Dissecting Barn Owl Pellets
I got these pellets for my God Daughter for Christmas and we spent the other day doing them together. It was so much fun!
She thought I had got her a bag of poo as a gift originally haha!
The pack came with these handy instructions and guidelines to help us identify each skeleton inside the pellets.
In hindsight, we should have dissected one pellet at a time but we went all in and did them all at once which made identifying the bones difficult!
We started by soaking the pellets in water to soften them a bit. We then started to separate them and removing some of the larger bones like the skulls.
As you can see we had a lot of skulls in varying size. We believe the one at the top to be a mouse due to its size compared to the others. It is really interesting to see the different lengths of the skulls and compare them.
I think the second down is a shrew due to its length.
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This is a lower jaw bone we think this one was a pygmy shrew. I have zoomed in here quite a lot.
These are varying vertebrae some are so tiny! but not as tiny as the bones in the hands/feet.
This is the underside of a skull, with lots of debris still. Needs a good clean.
A different angle of a skull, the size of the incisors.
Next is the small bones, unfortunately, I can't find a photo of them separated out however in that mix is thigh bones, hip bones, finger/feet bones.
Overall it was very educational, fun and certainly kept us occupied for hours.
The plan is to complete a skeleton and add it to a box frame.
This is actually quite fascinating and educational.
Where did you get the pellets?
It really was!
I got these from Ebay I just searched for Owl Pellet Pack I think it was.
I believe some Owl Trusts sell them as well.
I didn’t even know they sell that stuff. Lol
That's eerily fascinating. Was there only one skeleton per pellet or more?
Apparently so, which is what I didn't realise, I now have been lead to believe that it is one pellet per meal therefore one skeleton per pellet.
Well, you really do learn something every day!
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tokens.https://twitter.com/NathanMars7/status/1367104332152401925
Wow quite fascinating I did chuckle a bit when I saw the first pic and the headline but actually very fascinating
Ha ha glad it made you laugh.
It really was. I couldn't recommend this enough =D
Nice :)
Thank you =D
It definitely would have looked like you got her a bag of poo XD
That looks really cool! (though I don't know if my middle child would be able to stomach the exercise, she might be fascinated enough to watch her brothers do it maybe XD) Looks like a fun biology lesson :D
Do you have a curios cabinet or similar to display the little skeletons in when you've reassembled them?
It certainly did look like poo. She said only I would get her that for Christmas ha ha
I must admit it was a tadge smelly. Oddly I didn't notice at the time but when we got in from a walk I noticed the odour!
I need to get a curiosity cabinet. It's on my list =D
Glad you enjoyed the read though