased and began advertising an assortment of California sea lion skulls. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 generally prohibits possession of sea lions, but this was a research collection dating back to the 1950s, exempt from the act’s protections. Each skull comes with a bill of sale and letter of authorization from the federal government.
Another area of sensitivity is human remains. Villemarette is careful to respect the dignity of those who’ve donated their bodies to science. His company discreetly receives, cleans, whitens, and markets human skulls and skeletons for sale strictly to medical, educational, and academic institutions. Human skulls are graded and priced from $1,250 to $1,850, based on bone quality and number of teeth.
Villemarette says the laws governing ownership of animal parts are actually more restrictive and complex than those for human parts.
Why salvage the mortal remains of humans? They are an invaluable tool for medical research. “If you break your arm,” Villemarette says, “would you rather see a doctor who has experience with real human bone, or replicas made out of resin?”
Repository of Death
From the relatively sterile front building, it’s a few steps across a parking area to Skulls Unlimited’s second building. This is where raw materials arrive for processing. Local UPS and FedEx drivers learn to find the receiving door quickly, eager to offload the boxes with the highest odds of becoming the day’s smelliest delivery. Insurance regulations prohibit public entry, citing “mental anguish” concerns for visitors. The TV series Dirty Jobs filmed a stint here, with host Mike Rowe visibly aghast.
As the door opens, you catch your first whiff of putrefied meat and bleach.
Behind the door is mostly what you’d expect: fuming stench, workers with knives, glass tanks filled with flesh-eating beetles, plastic tubs for various chemical baths. But on autumn days, the volume and variety of critters is amazing. Amid the piles of deer is all manner of fauna. Wildebeest, elk, lions, pronghorns, snapping turtles, baboons, wolves, and warthogs wait, oozing, for their turn in the lineup.
The room seems to assault all five senses, yet Villemarette suddenly raises his nose to a comparatively delicate and unexpected scent.
“Salmon!” he announces, explaining that the beetles sometimes emit the odor of whatever the animal had been eating. Sure enough, one of the aquariums held a half-cleaned Alaskan brown bear skull.
Piecing It All Together
Ironically, the most artful aspect of the business occurs in a room adjoining the carnage, where newly cleaned, dry, white osteological specimens are staged. Along with custom-processed game skulls and various animal skulls for general sale, there are fishnet bags of loose bones ready for assembling into complete skeletons. Articulation is another growth area for Skulls Unlimited, and it requires employees with specialized skills. With their studied knowledge of anatomy, kinesiology, and composition, and trade skills ranging from carpentry to welding, articulators are equal parts Leonardo da Vinci and Tim the Tool Man.
As a demo, one of the artisans dumps a sack of more than 200 bones (a gray fox, incidentally) into a random jumble on a workbench. Instinctively, he begins sorting and laying out parts. Vertebrae are quickly aligned behind the skull and extended through the end of the tail. Ribs are positioned in order on either side. Limbs are quickly assembled from shoulders and hips down to the phalanges.
Articulators fasten bones together using drills, wires, rods, and glues. An epoxy compound is concocted to replace discs between vertebrae and other cartilaginous elements, so the animal returns to its original dimensions and structure.
The shop is filled with skeletons locked in dramatic poses. A coyote runs flat-out. A leopard attacks a springbok. A whitetail buck turns to check its backtrail.
“Most skeletons are for educational institutions, but we also do a number of dogs and cats for people who want to memorialize their pets,” says Villemarette. “And we’re hearing from more hunters who are now considering articulated skeletons instead of full-body mounts.”
Dog and cat skeletons start at $995. A quail hunter who wants to keep ol’ Banjo in his stylish high-head-and-tail-pointing stance will spend closer to $1,800. Complete whitetails run $5,400.
Despite upward trends, realistically, bare bones aren’t destined to replace classic taxidermy as preferred trophy-room decor. Lifelike mounts will always be more popular for preserving special experiences afield, because an animal’s visible beauty and character are showcased by skin, not skeleton. Still, within many hunters and anglers lives an avid naturalist who is nearly as fascinated by the functional beauty that lies beneath fur and feather.
We’re attracted to skull mounts not so much because they’re comparatively cheap, but because they rouse our curiosity and we marvel at the physiological adaptations that make every game species what it is—a masterpiece of its environment.
