Correct Response: B. Wearing protective latex gloves when dissecting owl pellets can protect the investigator from potentially dangerous microorganisms such as salmonella or hantavirus. While commercially available owl pellets are usually sterilized, wearing gloves is still an appropriate precaution. Protective gloves are generally not necessary when planting seeds in soil (A). Eye protection would be more important than hand protection when measuring the temperature of a saline solution (C) or analyzing the density and hardness of a rock sample (D).
