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.
Margaret
Way cool!
Irene
Ooooh! The beginning of a halloween necklace/ bracelet/ ooh ooh ooh tiara!
Karen
Yes, lol!! ~ karen
Cara
super!
Christine
Building an skeleton isn’t one of your skills…yet!
So gross and so fascinating- can’t wait for the puzzle 😃
catherine powers
Super interesting and pretty funny!
Heather Lamb
Ok, that was totally gross but oddly satisfying. I think I’ve finally drank your Kool-Aid, Karen! You are AWESOME!
Karen
Welcome. ;) ~ karen!
Nancy Solak
Wow! An owl pellet and a total eclipse of the sun ALL IN ONE DAY! Not sure I can handle it! Thanks for the science lesson. Had no idea.
Karen
It's a big day! Sadly at the moment it's also a cloudy day! ~ karen
Nancy Solak
Scoot on over to Detroit--sunny, 62 degrees, cloudless. (Sorry)
Iris McDermott
This is really interesting-fascinating actually-didn't know owls swallowed their prey whole!
Had to have my coffee before I watched that video!!
Karen
Hi Iris! They really are fascinating when you try to figure them out! They're a mystery. ~ karen!
Deb from Maryland
Thank you for sharing! It is fascinating to me to learn the way animals do-what-they-do. Great photos.
Chris W.
From the sound of it, I'm the only one who could not finish watching this video...my stomach started to tell me to stop. I love your interest in wildlife but guess I'll just have to stick to your observation powers of the living things. However, I do very much like your ability to persevere. Keep going after knowledge that works for you. Please know that I mean no disrespect in any way - my stomach apparently has a mind of it's own!
Karen
I'm impressed you even tried to watch it! I know not everyone wants to look at that sort of thing. No offence taken! ~ karen
Sabina
The million dollar question is, are these treasures enticing to Philip? Do I need to be on owl poop patrol so that Penny doesn’t feast and choke to death on these things? Or should we not put an owl box in the backyard? I would like to put one in the front and back yards.
Karen
Philip does sniff around right below the owl box! He hasn't eaten the pellets or shown interest in eating them, but another dog might. ~ karen!
Bev
Excellent! Really interesting! Thank you 😊
Joy
Wow, so fascinating, and yes, I have to agree if anyone would do it , dissect, an owl dissect, an owl, furball pellet, it would be you. It’s nice to know that there are other people who are as weird and crazy, as I am.!! Love, your humor and your blog, you’re the best you make me smile first thing in the morning!!, can’t wait to hear more about mr. and Mrs. and hope they have lots of little babies! XJoy
Joy
Well it’s clear that I did not finish proof reading my post before it went flying off😵💫sorry about that! Joy
SJ
This is a throwback to my childhood! I spent many a happy camping holiday at Loch Lomond searching on the islands for owl pellets to dissect! Happy memories. Thank you for bring that to mind.
Grammy
That is fascinating. Someone out there must be able to look at the array and give us a clue about just what animal that might have been. It seems to me that the claws and jawbones look like they came from a completely different critter than those delicate little "long" bones from limbs. But I took high school biology class more than 60 years ago, and we didn't dissect any rodents, so I quite literally don't know what I'm talking about. Just that in my imagination there would be this tiny little creature with a massive head and enormous claws on the ends of weak little arms and legs. Ewww.
bridget
Love this article - you are the best.
Arthur Soles
What would you call a person who examines Owl Pellets?
Karen
A prowler. - karen!
Jack
A pellaphyle?
Randy P
Tune in next week for another episode of CSI DUNDAS..... dun-dun-dunnnnnn. Starring Karen Bertelsen D.O. - Doctor of Owlology.
Susan Jacobs
Cool pictures. Looks like more than one animal in that pellet. That size owl will eat more than one animal in a night.
Suzanne
Super cool we have Great Greys here. Once in awhile get a pellet. So fascinating.