WARNING: This post is not safe for reading while eating. Put your forks and spoons down and proceed with caution. Even if you’re not eating, you still might puke.

I’m about to show you what the Friday What’s That? item is. Lots of you were really close, guessing it was some kind of nest, pod or cocoon, that if poked, would ooze spiders, bugs or other crawly things.

The correct answer is much, much worse.

The object pictured was part of an owl pellet. According to Wikipedia, a pellet is the mass of undigested parts of a bird’s food that some bird species occasionally regurgitate. The contents of a bird’s pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant matter, bones, fur, feathers, bills, claws, and teeth.

Teeth!

Still with me? OK. The woman who took the picture was alerted to its presence by the keen eye of her daughter, who recognized it from a lab she took in grade school. Apparently she sends her daughter to a school whose teachers don’t mind their students blowing their lunch having to dissect these.

pellet

Yummy!

You might ask yourself where you can get one of these find specimens to dissect yourself (or not). If you do, you can order a variety from Pellets, Inc. Now don’t rush the site all at once!

I’ve had my fair share of school lab grossouts. In high school, we dissected frogs and I was glad to not be part of the group who discovered that their frog was pregnant at time of death. I remember someone screaming. I don’t know if they continued on with their dissection, but I’m very sure no one ate the rest of the day.

Sorry no one guessed this edition of What’s That? But I promise next time I’ll go back to regular household items that don’t have teeth and hair in them. Promise!

Stumble it!