And because they look so darn cool.
Sell Your Skulls
If you already sell squirrel tails to Mepps for use in their inline spinners, listen up: There’s a valuable by-product at the other end of the carcass, too. Skulls Unlimited buys hundreds of skulls and full skeletons—of squirrels and other species—every year. The company is always on the lookout for both unusual and common specimens.
The process is simple. Email a photo of the item along with your asking price. If there’s a deal, and all is legal, you’ll ship the item to them. On receipt, they’ll mail a check or issue payment via PayPal.
]]>ELAINE WARNER, The Edmond Sun
The Museum of Osteology.
Located at 10301 S. Sunnylane Road, the museum opened about six months ago and has quickly become a popular field-trip destination. This may be the most professional mom-and-pop attraction I’ve seen outside of Kansas City’s Arabia museum.
Founder Jay Villamarette has been interested in skeletons ever since, at age 7, he found a dog skull. His father noted his interest and encouraged it. By sixth grade, he entered his small collection in his school’s science fair where it received a superior rating. The next year, he entered it in the State Fair, taking home a fifth-place ribbon.
For years, collecting skulls remained a hobby. Pursuing a career as an auto body technician, collecting was a spare-time activity until he discovered a market for specimens. He and his wife Kim began cleaning skulls in their kitchen and started a business, Skulls Unlimited, in 1986.
As the company’s reputation grew, so did the business. Universities and museums around the world provide a healthy customer base. In case you were wondering, specimens come from natural and predator deaths, road kill, etc. — legal and ethical sources of skeletons. With success came the desire to share and to educate — hence, the museum.
The museum skips lightly, thank goodness, over the process of cleaning the specimens. The closest it gets is a small case featuring the dermestid carrion beetles who do the last little bit of cleaning. Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” went into much more detail on the show. ’Nuff said.
The museum itself is bright, clean and pristine and practically a textbook of vertebrate biological classification. A few invertebrate specimens are included to show the difference between exo- and endoskeletons. Most of the collection consists of mammals but there are some representatives of the other main types of vertebrates — reptiles, amphibians, fish and birds.
Even before we got through the door into the museum proper, the boys were measuring themselves against the two whale skulls which flank the entrance. Upon entering the main hall, our attention immediately went to the hulking whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling. Even with just the bones, this behemoth humpback weighs over a ton and stretches 40 feet long.
On the floor are several elephant skulls, an entire African elephant skeleton, a giraffe, a hippopotamus and a white rhino. Children are invited to touch — gently — the bones, the hippo teeth and the rhino’s horn. Another exhibit elsewhere in the museum explains the difference between horns and antlers.
The rarest skull in the collection is the skull of a Javan rhinoceros. It is estimated that between 30 and 50 of these animals remain in the wild. Jay found this skull, from an animal killed in the late 1800s, in an antique shop in Paris.
Almost all the skulls and skeletons in the museum are from animals that can still be found in the wild or in zoos. One stunning exception is a display which includes early hominid skulls. One of my favorite displays features the apes of the primate order. Standing casually at the back of the display is a human skeleton — genus homo sapiens.
This museum is so well done that you’d have to try hard not to learn something while simply enjoying the exhibits. The museum is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5; children under 3 — one free with one adult ticket purchase.
Make no bones about it — this museum is a winner!
ELAINE WARNER is an Edmond resident.
]]>Jan 5, 2011
Karen Mitchell, Metrofamilymagazine.com
Exploring Oklahoma
Museum of Osteology a One-of-A-Kind Treasure
Do you have a child so fascinated with a hobby that you fear that it's taking focus from other "more important" priorities? Jay Villemarette would tell you not to worry. In fact, he'd tell you to encourage your child, even if that interest seems a bit eccentric. And as the Director of the new Museum of Osteology, he knows what he's talking about.
From Odd Hobby to Career ..."I found a dog skull in the woods at age seven and I've been collecting bones ever since," says Villemarette. That fascination for osteology, the anatomical study of bones, was encouraged by his father who saw his son's scientific interest in the dog skull. That encouragement and support from his father led Villemarette to a business venture that is 24 years in the making and still growing.
The new 7,000 square foot facility, located in southeast Oklahoma City, houses the hundreds of bone and skeletons that Villemarette has collected from all corners of the world.
