A small grove of pines near our home offered looks at a Great Horned Owl on several occasions last year. I found owl pellets beneath that tree last spring. A pellet contains the prey parts that the owl cannot digest -- fur, bones, and teeth. The owl's gut conveniently packages these items in a tight bundle that the owl then coughs up. Today, looking at the same spot, I found 18 pellets of varying sizes. The owl surely is a regular in the tree above this pellet bonanza; I'll be watching for it. It was usually found last year basking in the first sunlight of the day. Three of the larger pellets found today are shown in the first photo below. A quarter sits beside them. The largest pellet measured 3.5 inches in length. When opened, that pellet was mostly fur, with a couple of pieces of larger bones, probably from a rabbit, and a couple of teeth (below the 2.5 mark on the tape). The largest of the teeth and one bone fragment that has the knobby end signifying a joint suggest rabbit for dinner. Other non-digestables from the rabbit meal could have been expelled in other pellets.
