Owl Pellets
About Our Company
Genesis, Inc. is a family owned company located in Washington State and the owner of www.pellet.com. We've been dedicated to serving Science Educators since 1987. As a family business, we're able to offer personalized service and individual consideration to each and every customer to ensure complete satisfaction. We specialize in providing barred owl pellets and related supplies for owl pellet dissection. "Quality, Service, and Price!" What more could you ask for?
What Is an Owl Pellet?
Owls don't have teeth, so they swallow their food whole. The owl slowly digests its meal in the gizzard, grinding and dissolving all the usable tissue. But some tissues, like bones or fur, cannot be digested, so the owl's gizzard compacts it into a hard pellet and the owl regurgitates it.
Why Study Genesis Owl Pellets?
Pellet dissection can be an exciting learning experience for students of all ages, although it is most commonly offered as part of a K-8 science curriculum. Our genesis owl pellets are of the highest quality and may come from one of several locations, although most of them are harvested in the Pacific Northwest. The barred owl pellets we provide for dissection are all from the Common Barn Owl, Tyto alba. Each pellet is individually inspected to ensure the appropriate size and top quality.
All our genesis owl pellets are heat sterilized and wrapped in foil, then sorted by size. Customers can select from one of three sizes:
SOP is under 1.5 inches, and is usually 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inches in length. BOP is over 1.5 inches. These may be as large as two inches, but are never less than 1.5 inches. This is the most popular size with customers, and is also the size we use in our kits. We also offer JOP's—these owl pellets for dissection are over two inches in length. NOP -- Natural selection of genesis owl pellets. NOP's are 1.5 inches or longer and no Jumbo barred owl pellets for dissection have been removed from the field to you. As it goes, the larger the pellet, the more prey items per pellet or the larger the prey.
About Genesis Owl Pellets
Most birds, including owls and other raptors, are incapable of chewing and are known instead to swallow their prey whole or piece by piece. The digestive system of an owl can dissolve skin, fat, muscle and organs but what about the bones, fur and other indigestible materials? It is regurgitated in the form of a pellet. Barred owl pellets for dissection often contain the remains of several small animals and can vary in size but typically measure up to the size of a human thumb.
For instance, did you know that the diet of a barn owl can range from mice, voles, and shrews, to lizards and the occasional bat or a small bird? Barn owls also do not eat earthworms, unlike other species of owls. There are tons of interesting facts that students and teachers alike can learn from studying the contents of owl pellets. They offer a practical, hands-on learning experience for learning about the relationship between owls and their prey. The study of owl pellet contents can even lead to the discovery of previously unknown animal species.
Both scientists and conservationists alike study owl pellets in order to understand the owl’s place in the food chain and gauge how they can aid in the conservation and management of different species. The study of owl pellets can introduce students to the idea of nature conservation and help them to understand their responsibility in protecting nature and all of its inhabitants.
Most importantly, owl pellets allow students to get up close and personal with nature in a way that no lecture or textbook could ever do. Studying owl pellets will give you the opportunity to bring nature into the classroom-without all the dirt and mud.