With a mission to provide "quality educational opportunities for school groups and the public to explore the form and function of the skeletal system," the museum opened October 1, 2010. Most frequent visitors have included homeschool children groups and a few schools using the museum's collection as part of their science studies.
An Educational Destination ...As Joey Williams, Director of Education for the museum, explains, "We wanted the exhibits to be as educational as possible." This is evident from the thought and detail put into the displays.
Upon entering the museum, you immediately sense you are in for a unique and educational experience, just as you would at any of the most famous nationally-recognized natural history museums. The two-story, open-area museum begins with exhibits that start on the right and continue around the space, counter-clockwise. As Williams explains, this is because when people walk into a room, the natural tendency is for people to start exploring from the right.
The first exhibit answers the basic question, "What is a skeleton?" The exhibits then continue with displays on adaptation, locomotion, classification and diversity of the vertebrate kingdom.
"I always wanted to be an educator," says Villemarette. Fortunately, his hobby turned into a career and a way to fulfill his desire to educate. "I have a collector's gene. I have an obsession to have a complete collection. I have an obsession to learn." That obsession evolved into Villemarette's family-run business which is made up of two entities.
Before the Museum Began... Skulls Unlimited is the bone-cleaning business that served as the forerunner to the museum. Josh Villemarette, Jay's son, explains that most of Skulls Unlimited's customers are hunters (who bring specimens
in for cleaning and articulation) and colleges (who purchase specimens for educational purposes). While there are people who are in the business of cleaning bones, Jay Villemarette says that their company is the only of its kind to include an educational, museum component. An effective process of cleaning tissue from bone is one that was learned through trial and error, says Jay, whose father worked with him on various methods before settling on the preferred method currently used. The business was even recently featured on the popular Discovery channel television series, Dirty Jobs. Dirty Jobs host, Mike Rowe, participated in cleaning tissue from the bones of one of the museum's prize displays, the 2,400-pound skeleton of a 40-foot long humpback whale that hangs from the ceiling. According to Jay, the specimen is "considered the most complete humpback whale specimen in North America; every single bone is original." The carcass of this whale washed up on a Massachusetts beach and Skulls Unlimited was contacted to help with its removal. This is typical of how Villamarette comes to possess much of his collection. The lesson from the museum and its founder?, Encourage your child's hobbies and explore their interests with them. A career just may be in their future.
]]>Dec 22, 2010
Charles Martin, Oklahoma Gazette, 12-22-2010 » Page 40
Bones about It!
With all creatures great and small, the new Museum of Osteology is America’s only skeleton museum.
Museum of Osteology
10301 S. Sunnylane
www.museumofosteology.org
814-0006
$5
Families hungry for a fun, brainy afternoon outing now have a new option with the opening of the Museum of Osteology in southeastern Oklahoma City. Featuring an impressive educational return on a measly $5 admission fee, the 7,000-square-foot site bursts with an exotic menagerie of skeletons from all manner of creatures, including a hovering humpback whale and a who’s who of the extended human family tree.
More than 300 skeletons reside in impressive displays offering an informative tour through the vast structural differences in the animal kingdom. From tiny bats to towering giraffes, the lovingly assembled collection opened Oct. 1 as a labor of love for museum founder and curator Jay Villemarette, who has collected and sold bones since 1986 as part of Skulls Unlimited.
We can tell which exhibits are the most popular by which have the most fingerprints.
—Jay Villemarette
“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, but I married young and had kids young, so I didn’t have the opportunity,” he said. “This is my way to be a teacher and to give back. I’ve had a lifelong obsession with skulls and skeletons, and decided to take it one step further.”
Displays on two floors already are filled with an impressive cross section of what Mother Nature has to offer, but Villemarette said that the place will always be a work in progress, as hundreds of other skeletons are planned for inclusion.
Some of the skeletons come from his personal collection, while others, like the whale, were provided by the U.S. government for display purposes, since private ownership of marine mammal remains is illegal.
A few of the larger land mammals stand on the museum floor, like a hulking rhinoceros, with no velvet ropes holding back visitors.
“Touching is going to happen, but I believe the people that visit our museum will be respectful and won’t tear up stuff,” Villemarette said. “Most people think the rhino horn is made of wood, but that is the real horn and we want people to have the opportunity to touch a rhino horn, because that is something you can’t do in most museums. We are also planning on featuring a longhorn and putting the skull on a swivel so you can turn the horns upside down.”
