SUBJECT: Owl pellets and skulls
DATE: 10/95
Biolabbers,
Does anyone know of a good source for skulls of a variety of
small mammals and birds? I will be doing an owl pellet exercise with my
ecology class and would like to have some good quality examples for them
to look at and compare with what they remove from the pellets. I've only
been able to get mouse and rat from Carolina and would like voles,
shrews, moles and the like. Any ideas?
G. Douglas Crandall, PhD
Biology Department, Emmanuel College
400 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115
(617) 735-9959
I don't have a good source of skulls--we've just collected them over the
years. A natural history museum might loan you some skulls from their
collection? Or a loan from another school's collection? The rodent collections
may be sufficiently redundant to allow this.
A word of caution, there have been cases of Salmonella in wildlife biologists
handling owls, their eggs, nests, and pellets. Owl pellets provide a great
look at the owls diet as well as what mammals are out there so I'm not
suggesting you not do your examination. I am suggesting that you have students
wear gloves
disinfect the desks and instruments after use (Amphyl works or use
whatever your Microbiology dept is using)
wash their hands after removing their gloves
discard the gloves after use (reuse is a source of contamination)
And you must strictly enforce no eating/drinking in lab.
With these precautions have a great "hunt."
Christine Case
Skyline College
case@smcccd.cc.ca.us
A great source for ALL types of skulls is:
Skulls International Unlimited
PO Box 6741
Moore, Oklahoma 73153
1-800-659-7585
We have purchased skulls from this company and have been very satisfied
with their products. Also, their skulls come in 3 different qualities
with different prices so you have a choice depending on your budget. We
get quality 2 which is just fine for our freshmen general biology labs.
Good luck Doug!
From: "O'Conner Roslyn" <roslyn@biosci.mbp.missouri.edu>
WARD'S sells an "Advanced Owl Pellet Skull Set" comparing NW vs.
SE owl
pellets. The set includes vole, rice rat, least shrew, short-tailed
shrew, pocket gopher, cotton rat, deer mouse, harvest mouse, and house
mouse.
Mike O'Donnell
*******************************************
Michael A. O'Donnell *
Dept. of Biology *
Trinity College *
300 Summit St. *
Hartford, CT 06106-3100 *
michael.odonnell@mail.trincoll.edu *
http://shakti.trincoll.edu:80/~odonnell/ *
(860)297-2228 *
*******************************************
Doug,
Microwave ovens don't sterilize. If the supplier has indicated sterility
that
means they used a chemical (ethylene) or physical (radiation, steam) sterililant
so I would believe them.
Microwaves only heat the water in a cell or apple pie so the likelihood
of
achieving sterilization is almost nil. I haven't tested a microwave against
cultures of Salmonella but the literature reports on other vegetative cells
show
it doesn't kill.
Christine Case
Skyline College
case@smcccd.cc.ca.us
We use owl pellets as the basis of a mini-investigation in our lab course
for pre-service elementary teachers. Mike O'Donnell's post about WARD's
offering of pellets from the NW and the SE U.S. got me thinking. Why pay
$70.00 for 30 pellets? Maybe we could set up a pellet exchange among
Biolabers. I trade 15 Sacramento Valley barn owl pellets for your 15 Maine
pellets, for example. How about it?
Owl pellets can be "pasteurized" without hurting the delicate
bones. Heat
the pellets to 76 degrees Celcius. This will destroy Salmonella and
(probably) Hantavirus. Bacterial spores, of course, will remain viable and
could still grow out under moist conditions. Still follow proper precautions
and have the students wear gloves, though. And "pellet exchange"
vomit balls
should be pasteurized before mailing.
Gary Meeker
Dept. of Biological Sciences
California State University
Sacramento, CA 95819-6077
gmeeker@csus.edu
I usually fumigate "wild" pellets when I get them. I put them
in a jar with a few mls. of chloroform or formaldehyde overnight. Then I
open the jar and let it air out in a fume hood for a week or so. The formaldehyde
is a hard to get rid of so I put those in an oven at about 50 C for a few
hours. Does anyone have any comments on this method? Thanks
From: Dennis Cartwright <CARTWRIG@WSUVM1.CSC.WSU.EDU>
I was surprised that you would use chloroform and formaldehyde for
something students might come in contact with. I checked with the
Material Safety Data Sheets at the following URL
gopher://gopher.chem.utah.edu:70/11/MSDS
Both chemicals are listed as health hazards of 3 on the 0 to 4 scale.
Bot chemicals are listed as causing cancer. Chloroform is also listed
as "exceptional health hazard". My recommendation would be to
find an
alternate method for prepping the owl pellets.
I hope this helps.
John
John Markwell Phone: 402-472-2924
Dept. Biochemistry FAX: 402-472-7842
University of Nebraska Internet: markwell@unl.edu
Lincoln, NE 68588-0664
Fumigation with chloroform will probably kill most bacteria and also
enveloped viruses like influenza, but it won't kill naked viruses that
have no lipid. The formaldehyde treatment seems preferable to me,
because that works by chemically reacting with proteins and nucleic
acids. It is the approved method for decontaminating laminar flow
hoods, for instance. But be careful not to expose yourself or anyone
else to the formaldehyde vapor.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Ogston ogston@hobbes.kzoo.edu
Department of Biology Phone: (616)337-7010
Kalamazoo College Fax: (616)337-7251
Kalamazoo, MI 49006-3295
Out West, we worry about the Hanta virus, too. I have been told by a
friend who collects for biological supply houses... work with the pellets
in a well ventilated area using normal precautions of cleanliness (even
to the extent of a dustmask and/or rubber gloves if you are especially
worried or especially sensitive to dust (allergies, etc.).
Wrap the pellets individually in aluminum foil, place on a cookie sheet
(probably an old one you are not going to make cookies on again) and
place in an approx. 300 degree (F) oven for about an hour. Then they
should be safe to use.
If anyone has corrections or further suggestions please add. You won't
hurt my feelings. This is all just heresay on my part :-)!
Best wishes,
Bill
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
William A. Hayes, II, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
P.O.Box 3234
Delta State University
Cleveland, MS 38733
ph: 601-846-4247
fax: 601-846-4016
email: bhayes@dsu.deltast.edu
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