Bob White Quail

[Southside]

1960's Savage model 99C in .308 with 180 gr hot loads, I was probably about the same age,  Remington .222 had been about the biggest rifle I had ever fired before that.  Very short, very light, metal butt plate, great brush gun - kicks like a DanG moose even when you hold it against your shoulder.  

[WDH]

Never been kicked by a moose .

[sawguy21]

You don't want to.

[Texas Ranger]

quail gone from east Texas some 50 years due to fireants.

[WDH]

They must have run the moose out, too  .

[btulloh]

You don't want to.

You got that right!!
A moose kicks like having both barrels of a 12 gauge hammer gun go off an inch from your shoulder 'cause your thumb slipped off the hammers!!  

[barbender]

What exactly do the fire ants do to quail, get the young or prevent the hens from nesting? 

[Texas Ranger]

What exactly do the fire ants do to quail, get the young or prevent the hens from nesting?

They attack the hatchlings of ground nesting birds.  It added the last level of predatory pressure to the little birds.

[YellowHammer]

We used to have lots of quail, now I rarely hear them.  We never had fire ants, but they have invaded and are now everywhere.  Nothing else has changed, as far as I know.  Same fields, same crops, same farmers, but no quail.  Nobody hunts quail here anymore so they aren’t over hunted. I try to leave fields fallow for them and turkeys to raise up.  Occasionally I will hear a covey.    

I agree, the fire ants are incredibly effective at finding and attacking any meat, living or dead, on the ground.  If the birds can’t defend themselves, they will suffer.  

I can’t even walk in the yard or fields barefoot without getting bit by fire ants. How could a little bitty sweet ground living bird survive?  

[Southside]

Have had a family of Carolina Wrens hatch out a family on the porch every year for a while now, one year they ended up inside when I left a window open - oops, actually didn't cause any real issues other than making sure the little ones found their way out when the day came.  Anyway last nigh was the big empty nest night.  Momma bird was making quite the racket while the little ones were zipping all around.  One will be back next year I am sure.  

[ellmoe]

Have had a family of Carolina Wrens hatch out a family on the porch every year for a while now, one year they ended up inside when I left a window open - oops, actually didn't cause any real issues other than making sure the little ones found their way out when the day came.  Anyway last nigh was the big empty nest night.  Momma bird was making quite the racket while the little ones were zipping all around.  One will be back next year I am sure.  

For three years we had a wren nest in a loader. We parked in the same place every evening and the nest was built and eggs laid before I noticed it . During breaks , at lunch , at closing , and whenever else I could , I'd park the loader in the same place. As soon as I'd exit , the wrens would return and tend the young . All hatched and survived the fledgling stage . Amazing little guys.

[YellowHammer]

I had one not so smart but super determined bird start nesting in the blow pipe of our dust collector a few years ago.  Whenever we turned it on and off, several times a day, whatever nesting materials it had deposited, got blown out, and the momma bird would try her best to fly into the pipe with the blower running.  It was like a salmon trying to swim up a water fall.  Quite a site.

She finally found a better spot to nest.  

[Weekend_Sawyer]

We used to have a lot of quail around our house in Maryland and in WV.
I haven't seen one in many years.
In the last 10 years there has been a lot of logging done in our valley making for some very nice under story. I'm thinking it's time to re introduce them.
Jon

[Magicman]

I agree, the fire ants are incredibly effective at finding and attacking any meat, living or dead

A few years ago we had a disabled nursing home resident that was killed by fire ants.  They somehow invaded her room and completely covered the lady and she was unable to summon for help.  It was a horrible situation.

[Texas Ranger]

My introduction to fire ants was on the side of the road back in the day.  Had stopped to look for a bug spot, and stepped in the ant bed as I got in the truck.  60 foot down the road they hit, I jammed breaks, jumped out and dropped trow on the side of the highway.  Got a couple of honks.

[barbender]

Magic, that is absolutely horrible!

[WV Sawmiller]

TR,

   I don't know if fire ants are telepathic or what but when you step in a bed as described the first one on you doesn't bite and give you warning to clear the area. He waits till 100 or so of his siblings are there and they all seem to bite on command. I've seen them in periods of high water floating down the backwater in clumps of a couple of gallons of ants. They hold together and make living rafts. They were bad in N. Fla but fortunately we don't have them up here yet. I think the winters are too cold and I know they like sandy soil to build and nest in. I had a buddy who used to melt lead and pour it down the ant holes and it made some real neat figures as it ran down the side branches and tunnels and cooled.

[YellowHammer]

I used to live in Orlando as a kid.  I got conditioned to feel the soft ground when I stepped in a fire ant nest, and instinctively would jump out before getting mobbed.  It became a reflexive action.

Decades later, whenever I step on an unusually soft piece of ground, I’ll still subconsciously hop up in the air.

[ellmoe]

TR,

   I don't know if fire ants are telepathic or what but when you step in a bed as described the first one on you doesn't bite and give you warning to clear the area. He waits till 100 or so of his siblings are there and they all seem to bite on command. 

 One will release a pheromone , and then they all join in the fun!

[WV Sawmiller]

Ellmoe,

  I can testify it won't be the first on on your leg or at least not till the whole family gets on too.