To him, the form and function of bones make the exhibits fascinating. One can find a centipede-like anaconda and a long-spined otter, or even sort out the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between humans and their close cousins, such as gorillas, orangutans and other primates.
“We can always tell which exhibits are the most popular when we clean the glass and we see which exhibits have the most fingerprints,” Villemarette said. “By far, they are most intrigued by the forensic pathology, the humans and the primates. They also like the raccoon eating the Milk Duds.” Another interesting addition is a display featuring the museum’s tiniest volunteers, beetles working diligently to ready new bones for exhibition.
“The beetles are what clean the majority of our skeletons,” Villemarette said. “Under normal circumstances, it will take about three to five days for the beetles to clean a specimen, something the size as a bear skull, but it will take longer for the beetles in the display because we had to keep the colony small. Otherwise, it’d smell really bad.”
He admitted that the low admission price means the Museum of Osteology, open Mondays through Saturdays, will not make back his initial investment in his lifetime, but the nonprofit organization wasn’t meant to be a moneymaking venture. To help offset costs, a gift shop sells skulls to patrons, from mink skulls at under $30 to a human skull for more than $2,000. Villemarette said more exotic skulls like lions sometimes become available, but not often, since the shop will not sell any skeletons from poached animals.
“Depending on the species, many of our skeletons come from zoos, government agencies, from the wild. No animals are destroyed for their skeletons, though,” he said. “Most of our human remains come from body donation programs. Believe it or not, there are more rules that govern animals than humans.”
]]>Ed Godfrey, The Oklahoman
Jay Villemarette has owned Skulls Unlimited since 1986. His company cleans and preserves all types of animals for scientists, educators, collectors and hunters. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
“There is nothing we haven't cleaned and there is nothing we won't clean,” said Jay Villemarette, owner of Skulls Unlimited in southeast Oklahoma City.
Villemarette, who has been a bone collector since he was a boy, started Skulls Unlimited in 1986.
His company cleans and preserves all types of animals for scientists, educators, collectors and hunters.
The deer gun season, which ends today, is one of the busiest times of year for Skulls Unlimited. The company gets about 50 deer per day during the gun season from hunters who want a European mount, or skull mount, of their trophy.
More Oklahoma deer hunters are opting for European mounts over the traditional taxidermy method, although it's still a very small number by comparison.
Villemarette thinks Skulls Unlimited is one, and perhaps the primary reason, for the increased popularity in European mounts.
“That might be a big head of mine thinking that,” he said. “We did give birth to all of this (skull cleaning) on a commercial level. I think we bred interest over the years.
“We get more deer in every year than the year before. When we first started the company, I can't imagine we were doing 30 or 40 a season. Now we are doing 1,500 a season.”
Villemarette said he's more interested in the science aspect of his business, but Skulls Unlimited receives animals from hunters all over the world.
Half of the skulls that his company cleans and whitens are from hunters, mostly deer and bear hunters.
There are several reasons hunters opt for a skull mount. It's cheaper than traditional taxidermy. Skull mounts take up less wall space. And some just prefer it.
“I love the European mount,” said Bryce Hulsey of Newcastle, who had been bringing deer to Skulls Unlimited for many years. “I prefer the look.”
Hulsey killed a big buck in southern Oklahoma more than 20 years ago and couldn't afford a a traditional shoulder mount at the time. His father persuaded him to try the European mount and he's been hooked on them ever since.
“That got me started on bones and stones,” he said. “I shot a deer of lifetime about four years ago and everyone told me, ‘You've got to mount it.' I said, ‘Yeah, I'm going to do a skull mount' and they said, ‘Whaaat?'
“But now I've got all my buddies doing it because they think it's cool.”
Jason Gage of Del City tries to put two big bucks on his wall every year. He's starting to run out of wall space.
For that reason, plus the cost savings, all of his new trophies are European mounts.
“Plus I just like the way it looks,” he said. “It's real white and it's real clean looking.”
Gage also thinks that skull mounts are less offensive than traditional shoulder mounts of deer heads to the non-hunters who visit his home, especially women.
