Bob:
 
When I worked at the Smithsonian Institution, Wash., D.C., in the Division
of Mammals, we actually had a special room devoted to ... bacula.
 
Bat bacula (eentsie weentsie items -- one woman's job was to write the
Smithsonian's accession numbers -- a 6 digit number -- on every single
bone...what a job!), rat bacula (yes, Burt is famous/notorious for his work,
especially of ways to tell some species of New World rats & mice apart, and
how they reproduce...  in great, numerical, detail of how and when and how
long and how many and how often and...  you get the picture), all the way to
whale and walrus bacula (wow!) including some wonderful examples of Native
American Alaskan art.  We had some "fertility" (and how!) carvings 6+ feet
long made from whale bacula.
 
The most fun was that workers there, my then-SO included, loved to take
their parents on tour...  and include that room.  I'll never forget the look
on Mrs. M's face when she finally realized what she'd been looking at and
handling...  the only time I ever saw her speechless.  She didn't speak to
her son, or to me, for a good hour afterwards.  Hey, wasn't *my* idea...  he
thunk it up all on his own.
 
Several species of mice and rats, notably the deer mice, or Peromyscus,
cannot be told apart in the field, and the best way to "key" them out is to
reduce a male to bones (eeewwwww, they're so cute, I cannot imagine doing
this deliberately) and inspect his baculum.
 
I always enjoy your contributions to the FML -- the way you describe things
biological, and your wonderful analogies, usually give me a smile.
 
JodyLee Estrada Duek                    [log in to unmask]
Faculty Development Specialist          520/626-2203
Division of Academic Resources          520/626-6707 (secretary)
U. of Arizona School of Medicine        520/626-4879 (fax)
Tucson, Arizona  85724
[Posted in FML issue 1499]