Subject: Re: Feral cats and Quail (fwd)
Date: Aug 2 11:55:32 1994
From: Glenda Pearson - pearson at u.washington.edu
per Dennis Paulson's message, yes, habitat destruction is a major cause of
the demise of the quail. At my former house in Richmond Beach, we enjoyed
quail watching and listening year after year. And, we saw them much more
frequently in the yard when there was snow on the ground.
BUT, as soon as the five acre horse pasture across the street was sold to
a developer, and several large homes were built, the quail vanished. True,
plenty of cats roam that neighborhood, but the coyotes dine regularly on
them, and the disappearance of the quail really did coincide with the new
construction. This particular five acres backed onto a greenbelt of
forest (Standard Oil property housing a small tank farm hidden back in the
woods), but perhaps the quail needed the large pasture/meadow to thrive.
The pasture was not heavily used, and in its last year went ungrazed, so
the cover was excellent. The woods are still there---for now
anyway---but the quail are gone.
Glenda Pearson