Owl Pellet Lab Lab Hypothesis: Owls swallow their prey alive.

Owl pellets are not all the same size.

  (bio lab 234)
See an owl holding its prey.
Study this website about the physiology of owl digestion.

Procedures:

1. Your first goal is to get all of the bones separated from the fir.

• Twist the pellet to break it into two or three pieces.
• Be careful not to break any whole bones.
• Use probe and tweezers to pick out the bones.
• When you think you have all the bones out, rub the fir between your fingers. If you feel anything hard, it's a bone. You need them all!
• Discard the fir and place the bones on a clean sheet of paper.

2. Arrange the bones in the following groups:

skulls and jaws vertebrae ribs hips and shoulders legs feet and toes

click for more

3. How many animals are represented in your pellet?

• Use the bones to support your answer in the conclusion.

4. What species of animals are found in your pellet?

• Use these pictures and identify the animals in your conclusion.

Some of the possible prey animals are:
White-Footed Mouse Short-Tailed Shrew Meadow Vole	Eastern Woodrat Norway Rat Eastern Mole

Conclusion:

• Is the hypothesis correct? Use the bones to support your answer.
• How many animals were represented in your pellet? Use the bones to support your answer.
• What species of animals were represented in your pellet?
• Do you have the bones to make a complete skeleton?

Research Links:

• Owls and other Raptors - The Raptor Center
• Owls of North America - The Owl Page
• Owls - Owl Research Institute
• Rodents - Animal Diversity Web