Owl Pellets

Sunday night, Lexi turns to me and says "I am so nervous for tomorrow"  I'm like OK...for what.  Well apparently they were going to be digging through owl pellets.  I started cracking up.  I had to do this when I was in fifth grade too.  I told her how disgusting this was and we even had a kid throw up in our class.  I assumed that they would wear plastic gloves now because of all the environmentalist freaks out there, but they don't.  What they do is pick around this brown nasty pellet and dig out bones that will eventually be glued to a black piece of paper showing a skeleton of a mouse.

Well Monday after school she came home and I asked her how it went and she actually liked it and didn't think it was too bad.  Again today she said how it was kind of interesting and not gross at all.  She also informed me that she wasn't even using the tweezers because it was easier to just use your fingers.  This is totally grossing me out.  And to make matters worse they go and eat lunch right after they dig through this nasty stuff.  I guess I always assumed and maybe at the time I knew, but I thought it was dried up owl feces that we were digging through and that is what I kept telling Lexi.  She didn't really believe me and so I kept saying what is it then.   Look at the dried manure out in the field during the summer same look don't you think.  Well I finally was getting to her and I think I was grossing her out. 

Tonight for homework was reading and answering questions about her little pellets.  She informed me that the pellet was not feces, but instead an owl eats it's prey, but is unable to digest fur, hair, and bones, so later regurgitates them up into what resembles and is called a pellet.  "See" she says "mom it isn't so bad after all."  We apparently do not think anything alike :)