Class Response

This year in science class, my favorite activity, by far, has been the dissection of owl pellets.Owl pellets are masses of bone, teeth, hair, feathers, and exoskeletons from its prey. During this experiment, we were given an owl pellet to dissect. As we dissected the pellet, we took apart the bones and reassembled them to make a skeleton. In my particular owl pellet, I got a rodent. This activity was fairly difficult because the bones were very small and fragile. I found it very interesting because even though the bones went through a strenuous process in the owl's body, they still managed to come out intact.

To gain further information about owl pellets, I visited the site "biologycorner.com". In this site, I learned more information about owl pellets that I didn't know before. For example, there is an entire ecosystem contained in one owl pellet. This is because beetles and other insects feed on the fur and feathers or use the pellet as shelter. I also learned that owls are similar to snakes because they both swallow their prey whole. On the other hand, snakes are able to digest the fur and bones unlike owls.

Article: http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/owlpellet.html, Owl Pellets; Source: The Biology Corner, Internet