“I'm not married but every girlfriend I've had over the years think that deer is looking at them. The skull mounts didn't bother them as much, but they didn't like any part of it.”
]]>
Nov 15, 2010
MATT DINGER , The Oklahoman
Jay Villemarette has a few skeletons in his closet. But, he's also got skeletons in vats of solution, in beetle-filled aquariums, and drying on racks.
Jay Villemarette has a few skeletons in his closet. But, he's also got skeletons in vats of solution, in beetle-filled aquariums, and drying on racks.
His Museum of Osteology opened Oct. 1 in Oklahoma City. Osteology involves the study of bones.
Seven years in the making, the museum is the first of its kind in the country, he said. About 1,400 people already have visited, including more than 200 during a Halloween event.
The museum has about 300 skulls and skeletons on exhibition, and expansion is under way. “We'll have another couple hundred by the time we're finished,” Villemarette said.
In addition to various species of birds, reptiles, and other mammals, the museum also boasts a collection of human skeletons and skulls, including one that's been pierced by a bullet hole.
Villemarette says India and China used to export their dead, but these days, his human specimens come from people who donated to science.
Villemarette sells bones and skeletons — including human ones — through Skulls Unlimited International, the for-profit side of the museum. But human remains are available only to doctors and medical students.
“I'm not going to go against somebody's wishes. Money's not that important. It's just not,” Villemarette said.
If it was, then Villemarette wouldn't have sunk an estimated $1 million or more building the museum and its exhibits. At $5 per person, he doesn't expect to recoup his expenses in his lifetime. Additionally, the museum is nonprofit.
A large number of his specimens come from zoological parks across the nation, Villemarette said.
“Being in business 25 years, we've gotten the respect of the scientific community. It's a sad day when an animal dies,” he said. “It's an even sadder day when it goes into an incinerator or a hole in the ground.”
Museum educational director Joey Williams agrees. “Everything living dies eventually, so if we can utilize the animal after its death, we will. We try to be as ethical as possible,” Williams said.
Villemarette said he is especially proud of the humpback whale hanging from the museum's ceiling. The mammal was hauled from the eastern seaboard and cost about $25,000 from transportation to display.
Cleaning the humpback whale's bones took about two years, and then they had to reassemble the 40-foot skeleton. “We worked 28 days over a two-month period,” said Williams, who has a degree in biology education and has shifted from Skulls Unlimited to the museum full-time. He said he hopes to extend the museum's outreach program in the future.
“We don't deal in extinct species. Kids can go to the zoo and see the living animal and come here and see what's on the inside,” Williams said. “We've got a handful of animals that most museums don't have.
“Unfortunately, we have species in here that will be extinct in our lifetime.”
One such animal is the Javan rhinoceros. Villemarette came across the skull of the animal, reportedly killed in 1880, in a Paris antique shop. There are an estimated 30 to 50 living Javan rhinos left in the world.
Villemarette said one species at the top of the museum's wish list is “a giant panda.”
Read more: http://newsok.com/museum-of-osteology-open-in-southeast-oklahoma-city/article/3514718#ixzz15OtlxE4D
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Aaron Wright Gray, The Norman Transcript
NORMAN — For Jay Villemarette, a fascination with skeletons began in 1972, when he found a dog skull in the woods. Finding himself in need of a science project, the 7-year-old’s father suggested he prepare the bones. After taking the advice, Villemarette found himself the recipient of an award for his work.
“Because of my father’s encouragement, one thing led to another, and 30 years later, I started a museum,” Villemarette said.
He’s referring to the Museum of Osteology, which opened Oct. 1 at 10301 S. Sunnylane Road in Oklahoma City.
Villemarette, director, said the museum has been in the works for seven years and features some of the gems of Villemarette’s personal collection.
“Probably the prize of the museum is the humpback whale,” he said.
The whale skeleton weighs nearly 2,500 pounds and is 40 feet long. Villemarette said the skeleton came from a whale that had washed up on shore in a town near Cape Cod in 2003. It took nearly two years to clean the bones of the massive animal. Other notable skeletons include the Javan Rhinoceros, a komodo dragon and a two-faced calf skeleton.
The whale, along with other large creatures, forms the centerpiece of the museum.
Framing the walls of the two-story building are displays focusing of various species of animals such as cats, dogs and apes. There’s also a special exhibit focused on Oklahoma wildlife, featuring animal skeletons that are common to the area.
