This may be a little disgusting, but it is also fun!
For those of you who do not know, when an owl eats a small mammal, they will often swallow the tiny animal whole. Then, they will spit out the fur and bones in a compact little package referred to as an "owl pellet." If you happen to look around under large trees where they owls may perch, you can sometimes find these owl pellets. Much like with people, it's what's on the inside that counts, so we like to open them up to see!
TODAY'S OWL PELLET
On our way back from doing some chores this morning, I happened upon an owl pellet under a cedar tree. Soon my two oldest were there with me checking it out. We like to slowly search through the hair with the hopes of finding some bones. If you are really lucky, you may even find a skull inside it.
Red-Pepper took the lead with sorting through the hair, and Pinkie-Pepper held onto any bones that she found. It is amazing to see how much hair is actually compacted in one of these pellets.
We did find a few vertebrae and random other bones, but this pellet was mostly hair. While it may not be as exciting as finding some other things inside, it is still an interesting adventure and you never know what you are going to get.
You can see that the one last time had a lot more bones in it, and it was a lot more interesting to inspect. On the bright side, finding one that is mostly hair is a good learning experience too, since it demonstrates the variety in owl pellets.
While picking up regurgitated hair and bones may not be a hobby that everyone shares, it is a cool hands on project to teach the younger generation more about the world that we live in and the way that the natural world words. I still remember first learning about owl pellets as a young child and I've enjoyed finding them ever since.
Have any of you ever found an owl pellet in the wild? Did you already know about these? If you did find one, would you pick it up and inspect it to see what was inside? We know that it is not for everyone, but we enjoy it!
As always, I'm
and here's the proof:
proof-of-owl-pellet