Owl Pellet Fun!
Eston, Zamya, and Bailey
Initial Pellet
Our initial pellet looked like the one above. While the camera angle may be a bit misleading, it is about 3" and 9/16 of an inch, it was bout .5"-1" wide, and weighed 14.7 grams. It looked full of bones, as a skull is extremely easy to see, and it was one of the largest pellets in the bag.
Excavation
As we worked through the pellet, many bones were found including the skull above. We mostly used 2 pliers for excavating the bones, while we used certain picks to get some of the debris out after the initial excavation process had been completed.
Identification Process
When the bone is mostly excavated, it was handed over to the bone identifier. In this case, the previously found skull was cleaned some more before compared with the chart. After little time, it was identified as a rat skull, and this caused us to look for more of the rat's anatomy.
Mounting
As many of the rat bones became clean, we knew it was time to piece together the rodent. slowly and carefully the bones were identified and positioned in relativity to the first bone we found, the skull. Although the hands and feet are missing from the rodent, the pieces fit and we are left with (most of) a common rat skeleton!
Owl Food Web and Questions
(Fig1: http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/food_chain/images/web2.png)
A. It would increase the Owl population and increase the Shrew population.
B. It would decrease the Owl population and increase the Shrew population.
C. It would increase the Owl population and decrease the Shrew population.
D. It would increase the Spider population.
Suddenly, the Spider population plummets to an all time low. How would this most directly affect the ecosystem?
A. The Owl population will also drop.
B. The Shrew population will decrease.
C. The Grass population will increase.
D. The Grasshopper population will decrease.
Fun and Games!
http://kidwings.com/nests-of-knowledge/virtual-pellet/
Dissect an owl pellet and learn about the certain rodent's skeleton without the mess!
Have fun while learning various owl facts!