What Happened to the Bobwhite Quail?
BY Herschel Smith
1 month ago
I just can’t stand all of the yak-yak-yak on most podcasts, especially when he waxes on about needing a Capuchino machine in his shower. But I did listen to enough of this to know that Dr. Ronald Kendall is a smart man, and he thinks he has identified the cause of the reduction in population of the Bobwhite Quail. Eyeworms. And he thinks he has a solution. If you want to skip the yak-yak-yak, you can fast forward to around 15 minutes.
Here is an article about it, and here is his website: Wildlife Toxicology Laboratory.
I mentioned that I recently went quail hunting in S.C. It was at the plantation of Jackson Walling, with R&D Quail Farm contracted to supply the quail and guide the hunt with dogs.
He has around 50,000 quail at any one time. He once raised Pheasant but doesn’t anymore. I didn’t know it, but Pheasant are violent birds. If you raise Pheasant, they will all kill each other unless you put blinders on them and allow them only to see peripherally.
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On December 12, 2024 at 4:43 am, Joe Blow said:
Call me old fashioned, but if you have to farm-raise the quarry and plant it in the field, it ain’t hunting.
On December 12, 2024 at 9:44 am, Herschel Smith said:
The quail don’t know if they’ve been farm raised or born in a field.
You can think of it however you wish and do what you want. It’s your life.
On December 12, 2024 at 8:31 pm, Rocketguy said:
One of my favorite childhood memories is hunting Bobwhites with Dad. We have tried to reintroduce them several times and the flocks slowly disappear. We suspect cats – feral and domestic – and managing those populations can be hard on community relations.
On December 13, 2024 at 9:28 pm, Ozark Redneck said:
I know I am probably crazy, but I listened to the whole video. I hated seeing the demise of Quail on my farm. I converted one of my fescue grass fields to warm season grass with the help of a Conservation Agent/Biologist and burn expert probably 15 years ago. He later did early morning checks for quail calls and heard a few. Missouri ended the bounty on coyotes in 1973 although a few counties continued it for another decade. Too much cheating I guess. I was convinced it was the use of fescue which started in the late 1950s, converting much of the natural prairie to fescue, which the quail have trouble walking through and no dirt spots like natural warm season grass does. I was also certain it was predators like coyotes, skunks, cats, snakes and hawks. I have never noticed a eyeworm infection on birds I have killed over the years, but don’t doubt the Dr. I just hate to see man-made medicated feed being the answer to recover this beautiful bird.
On December 13, 2024 at 9:32 pm, Ozark Redneck said:
One interesting fact; when I first moved to the Ozarks in the 1980s, the farmers would nail the coyotes they killed to the wooden fence posts with a large nail through their skull, both ears were missing (that was the part they turned in for the bounty). It was like a primal warning that this territory was off limits to coyotes…