Overall, Villemarette said there are currently more than 300 skeletons in place at the museum. And for Villemarette, that number is just the beginning.
Since opening less than a month ago, Villemarette said the museum has already seen nearly 1,000 visitors, several of which were school groups.
He said he’d like to see more school groups come through, noting that his main purpose in opening the museum was for education.
Although not functioning yet, the building comes equipped with a classroom that Villemarette plans to utilize for educational studies.
He also would like to have curriculum built around the exhibits so teachers can explain facts and features to their students on tours.
While it may seem serendipitous that a skeleton-themed museum opened its doors in the same month Halloween is celebrated, Villemarette said it was just coincidence. But that’s not keeping him from having a little fun.
The Museum of Osteology is planning to celebrate Halloween 6 to 9 p.m. today with candy and prize giveaways. Admission for the event is $2.
Regular admission for visitors is $5, for both children and adults. Children under 3 enter free with one paid admission, and group rates are available. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
Villemarette also owns the store next to the museum, Skulls Unlimited International, Inc., which sells skeletons to schools, colleges and museums worldwide.
Currently, the store is the sole supporter of the museum.
Eventually, Villemarette would like to see the nonprofit Museum of Osteology became self-sustainable through admission fees.
]]>Brian Brus, The Journal Record
Even after Jay Villemarette fills his new 7,000-square-foot museum with exhibits, he'll still be left with a lot of empty space.
That's the nature of skeletons, after all: nothing but bones without skin or muscle to fill the gaps.
Consider the 40-foot humpback whale skeleton, for example, hanging from the rafters in the middle of the Museum of Osteology so that visitors on the second floor can look down and see other people through the bones.
"That is, by far, our prize piece," Villemarette said. "We get asked a lot, what is your 'holy grail?' But honestly I have to say we have a lot of holy grails. We've been very fortunate to have a lot of special specimens in our museum, a lot of pieces that other larger museums in the country don't even have.
"And we're not even halfway done yet," he said. "There's a lot more to come."
When Villemarette started construction on the 12,000-square-foot building in Moore in mid-2004, he intended to use less than half of it for Skulls Unlimited's corporate offices. The remaining space would be developed later to fulfill Villemarette's dream of a public museum so he could share his passion for osteology with others. That potential has finally been realized: October began with the museum's grand opening and will end with candy and prizes to celebrate Halloween on Saturday.
Skeletons are anything but spooky to Villemarette. He found his first skull in the woods when he was 7 years old; his father encouraged him to bring the dog specimen home and clean it up. He later did the same with a cat skull and was intrigued by the comparison.
Years later, he was still cleaning bones - even on his kitchen stove, much to the consternation of his wife - when he realized money could be made from the hobby. In 1986, Skulls Unlimited was born.
Now people routinely ship the company animal remains for cleaning and preparation. The company processes about 30,000 skull specimens per year and offers about 100 types of animal skulls for sale by catalog. It's the largest osteological supplies company in the country, if not the world, he said.
Many of the bones he receives are donations, found animals or untimely deaths at zoos, game farms and ranches. Villemarette said he accepts only legally and ethically obtained specimens. No animals are destroyed for the company.
His skeleton crew carves away as much tissue as possible by hand before turning over specimens to smaller workers: tanks of dermestid beetles, which eat all remaining tissue and leave nothing but bones.
Human specimens are a little trickier, because the bugs don't like our species as much, he said - people are unnaturally greasy because of our diets.
But none of the dirty work is obvious next door. The adjoining museum, which is a separate entity with 501(c) nonprofit status, already has 300 skeletons on display, less than half of what Villemarette plans. The exhibits range from a tiny shrew to the centerpiece whale.
Some of the rarer pieces include a Javan rhinoceros, a bonobo and Komodo dragon. Skulls Unlimited has specimens of 46 species of whales and dolphins; there are less than 80 species worldwide.
"It's anything other than a roadside museum," he said. "We've gone above and beyond to present this as attractively as possible. And everyone coming through has commented on how nice it is. They seem to be thanking us for being in Oklahoma."
The museum, which is at 10301 S. Sunnylane Rd., is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday. Entry costs $5 per person and is free to children 3 years old and younger.
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