We think the Owls just come after our dinner because we go outside and look for them and we listen for them and …we see them! The wings are totally quiet but their call is noisy. They are supposed to say “who cooks for you….who cooks for you all” but we haven’t heard that yet! (This is probably because it's actually the barred owl not the barn owl that 'says' this!)
Our neighbors, Janice, Hans and Dayo, brought us an owl pellet from their yard because they know we like to think these are 'our' owls. An owl pellet is something that the owl eats then it takes all the left over stuff it has eaten and it makes it into a ball inside its body and….it spits it out, then your neighbor finds it in the garden! We have found one in our parking space – and it looks like the same but it looks like someone has driven over it.
The owl pellet that Dayo brought over. It was a broken ball
shape a little bigger than a quarter around. It was dry and light.
We took it apart and it seemed that one of the bones inside the owl pellet was kind of like a mouse because it didn’t look like a bird and it was as small as your fingernail on your thumb if you are a five year old.
We found a skull (above) , some leg bones, back bones (vertebrae), ribs, lots of fur and a few feathers. 
And we think there was something else in there that came from the feathers…OR the mouse was bringing the feathers home to make a nest and instead... the owl ate it! A mouse can’t have a feather sticking out of it!
The bones we found - some were so tiny!
3 comments:
Owen, those bones are so cool! You were very patient to take the time to take them all out of the pellet. That was a good idea to use the penny in the photo to show us how tiny the bones really are.
Yesterday we had another neighborhood dessert potluck. It was on the block below ours, near the end of the trail that goes down from Nancy and Hiroshi's house. It was fun but we sure missed having you and Finny and mom and dad there. Natalie let Hank drive her electric pink Jeep again - remember that from last year?
Owen, before our school had Science kits for Wood, Fabric, and Animals (fish, snails, worms, & isopods) I would order owl pellets from a company that collected them from forests in Oregon. Wouldn't it be interesting to compare a pellet from an African owl and one from an Oregon owl? I like the idea of soaking it in water first. We never did that and I think if we had it would have been easier to open the pellet without breaking some of the interesting bones inside.
Mrs. Goethe
I've always wanted to check out an owl pellet! I have some mouse skulls and other animal skulls that I'll have to show you when we see you again. We miss you and your family!!! I know you had fun with Nana and Papa and Grandma Bev.
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