best way to dissect owl pellets? (1 Viewer)

[matt green]

can anyone tell me the best way to remove undigested bones from an owl pellet.this afternoon me and a friend found several pellets on the floor of an old barn alongside a footpath and thought it would be fun to collect them and attempt to discover what the owl has been feasting on,at present they are soaking in a plastic tub full of water.i wondered whether pouring boiling water onto them might speed the process a little or do they just soak for a few days and hope to have a neat pile of bones at the bottom of the tub.
any advice welcomed :t:

matt

 

[Keith Dickinson]

Yo Matt.
When we dissected owl pellets with the Wildlife Explorers Group kids, we used a weak solution of savlon disinfectant and water to moistenn the pellets then teased them apart with cocktail sticks. The bones could be moved to the edge of the resultant gunk with the cocktail stick and transferred to kitchen roll to absorb the moisture. We then soaked the bones in a very low concentration bleach solution for an hour or so to clean them up and then we could examine them and mount them on black card.
We had 2 pellets and got the remains of minimum 4 bank voles (8 femurs counted) but sadly only 2 intact skulls and 1 intact lower mandible. loads of smaller bones and some insect wing cases but nobody to id them.

 

[matt green]

thanks for the advice keith,i have to confess the seeing all those little bones sticking out of a fur ball is almost enough to turn my stomach.

my friend and i agreed that we probably found enough pellets to reconstruct a fully articulated skeleton of maybe a shrew or wood mouse,a job for mother perhaps

matt

 

[Keith Dickinson]

Matt you won't get a full skellington as the very tiny bones are digested by the owl. If you have used savlon in your initial soak then the gunk is sterile, admittedly not pleasant to look at. Using cocktail sticks means that as one stick gets manky you can chuck it and start with another. Have a go, you never know you may find it fun.:t:
The sense of anticipation with the kids was brilliant though, overcame all my initial qualms about hygene etc. In our group of about a dozen kids under 12 we had 1 girl who would not participate, it was too gross for her to begin with, then when she saw what was being found she wanted a cocktail stick to have a go.
No,... I didn't say 'typical woman'

 

[nickderry]

soaking them is definitely the best way to separate bones from fur, never attempt to pull dry pellets apart with your bare fingers; I know from experience now that shrews have incredibly sharp teeth and can it's not pleasant removing a rodent skull from your bleeding finger.

 

[KnockerNorton]

see links on this thread

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=50118

 

[Keith Glasgow]

We then soaked the bones in a very low concentration bleach solution

I'm certainly not an authority on the subject, but be carefull with bleach. Bleach will damage bones long after they're dry. A "very low concentration" may be ok, but I wouldn't chance it. A weak solution of Hydrogen Peroxide for an hour or so should do the trick. In my own experience, household bleaches cause the bones to go chalky and the surface flakes off.

thanks,
Zek.

 

[matt green]

had a try at seperating the bones from inside the pellets this afternoon and made a dreadfull mess all over the bathroom floor[mums gunna be chuffed :gn: ].

i've decided to just let the whole lot compost down over a few weeks in a tub with a good helping of topsoil from the garden,i'm hoping the fur will be degraded enough so that all i have to do is sieve through the top soil to find the bones,then soak them in a mild bleach solution if need be.

matt

 

[Corax67]

My favourite technique is to place the pellets in a large plastic tray (save those ready meal packages!) and soak for 18/24 hours in a solution of Milton sterilising fluid & water - follow directions for sterilising baby bottles.

If you lack dissection tools then cocktail sticks are great - dissect over paper towel to keep mess to tmanageable level then place bones onto black paper/card for viewing with a hand lens.

Have fun !