I am so thankful that when it comes to homeschool science, Husband is more than willing to step up and handle all the gross stuff. (Like the infamous chicken mummy!) He thinks it is cool. What a guy.
This past week we studied owls. Who knew those adorable little birds were so interesting? I took care of the books and cute owl craft portion of the lesson; husband handled the owl pellet. And I have to say, even though I was far too grossed out to touch it, the whole experience was pretty neat.
Princess was absolutely fascinated. It totally appealed to her meticulous personality, and since Husband has been teaching her all the bones in the body for the past couple of months, she loved picking out all the different types of animal bones in the pellet. Trouble was interested for a while, but eventually got bored–it took a couple hours to make it through the whole pellet–and wandered off to play Legos instead.
For those of you wondering what an owl pellet actually is, it is a bundle of undigestible animal parts (mostly bones and feathers) that an owl regurgitates after eating a whole animal. Owls don’t have teeth to chew, so they simply swallow their prey whole, then get rid of the parts they can’t digest. Our pellet had FOUR separate animals in it! So gross, but pretty cool too! (You can buy a kit of your own here for around $6. Totally worth every penny!)
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Have you ever dissected an owl pellet?
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Barb February 15, 2013 at 9:16 am
I loved reading her recap: “I want to do it every day.” I think she liked it! What a neat project.
Ruth February 15, 2013 at 2:26 pm
Oh she loved it! She has asked every day since if we can do it again, and she is keeping all the little bones & skulls in a plastic bag in her nightstand (ew!)
Darcy February 15, 2013 at 9:30 am
I don’t think I would be able to do that one either but they look really into it! Your husband does too. That is so neat that he can do that type of stuff with them.
Ruth February 15, 2013 at 2:28 pm
I love that he loves doing it!
Jan February 15, 2013 at 9:52 am
My kids would LOVE this! Ordering now!
Ruth February 15, 2013 at 2:27 pm
Let me know how it goes!
Kayla Starrett February 15, 2013 at 11:58 am
What an interesting project! I learned something new haha
Ruth February 15, 2013 at 2:27 pm
Glad I could provide a little education!
Mari February 15, 2013 at 3:40 pm
Oh how cool! My son would love this!!! We will try later in the year. This post reminded me of all the pellets I have to rake on our wonderful ranch in CA. It seems yucky, but I sure do miss being home. The military moved us across the country just shortly after we happily purchased our dream home…The beautiful tress provide homes for the owls there and we find plenty of free pellets. Can’t wait to plan our move back!
Claire @ A Little Claireification February 15, 2013 at 3:47 pm
Ok… first chicken mummies and now owl pellets?? lol I learned something new too!
(and I am thinking about Boarding School as opposed to Home School so I don’t ever have to do this… hahaha).
xo,
Claire
Angie D. February 17, 2013 at 10:40 am
I love the idea that some entrepreneur had the good sense to collect these and sell them at a reasonable price. Talk about recycling!