I found an owl pellet yesterday when I was looking for bugs on the roof. There was this grey lump on the edge of the roof, and when I looked at the lump it had bones in it. I realized it was an owl pellet. I knew it was an owl pellet because just the day before my brother and I dissected an owl pellet that my brother’s teacher (Mrs. B.) gave us. It was an amazing coincidence.
Owl pellets exist because when owls eat an animal they can’t digest the bones and fur, so they cough it up in a sausage-shaped pellet. To dissect the pellet, we put it in water for a few minutes to help it come apart. When it started coming apart my mom got out her forceps and started taking out the bones. We found vertebrae, ribs, leg bones, and maybe a pelvis. But we didn’t find a skull, which was disappointing.
We took a picture of the pellet and a picture of the bones we found inside. We live next to a canyon, the only thing separating the canyon from our yard is a chain link fence. We haven’t seen any owls, but we’ve heard them hooting. We’ve also heard a mother owl making a clacking sound with her beak to her babies. And now we have evidence of an owl sitting on our roof, so they might be closer than you think!
This the pellet that I found, sitting in a plastic tupperware.
These are the bones Mom found, spread out on a paper plate.
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