As reader Dee said last week, "If anyone is going to post a pic of an owl pellet barf it would be Karen". She was right and today is the day. I not only have photos of the owl pellet, I also have a video of me dissecting it.
There you have it folks. The regurgitated pellet of an Eastern Screech Owl. Call the relatives because you have just witnessed something the majority of people will never see.
Like, way less people have seen an owl pellet than have seen the 7 wonders of the world for instance. Or an eclipse. Or a 50% off sale at Apple.
After weeks of hosting my owls Mr. & Mrs. Snacks, I finally found a pellet under their box. And then I found another, and another and another. Once I recognized what a pellet looked like my skill at finding them increased.
Let's recap a bit.
Table of Contents
What's an owl pellet?
- When an owl eats, it swallows it's prey without chewing. 🐀
- It can only digest the meat, not the bones, cartilage or fur. 🦴
- Anything that isn't digestible is formed into a pellet, (an oval wad made of fur, feathers, bones, etc.) which the owl regurgitates. 🤢
- Pellets are usually regurgitated under their roost when they've arrived back from feeding at night. 🌛
- It takes about 6 hours from eating to regurgitating the pellet. 🦉
- Now that I've actually seen pellets I think the best way to describe them is like hairballs. They are the same shape, size & have the same matted look of a cat hairball. 🐈⬛
It was incredibly weird to pull the pellet apart. The photos and video don't really show just how tiny the contents in it are.
Now for the main event.
Owl Pellet Dissection (Video)
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
I'll be saving future pellets to dry and then donate them to a school or science camp.
Everything Inside an Owl Pellet
I would have liked putting the bones back together into a skeleton for you but that isn't one of my skills.
I don't even know what skeleton this is that I found in my owl pellet, but it's obviously some rodent. Or maybe two. It could be anything from a mouse to a rat or a vole. I have no idea.
I really wish I knew if that arrowhead shaped thing is an ear.
And so many jawbones, but I guess once you put them all together they'd make one mouth.
Here is everything in groupings of teeth/jaws (4), claws (11), straight bones (9), rib bone (1), vertebrae (1), ear?
There was more in the pellet than is lined up in these pictures but they were tiny pieces of cartilage and confusing bits of I don't knows so I left them out.
Now go call Uncle Frank and tell him you've seen something way better than his trip to Italy pictures.
Camille Olivia
WOW!!! I realize that "wow" is a pretty lame word to use for such mastery, but at this moment I'm too blown away to come up with a more appropriate word. Normally, I'm pretty good at finding appropriate words for any given moment/emotion/etc. Not today. Today all I've got is "WOW". Oh...also THANK YOU, Miss Karen. You ROCK! Cheers!
Debbie
I’ve had my science fix for the day. So interesting! It would be nice to know exactly what those pieces belonged to.
I also have a city garden plot and the area is over run with voles. We could use
A few pairs of owls!
GinaG
Based on the ear (I think you're right), I'm wondering if one of the Snackses had Bat au Jus for dinner. Which would make me sad, because I love both bats and owls and can't we all just get along?
Linda J Howes
Well that was gross yet weirdly fascinating. Just the sort of thing I would do.
Barb
That was absolutely fascinating. Sure looks like quite a mouthful of teeth.
Jody
The amazing eclipse and then this! Today has been a day of wondrous
amazement. I'm not being facetious
Judith Bevilacqua
Thanks for this "reveal" in its eclipsed totality! I found every second fascinated me....but then, I have my father's collection of animal skeletons on my loft wall, and add to this collection my own finds. It's fun learning anthropology identification methods, after I was so bad at science in school. Rave on, O curious one...your fans await.
Vicki in Birmingham
Gosh, Owl pellets AND a solar eclipse in one day! How lucky can one gal get!? (That really was interesting)
Marcia
Gross and yet fascinating at the same time. Everytime I read your blog I learn something. Thank you.
Denise
Thanks for doing this! I’ve got an owl in my yard that drops pellets everywhere which my cats then carry around. I have always thought about doing this but was too big a sissy. LOL!
Sherie
Very cool Karen! I love stuff like this. We just had the total eclipse and it got really dark and the birds quit singing, it was kind of eery!
Frank Gregg
Truly fascinating! I love stuff like this.
As seen on "The Art.."
Karen
It was a really jam packed pellet! I've found many since then and none of them had anything close to that in them so now I'm worried my owl isn't eating well enough. ~ karen!
joan
Totally AH-MAZING ! You are the greatest Karen... now to the next adventure of my day- the eclipse !! Thanks,Joan
Karen
I do love your posts. The video was amazing! Am I the only one wondering if you sanitized your tweezers after ????and more than delighted you wore gloves LOL❤️❤️U !
Nicole Poirier-Wyss
Well. I found some kind of rodent jaw when I was a child, I still have it to this day in my jewelry drawer. I always thought it was a beaver jaw, but after reading your post and watching your video, it must be a mouse jaw and it was probably from an owl pellet! Mind blown!
Mary W
Now this was exciting. I thought at first the jaw bones were claws and maybe a neighborhood cat was now missing. Then I thought the owl obtained a part of some road kill. Then I thought I really don't have proper perspective. Then I thought - quit thinking it's only vomit after all. But this was SOOOO much fun to watch and I'm grabbing my grandson to watch as soon as I comment. I also thank you for all the kids that are going to get to not only see the video but also up close and personal at school!
Barb
My 6th grade students would dissect owl pellets when studying the skeletal system around Halloween. Some were grossed out at first but fascinated once they began to find the bones. Then they glued down a reconstructed skeleton and went to the boneyard (left over pieces) to find some bones they needed. Usually mice or voles, but one student found the skeleton of a snake!
Karen
A snake!! ~ karen
Barb
Yep, a great surprise for all of us! Out of 10+ years of doing owl pellets, that was a first.
Wendy Heath
I use Firefox and I haven't seen the last two videos you sent. Is that why?
Mary W
I use firefox and it works fine. Sorry for you loss.
Ruth Howell
I use Chrome and haven't been able to see the video either. I click on the heading saying video but nothing is happening....
Wendy Heath
Well, if it's not working on Chrome either, I just don't quite understand. Other people with Firefox seen to be able to see the video so .. ???
Karen
Hi Wendy! It could be your browser, yes. Try Chrome or Safari. Also, if you have any ad blocker on your website you won't be able to any of my videos. ~ karen!
Wendy Heath
I do have an ad blocker so maybe if I just pause it, I'll be able to see the video?
Karen
Yes you can do that, but I'd appreciate it if you added my site to your "don't block ads" list. The only way I can provide all this information and create these posts is if I get paid. If readers block ads, I don't get paid. ~ karen!
Joan Gordon
Thank you! I was riveted. Hoping more than ever that I will someday have tenants in my owl box!