“If I don’t want to talk to (other people), I tell them I manage a museum exhibit company,” said Eric Humphries, who’s worked at the company for 14 years and now is its production manager. “If I want to talk to them, I tell them I clean skulls and skeletons for a living.”<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
Skulls Unlimited takes skulls and skeletons — human and animal — strips them of tissue, sanitizes them and sells them. Almost all of the company’s business in human bones comes from museums and educational groups, with prices starting at $349 for a human skull to $3,700 for a full skeleton.<\/p>\n
“We’re probably one of the few suppliers in the country that has real human skulls,” Villemarette said.<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
The process isn’t for the squeamish. Once a set of bones arrives at the company, workers carve off as much tissue as they can by hand. Then the dermestid beetles do the rest. Villemarette gladly removes the lid of one tank in which the bugs are feasting on tissue that remains on the skulls of two alligators, two dogs, a grizzly bear and a gazelle, picking up one of the skulls to offer an onlooker a better view of the process.<\/p>\n
Flies can be a problem around the skulls, as a fly strip loaded down with the dead pests attests. Biohazard signs are numerous, as skulls in various states of preparation lie scattered on the floor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You can learn something new every day, even Halloween! Plasmid shows us some weird biology to ponder: Here it is, just in time for Halloween, three treats from the annals of animal oddities: Repair Your Knee With Spider\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Silk Can … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-1h","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":276,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=276","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":0},"title":"Clue to bee problem revealed","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"September 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I had mentioned the problem of bees disappearing, referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder, back in April. A solution has yet to be found, but a clue is finally giving researchers a direction to go in. Apparently, bees have been imported from Australia over the years, and those bees might\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Science in Action"","block_context":{"text":"Science in Action","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":198,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=198","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":1},"title":"Dolphin tail, disappearing bees","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"April 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a very interesting story about creating a prosthetic fin for a dolphin. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium unveiled a one-of-a-kind prosthetic fin Friday that could help the young dolphin Winter avoid developing a curvature of the spine which could put her in a permanent \"bend\" position. The female lost her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Science in Action"","block_context":{"text":"Science in Action","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=90","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":2},"title":"Sniffing out the bees","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"November 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"It is interesting to step away from the human experience and try to grasp what other creatures on this planet experience. Apparently, bees and other insects are immersed in smell. Insects live in a hidden world of scent. ''That's the dimension in which they function,'' says entomologist Gregory Wheeler of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Science in Action"","block_context":{"text":"Science in Action","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":760,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=760","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":3},"title":"Vampire moths and evolution","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"October 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Congratulations to Jennifer Zaspel, an entomologist at the University of Florida. Her work on evolution in action was in National Geographic News yesterday. A previously unknown population of vampire moths has been found in Siberia. And in a twist worthy of a Halloween horror movie, entomologists say the bloodsuckers may\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=760#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":762,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=762","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":4},"title":"Bugs, Mercury and Hubble","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"October 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"University of Florida scientist have compared the mitochondrial DNA of several different arachnids in an effort to map out just far back these critters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ancestry goes. 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