Peacocks make trilling sounds. When I first heard it from afar I thought it was an angry cat meowing. But it turned out to be this colorful bird.

On a whim, my kids and I decided to dissect an owl pellet. I found a foil-shaped egg for $3.50 by the cash register of a school supply store. The lady told me that young kids enjoy this fun science activity, especially if they like digging for dinosaur bones or treasures.

That sounded like something my kids would like, so I ended up bringing the pellets home. Once we opened it and saw the brown lump of dirt, my kids screamed and refused to go near it. Our babysitter came to look at what we were doing and almost threw up.

I am not kidding: it was that gross. But I wanted to show them the importance of persevering through challenges and finishing what you start (even if it makes you squeamish). So I dissected it myself (with plastic gloves and lots of cleaning solution and lots of regret). I later glued the bone pieces onto a paper in a CD case (so we could identify which animal it ate).

It’s safe to say I will never do this experiment again; once is enough. We still get grossed out thinking about it and the CD case is duct taped and put away in a brown lunch bag. After all the work I invested into it, I don’t have the heart to throw it out, just yet.