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There is a place in Oklahoma, in a sea of warehouses in an industrial OKC neighborhood, where you can squeeze a rhinoceros rib, press an alligator's teeth into the pads of your fingers, rub the lacy bones hidden inside an elephant's nasal cavity, and/or watch a swarm of flesh-eating bugs eat the face from a dog's skull.
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The Museum of Osteology—America's only skeleton museum, according to its website—displays over 300 skeletons in a 7,000-square-foot building, grouped into about a dozen exhibits: locomotion, comparative anatomy, and forensic pathology are just a few of them. Suspended from the ceiling are the bones of dolphins, a manatee, and the 40-foot, 2,500-pound skeleton of a humpback whale. Admission is for sale for $6 per head.

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There's an exhibit on Oklahoma wildlife. Included is a skeleton of a bison, a fox, and a raccoon halfway through a box of Milk Duds. Plus, this guy:

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=12914" rel="attachment wp-att-12914"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-12914" title="scissortail flycatcher Museum of Osteology Oklahoma City" src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/8540148636_5d62606999_b-500x375.jpg" alt="scissortail flycatcher Museum of Osteology Oklahoma City" width="500" height="375" /></a>

Our state bird, <em>Tyrannus forficatus</em>, my all-time second favorite. 

We enjoyed our visit. Most interesting, though, was the museum gift shop. It's powered by Skulls Unlimited, "the world's leading supplier of osteological specimens" (1-800-659-SKULL), which sells various skulls to places like museums and medical schools. Inside I found various small animal skulls, snake ribs, and even human finger bones. They were priced at $10 each (reasonable?) and offered in a coffee cup near the cash register, like candy bars by the checkout at the grocery store we consumers like to buy at the last moment before the cashier asks us for our check, cash, or card.

From the store I procured a prairie dog skull (the perfect birthday gift for a certain friend) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baculum" target="_blank">the baculum bone</a> of a raccoon. I heard that when it comes to coffee stirrers, a baculum is the gold standard. Most of the time, though, I just I keep it in my purse. I like to show it to people at parties.

If you like the idea of owning your very own animal skull, <a href="http://www.skullsunlimited.com/record_collection.php?id=29" target="_blank">check out the March specials</a>. The muskrat skulls seems to be a particularly good buy. When you have a few minutes to spare, spend them perusing the rest of skullsunlimited.com. It's edifying, to say the least. If that's still not enough, try <a href="http://www.skullcleaning.com/" target="_blank">skullcleaning.com</a>.

<strong>Museum of Osteology</strong>
10301 S. Sunnylane Road, Oklahoma City
Hours are Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 1-5 p.m.
Admission is $6 for all ages 3 and up
<a href="http://www.museumofosteology.org/" target="_blank">http://www.museumofosteology.org/</a>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MuseumofOsteology" target="_blank">Museum of Osteology on Facebook</a>