The Life of Pellets

A shiny and glistening 6" globule of alien substance lay glued to a rubble of rocks dedicated for our garden snakes. For the longest time I thought this was snake poop. I have never seen snake poop. I was sure I could see the outline of a mouse with its tiny ears sheathed in slime. As the days pass; the sun, rain and bugs have, very slowly, decomposed this dead mass even more. 30 days later the bones of the mouse still lay huddled undisturbed.

November is typically a month of rain on the West Coast. When it clears we take the opportunity to go outside. Such a day presented itself and this gift, a Barred Owl. Big brown eyes, half asleep, just aware of my presence but not concerned, s/he allowed me to watch. I stayed outside until dusk, no longer being able to take pictures without a flash.

Time to pull this together. Owls swallow their food whole. They cannot digest all of the proteins and then regurgitate what has not been digested, about 20 hours later. Owl pellets are masses of hair, bone, teeth, feathers and exoskeletons.
What I saw one month earlier was not snake poop, it was an owl pellet.

The lessons learned here: Once again, there is more to life than what meets the eye. Never assume you know anyone or anything until all the facts are presented.