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><BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>& ------=_Part_13078_29332293.1202215536962 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline News from owl biologists across NA: Firstly, me: "There does not appear to be any faeces in it...just bone and fur (and fresh-looking fur at that)." When I wrote that, I was alluding to two possibilities, a pellet or an old scat (which often has the soft stuff gone), though I leaned towards pellet since the fur looked fresh, ruling out an *old* scat. Regurgitated food would also show meat, etc. A pellet that has been on the ground for awhile can come apart, so the unruly look to this sample did not rule out a pellet in my mind; about the large bone fragment: > > The only thin that bothers me somewhat is the fractured > bone...owls aren't good at doing that. It doesn't rule out an owl pellet by > any means, but it's something to think about. > I had six responses from other owl biologists/banders. Two have found bone fragments in GH Owl pellets, though typically only skull bones (which are more easily broken than the long bone represented in the photographed specimen). Having said that, five thought it was old coyote scat...more typically, they would have fractured bone in them. Two relayed accounts of scavenging...one finding deer fur in a pellet (well, we're hoping it wasn't predation...), and one of a N Hawk-owl defending a deer carcass from ravens. In contrast, another mentioned that in a year of low food, owls were dying of starvation, yet road kill was abundant. Randy _________________________________ RF Lauff Way in the boonies of Antigonish County, NS. ------=_Part_13078_29332293.1202215536962 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline <div>News from owl biologists across NA:</div> <div> </div> <div>Firstly, me: "There does not appear to be any faeces in it...just bone and fur (and fresh-looking fur at that)."</div> <div> </div> <div>When I wrote that, I was alluding to two possibilities, a pellet or an old scat (which often has the soft stuff gone), though I leaned towards pellet since the fur looked fresh, ruling out an *old* scat. Regurgitated food would also show meat, etc. A pellet that has been on the ground for awhile can come apart, so the unruly look to this sample did not rule out a pellet in my mind; about the large bone fragment:</div> <div> </div> <div> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"> <div> <div><span class="e" id="q_117e845b43c807fa_1">> The only thin that bothers me somewhat is the fractured bone...owls aren't good at doing that. It doesn't rule out an owl pellet by any means, but it's something to think about.</span></div> </div></blockquote></div> <div> </div> <div>I had six responses from other owl biologists/banders.<br><br>Two have found bone fragments in GH Owl pellets, though typically only skull bones (which are more easily broken than the long bone represented in the photographed specimen). Having said that, five thought it was old coyote scat...more typically, they would have fractured bone in them.</div> <div> </div> <div>Two relayed accounts of scavenging...one finding deer fur in a pellet (well, we're hoping it wasn't predation...), and one of a N Hawk-owl defending a deer carcass from ravens. In contrast, another mentioned that in a year of low food, owls were dying of starvation, yet road kill was abundant.</div> <div> </div> <div>Randy<br>_________________________________<br>RF Lauff<br>Way in the boonies of<br>Antigonish County, NS. </div> ------=_Part_13078_29332293.1202215536962--
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