Monday 11 November 2024

Owl pellets

Now this may not tickle your fancy, but having dropped science in high school, I am happy to be able to do Citizen Science. It really restricted my options, sadly. 

 I had a mystery. Our Barred Owl left me several pellets under the base of the owl tree. These happen when owl poops white mute out the rear end, and vomits up the bones, shells, and fur of undigestible parts. It has a pungent odor, once dry, less so. 


I laid them out on a large ceramic coaster! Using my large tweezers, I removed the furry bits.



I took out my zoom lens for the iPhone. The focus distance is 2.5 cm, and it is tricky with eye issues. 

Using the zoom lens on the iPhone, the first time, not bad.







Most of these bones are from Meadow Voles, AKA field mice. They are ubiquitous. 

First, let me show you a toe biter I caught during frog moving season. This was a major clue. If you look in the photos above, you can the the exoskeleton of the digested bug. 

Unsatisfied with my first images, I tried placing the wee bones on a piece of fake velvet.




That was better. 



16 comments:

DeniseinVA said...

That’s really fascinating Jenn. You would have made a great science teacher.

Tom said...

...you are quite a citizen scientist.

Christine said...

Thanks for sharing this science!

Jeanie said...

You and my vet would get on well. She's very into poop!

Barbara Rogers said...

what a fun science project! I would never have imagined Mr. Owl had all those bones inside, then vomited them up in that one mass. Glad it was compacted and mashed into something not so sharp. what an amazing critter!

Anvilcloud said...

Sue has tried the zoom lens but no longer bothers. I imagine the newer phones with the built in lens, do it much better.

RedPat said...

We did such examinations from various creatures in university and it was always intriguing.

DrumMajor said...

I loved Anatomy and Physiology while in Nursing school. We got extra points if we could guess the bones placed in a covered box with a hole in it for our hands to feel the mystery bone. You've created very good Citizen Science photos. I couldn't even smell the owl poo, er, pellets. Owls must have tough guts to filter out those bones. Poor little voles. Linda in Kansas

Elephant's Child said...

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Kudos to you for doing this. There is a lot to be learned and it’s fascinating too.

Red said...

I did the owl pellet exercise once. It's a very teachable moment.

Ontario Wanderer said...

Nice dissection and photos. I do not think I would have the patience.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Cool:)

eileeninmd said...

Great finds, I love the owl.
Take care, enjoy your day and the week ahead.

Mary Kirkland said...

That is so interesting. I like little mice.

Kay said...

This was so very interesting, Jenn. I had no idea there was such a thing as zoom lens for the iphone. Wow!