It's Gross! It's Cute! (I Am Speaking of Two Different Things Here)
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 10:07PM Today was the day the class dissected an owl pellet.
Do you know what an owl pellet is? I'll tell you what it is (and I'm sorry for it): it's the stuff that an owl cannot digest, and the owl's body somehow separates it out, rolls it all up into a ball while it's (what the owl ate) still inside of it (the owl), and then the owl, I don't know, hocks a hairy loogie full of bones. And feathers. And fur.
YES IT IS AS GROSS AS IT SOUNDS.
They said it was sanitary. That you could even touch it with your bare hands, and it wouldn't hurt you.
NO THANK YOU, VERY MUCH, I'M NOT EVEN TOUCHING IT WITH GLOVES ON.
I'm not saying it wasn't a good experience for the kids. They loved it. Eliana's sweet teacher came and helped her sort through her pellet. She found an entire skull and a bunch of bones.
And it was kind of cool, but it's one thing to find a skull in the desert, and another thing entirely to find one (or five) in a little furball on the plate in front of you, you know? (And don't misspell desert, because finding any of this in your dessert would be more than a little traumatic. It might make for a good weight loss plan, though.)
Michaela really enjoyed this science activity, and in fact, had already done this very thing at her cousin's house in the spring. That time, they used sticks. This time, she went the bare hands route.
IS SHE SERIOUSLY MY DAUGHTER?! SOMETIMES IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE!
She also brought the things she found (3 skulls! Plus some other bones!) home in a baggie. What on earth am I going to do with rodent bones? What, I ask? Is this what a hope chest is for?
And now, because I can hardly even look at this blog post without hurling (ironically), here is something that is totally unrelated to regurgiation.
Eliana worked on this tonight. It's quite the masterpiece.
Detail, bottom right corner
Detail, bottom center
Detail, center, from a different angle
She did say it was a farm, and I imagine there are owls around a farm...so there is a correlation. I was hoping to avoid one. I'm sorry.
I was thinking of making brownies tonight. Now, I'm just not sure.
Reader Comments (4)
I mistakenly helped John sort through his bones (including 3 skulls!) bare-handed. I regretted that decision when the activity was followed promptly with lunch. I couldn't get the picture of mouse fur out for my head. I did think it was a super cool activity though.
I'm queasy just seeing pictures of the owl pellet. What a neat activity for kids, but I just don't think I could see it. The artwork was much easier to look at!
Hey! I just read about owl pellets on another blog. It must be owl pellet week in homeschool land.
Reason #367 why I didn't homeschool!
Oh my gosh, I dissected an owl pellet in school, which I had completely forgotten about until this post. Sigh. Good times. Well, kinda awkward, disgusting times.