annegables Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 My kid is super into bones of all kinds so I am going to order some owl pellets for him to go to town on. My question is this: do the larger pellets contain more interesting stuff in them? I assume this is the case, that the bigger the pellet, the more bones there are inside. But then I got to thinking that maybe the owl has a larger poop because it contains more...poop... to help move the indigestibles along. If the bigger pellets contain more bones, than the larger size is completely worth it, because the cost per volume is lower for the larger pellets. But I dont want to pay extra for, ehem, turds. And thus ends the weirdest thought process I have ever committed to writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Owl pellets aren't poop. They are more like puke! Does that help? 😂 The nice thing is that every one is a guaranteed winner - they all have a skeleton. It is the parts of their food that couldn't be processed in their guts, so it gets regurgitated to make room for the next meal. Talk about the potential for disordered eating! I don't know the answer to your question exactly, but it stands to reason that larger pellets will at least have bones from a (slightly) larger prey. When we did owl pellets the internet gave us a nice set of likely skeleton diagrams that the kids taped skeleton pieces on to as part of identifying them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Also, you might consider getting a "3 pack" if they have such a thing -- or, one large pellet and one smaller pellet -- as that increases your chances of additional types of bones. Plus, it's owl pellets and bones -- you really can't lose, even if all pellets just have vole bones. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annegables Posted February 16, 2020 Author Share Posted February 16, 2020 43 minutes ago, SusanC said: Owl pellets aren't poop. They are more like puke! Does that help? 😂 The nice thing is that every one is a guaranteed winner - they all have a skeleton. It is the parts of their food that couldn't be processed in their guts, so it gets regurgitated to make room for the next meal. Talk about the potential for disordered eating! I don't know the answer to your question exactly, but it stands to reason that larger pellets will at least have bones from a (slightly) larger prey. When we did owl pellets the internet gave us a nice set of likely skeleton diagrams that the kids taped skeleton pieces on to as part of identifying them. Oh, I I had no idea (obviously😁)! That does really answer my question. I never even considered that it wasn't poop. Thank you! I was planning on buying at least 10, because I have 3 kids and I am sure they will want to do this several times. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Be aware if you have cats they may find owl pellets fascinating--ours did. Presumably because they smell like rodents. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annegables Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 2 hours ago, parent said: Where are you buying this? I ended up buying them on Ebay, but if I ever want to buy more owl pellets, I would probably get the 1 gal bag on pelletlab.com. I dont want to admit how much time I spent pricing owl pellets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 No advice about pellets, but there are videos of owls (including babies) expelling pellets that are interesting. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet2ndchance Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 (edited) We got ours from either Carolina Biological or Home Science Tools, and I could swear that I got a package of like 8- 10 of just the pellets because I had a group of kids doing it. We did owl pellet dissection several times when my big kids were little. Some of their neighborhood public schooled friends usually joined us. I usually had enough for each kid to have one and I want to say it was around $15 - $20. I can't find that package anymore but the activity was always a huge hit with kids over 7 or 8 years old. I remember doing it in public school in 3rd grade. I have a homeschool mom friend whose husband is a ranger in a national park. They always hoped that he would find an owl pellet while he was at work since one of the animals he frequently ran into was owls. But, he never seemed to come across any so she ended up ordering them for their dd to dissect when she was in elementary school. Finally, when their dd was a senior in high school I believe (and still homeschooled), he went out to his truck one morning to go to work and found an owl pellet on the hood, lol. Yes, the dd did dissect the pellet after they heat treated it lol. Edited February 21, 2020 by sweet2ndchance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 When I taught 3yo preschool, we dissected owl pellets as part of a Tree Homes unit. In case anyone finds it interesting, I will try to link a super-short video. https://photos.app.goo.gl/FA3upWDFmrCC3hz29 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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