Part 1 Owl Pellet Dissection

Part 1 Owl Pellet Dissection

·       What to submit for this part:

o   Completed Table 1 (1.5 point)

o   Photo of chart with sorted bones (3 points)

o   Photo of reconstructed skeleton or skeletons (3 points)

o   Completed Table 2 (1.5 point)

o   Completed graph of species numbers (3 points)

Procedure

1.     Remove the pellet from the aluminum foil.

2.     Measure the length and width of the pellet and record these measurements in Table 1.

Table 1. Owl Pellet Measurements
Length	6 cm
Width	3.4 cm

3.     Place the pellet on the dissecting surface. Carefully separate the bones from fur or feathers onto another part of your surface using your fingers and available tools.

4.     Carefully clean the bones by picking or scraping off debris and sort them according to type—skulls, jaws, vertebrae, etc.

5.     When you are sure that all bones have been separated, dispose of the other materials in the trash or compost bin.

6.     Identify the animals found in your pellet by matching the bones in your pellet with those in the Bone Sorting Chart.

7.     Place each bone beside the matching bone on the Bone Sorting Chart. You may have many of each type or just a few.

8.     Take a photo of your chart with the sorted bones.

9.     Reconstruct a partly complete (or complete – lucky you!) skeleton of one prey animal. Glue the parts on a sheet of paper and take a photo.

1.  Record the types and numbers of animals in Table 2.

Table 2. Kinds and Number of Animals Found in Owl Pellets
	# Rats	# Voles	# Mice	# Shrew	# BIrd	# Other
Your Data		1	5		1

12.  Construct a bar graph of the data in Table 2 using the grid below or another source.

                                    Rat     Mole          Mice     Shrew         Bird                  Other

 Key: 1 square=1 animal

Herbert the Pellet

my daughter named it Herbert, because my six year old feels compelled to name everything!

Herbert was a dark brown color as you can see and while very light in weight it was more dense than I had anticipated

Herbert the Many,

we had to adjust the name once she realized it was full of more than one animal 

Upon dissection and matching up of bones I found that this owl's main diet was mice, with the exception of 1 mole and a few pieces of a bird. Perhaps the bird was left over from a different time or it's poor little bones were crushed into oblivion.

The pieces at the bottom of the sorting paper were a few bone fragments and pebbles?

Colossaurus

Yes, my daughter was at it again, this mole's name was spawned from the fact we had just watched the new Jurassic Park movie.

While I know for a fact that the jawbones are from a mole as they are at 18cm in length and the teeth are angled, I am not positive about the partial piece of skull.