BIO 105 Lab 4 Owl Pellet

Using the Owl Pellet found in my lab kit I recorded the following information: 

The picture of my bones with the bone chart. 

	Rats	Moles	Mice	Shrew	Birds	Other
My Data	1	0	3	1	0	0

Kinds and Numbers of Animals Found in Owl Pellets

1.     During the nesting season the young need an enormous amount of food for growth. If the nest contains three young and each of the young eat five mice per night for a month and the two adults eat four per night, how many mice would the parents have to capture in 30 days? To find the amount of mice in the month first you must find the number of mice in a day. The 3 babies eat 5 mice each 3x5=15, so the babies eat 15 mice a day. Each parent eats 4 mice a day 4x2=8, so the parents need 8 mice a day. The total for the family is 15+8=23, so they need 23 mice a day. For the month the Owls need 23x30=690, so for a 30 day period the parents would need to capture 690 mice. That’s a lot of mice!

2.  The pellets are from what owl family? The pellet I had looked like a barn owl pellet, which is one of the smaller owls.

3.  Environmentalists are concerned about the accumulation of certain poisons in predators. Why do you suppose owls, eagles, swordfish, humans and lions are often the most threatened organisms of a community that are exposed to DDT or mercury? Those predators all eat smaller secondary consumers, and those secondary consumers eat the primary consumers, which a lot of the times are exposed to DDT. For example bugs are often the primary target for DDT, once those bugs are exposed to the DDT they carry it in/with them. When a fish eats the bug, that fish is now exposed to the DDT. When the fish is caught and eaten by an eagle that eagle and its young are now being exposed to DDT. The DDT might not effect the full grown eagle for its lifetime but it does effect its young.