What’s for dinner?
7th graders dissect owl pellets to find out
by Sara Walsh
March 28, 2008
The Life science class has been studying the animal phyla and has been learning many new facts. They are always excited to hear parasite stories (cook your meat!), how the Komodo dragon stalks its prey (after it slimes it with toxic saliva), and how mollusks may completely blend into their environment.
This learning is often backed up by animal dissections. The students are asked to find certain body parts dealing with various systems, and then analyze how these animals are more advanced than previous animals studied. Their most recent dissection didn’t include a living thing, however, but something that came from one! The students took apart owl pellets to see what the owl had recently eaten. Since owls regurgitate their prey’s body parts that cannot be digested, students were able to find entire bone and a great deal of fur.
Based in great part on the skull pieces that were found, then students were then able to identify the animal that had become the owl’s last meal. It was interesting to see the teeth, claws, and many little bones of these critters. The owl mainly eats rodents, but students did find remnants of a small bird in one pellet.
What’s for dinner?
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