Many thanks to Dennis and Molly for taking the time to examine the bones
found in the Snowy Owl pellet and also for posting the findings to
Tweeters. I have recently seen the remains (feet) of two Am. Coots at the
base of two perches used by various raptors on Jetty Island. One thing
that is puzzling is that I don't recall seeing many Coots on the island.

Ed Schulz
Everett, WA
eschulz at eldec.com

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>Those of you who attended the last WOS meeting and saw Ed Schulz's photos
>of Snowy Owls and of the dissected SNOW pellet will be interested to know
>that I finally got around to comparing it with skeletons in the Slater
>Museum collection, with Molly Hukari's help.

>The bones were definitely those of an American Coot.

>Molly said it must have been an old coot to be caught by the owl.....I told
>her I didn't appreciate her allusion.

>Hope all you tweeters had a good holiday season. Sorry to be missing the
>fun, but Life keeps getting in the way. I'm looking forward to tuning in in
>May when I finish my spring class.

>Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
>Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
>University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
>Tacoma, WA 98416
>http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html