LEARNING FROM OWLS: You’ll never guess what this park 
ranger has planned for visitors…on Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas (April 10)

Owls symbolize wisdom – and we can learn much from 
them when pick their… pellets.

09— It’s more dignified than digging through poo because 
you’ll be digging through vomit.

Amy Kocurek and I have different ideas about what’s 
dignified, but this interpretive ranger at Martin Dies Jr. 
SP, in East TX does know how to keep visitors engaged.

10—The kids especially, they love it. Little furry, tin foiled 
wrapped up presents, that they get to unwrap and see what sort 
of mysterious surprises await inside.

Wrapped in foil? Yes, because you can order them online.   

11— Most of them are from barn owls that people will collect 
from in their bars where owls just hack up these pellets; they’ll 
collect them and sanitize them and sell them for teachers, 
mostly.

Whether pellets are fresh or sanitized for your protection, 
those small, furry capsules have secrets to reveal. 

33— Because it contains these almost perfectly preserved 
pieces of bones and beaks and different things the owl ate, 
researchers can see what their man food source is in the area 
that they’re living, if that food source is changing seasonally…. 
But also, if you’re doing population studies on small mammals 
that will allow you to see how many different types of mammals 
are being eaten by owls. So, it can give you an all-round general 
idea of the population of animals in that ecosystem.

Dissect pellets with Amy Kocurek April 15 at Martin Dies 
Jr. SP; details at texasstateparks.org.  
 
That's our show… Funding provided in part by Ram 
Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti. 

Total sound bite time:			0:63.0
Maximum Script time:			0:22.0         	         Suggested show time: 85.0 = 1:25