I am doing research for the Summer Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges and one of the challenges is going to be about owls. I would like to use owl pellets as part of the challenge but our family has never done that activity before and I would greatly appreciate any advice or recommendations for particular owl pellets or kits that you have used in the past. I know there must be families that read this blog that have completed this particular project who could help me out with some direction.I looked on Amazon.com and there are quite a few different products available but I'm not sure which ones are the best even after reading the reviews. Here are a few I am looking at:
Owl Pellet (vole) or this one Student Kit or this book and pellet.
Please email me with any information or recommendations you might have:
harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
Thanks so much!
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI don't know these kits you mention in your post but to manipulate and identify the feeding habits of owls through pellets, all you need is a pair of tweezers (the kind that has pointed ends), a good magnifier lens (if you have a microscope all the better) plus good guides to identify rodent species through their teeth and hair, which are the main pellet components and those that allow you to identify the species the owls have been feeding on. Teethe can be observed directly with magnifiers and identified with the help of a guide and are often enough to find out what the owls have eaten. Hair is more tricky, but you can give it a try. Often, identification implies looking at hair cross-sections. An easy and inexpensive way to do this is to use the inner spongy part of the elder plants stems. Once dry, they can be cut into small sections and you get a series of tiny cilinders. You can then cut these with a razor blade in two halves (cutting along the long edge and getting two half cilinders), you put a bit of glue on them, then a small tuft of hair on top of one and then you cover with the other half cilinder. Let it dry and then, using the razor blade again, cut thin slices - between the two thin stems halves, you'll have your hair cross-sections. You can now look at them under the microscope.
I hope this is not too confusing - it is really simple to do, but a bit hard to explain, especially when not using your own language...
Oh, I've just been looking at your links and realised you're planning to actually buy the pellets, so you already know there's a vole in it - well, that takes away part of the fun, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteWhen first reading your post and knowing that you live in an area surrounded by nature, I assumed you were planning the collection of true pellets in nature - that's actually not very hard if you have an area with old trees - you just have to look on the trees and the ground beneath them.
Pequete,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on owl pellets. I am looking for something to suggest for the participants of the OHC since many of the families either don't have access to places to gather their own owl pellets or they don't have the time. I think the activity is worthwhile so I was hoping to give families some options as part of the owl challenge.
I also know there are moms out there that don't have any experience with identifying the bones in the pellet and it might make their lives easier if they could get a pellet with a particular animal's bones so they aren't frustrated in the identification of the specimens.
I am still researching options at this point.
Thanks again for the help.
I have no suggestions, but have you guys been to the UCD Raptor Center? We went and really learned a lot. They have owl pellets there you can dig through. ;o)
ReplyDeleteMy kids did this during a summer camp many years ago, but I have never done it and it looks like fun!
ReplyDeleteI noticed that Home Science Tools also sells the kits ($4.50) and they seem to come with tweezers and a bone sorting chart so that you can identify what the owl ate. There is a short little video on their website showing you what to do.
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/owl-pellet-dissection-kit/p/PM-OWLKIT/
Hope this helps!
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. It was one that I was looking at as well in the catalog.
I appreciate your help.
My daughter and I used the "pellet & book" you linked to. We also had extra pellets I'd bought at a homeschool convention. I would recommend each family getting more than one pellet (1 per person including mom perhaps?) because part of the "neat discovery" is comparing what is in them. When we dissected, Alex picked a large pellet while I had a smaller pellet. She ended up having 3 small skeletons while I had 1 large one.
ReplyDeleteOh... I meant to leave a link to my old post... 2005! http://alexml.blogspot.com/2005/08/owl-pellets.html
ReplyDeleteOh my this is timely...picking up the 120 bales of straw we need for the farm we also picked up OH 20 owl pellets from beneath his perch in the barn.....they are out in the truck....the farmer guy thought we were nuts.....gotta get them out!
ReplyDeleteI haven't purchased yet, but this is where I was considering ordering from:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pelletlab.com/barn_owl_pellet
There is an online bone chart here:
http://www.biologycorner.com/resources/Owl_Pellet_Bone_Chart_grid.pdf
And a printable "worksheet" here:
http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/owlpellet.html
We've never done this...can't wait to see what you come up with! Great ideas so far!
ReplyDeleteCathy,
ReplyDeleteAwesome resources online and free! I knew if I asked that there would things I hadn't found yet.
Thanks to everyone for their help and guidance. I think we have some winners to give as options for the OHC Summer Series challenge for owls.
I am really excited!
Barb-
ReplyDeleteWe did this last year, but were able to collect pellets from a nest we were watching. But one resource I found online that my kids enjoyed was KidWings- a virtual owl pellets dissection site: http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/flash/v4/index.htm
We have been looking online at various Owl Houses (similar to birdhouses only bigger and with owl-specific features/placement) to construct this summer as we are hoping to attract some owls to our land (barn, screech, etc).
ReplyDeleteHow interesting that you should post about owls.
They are fascinating and we're looking forward to potentially being able to observe them first hand.
Thanks.
Tammy
I would definitely recommed starting with one you buy. While our "skeleton" came together pretty well, at school the "found in the wild" pellets didn't work so well in one class--some kids really only had tiny bits of bone. After you've done one the wild ones are much more challenging and get them into it, but can be very frustrating to start with. Just my two cents!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kelsey for the link. I am going to include it in the challenge. :)
ReplyDeleteTammy-Keep me posted on the progress of your owl boxes. I would love to hear if you have any one move in once you get them set up.
Hopewell-Thanks for the info about the pellets.
Barb