Muggle cartoons often showed scenes like this: a terrifying bulldog dug a hole for the bones it loved to eat, then buried them.
Hiding food was a habit shared by many animals active in the wild. Wolf packs also dug dens for shelter. Different animals had different habits; tigers preferred to roam alone, while lions liked to move in groups. Care of Magical Creatures was an elective that began in third year. Besides learning how to feed, protect, and handle these creatures, students also had to observe and study their habits.
Mooncalves were creatures with neither much attack power nor much agility or ability to flee. Their long, skinny legs meant they could not leap and run like deer, so they became burrowing creatures, leaving their dens only on nights of the full moon.
They were not frightening, but Werewolves transformed on full-moon nights. Barnaby's uncle was even on the Werewolf capture team, so he should have known that perfectly well.
Thus, Barnaby Lee's detention was to go to the Forbidden Forest with the third-years taking Care of Magical Creatures on the night of the full moon. The students would record the Mooncalves' dancing and other habits, while he would collect Mooncalf droppings.
Pomona took out Barnaby's OWLs results again. He did not have twelve Os like Barty Crouch Jr., but he had earned Os in Astronomy, Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Es in Charms and Divination. He had also taken History of Magic, Muggle Studies, and Care of Magical Creatures as electives, earning grades sufficient to continue to N.E.W.T.s in all of them.
Divination gave him the greatest headache, but he still studied it diligently like a Ravenclaw instead of simply burying his head and sleeping through class.
He kept a Chizpurfle as a