Nature's Ossuary

Visiting friends from Humboldt County were joining us in a leisure walk around the "estate" and while checking out the compost pile, the passion fruit vines, and assorted avocado and citrus trees, we found this under one of the ohia trees!

"Oh my!" I gasped, recognizing it at once as one of my favorite things -- nature's ossuary, brought to us by our winged raptor neighbors.  While it might be an owl pellet, it is more likely to be a gift left after our recent hawk visitation that had the nesting mynas, thrush and cardinal in a fuss.

Those who know me well, know my passion for bones, large and small...and these little "left over" packages contain some of the tiniest little bones.  If you don't already know about them, they are "burps" from owls and hawks -- left over after they have digested their little furry breakfasts -- and are tiny bones wrapped in hair balls.  Many times, you can find a complete dearticularted rodent skeleton inside.  Our visitors were not too surprised at my delight, since I brought two full boxes of bones as art materials when we moved.