Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Ants for the English
We don’t often think of ants as being vitally important but when they disappeared in 1970, the partridges went with them, writes Tower-bird
Those of us who at one time almost lived the lives of rabbits, spending hours with our heads stuck down holes setting traps, or ferreting during hard weather in winter, and who have never ceased to abhor and condemn the introduction of myxomatosis, and who, at the same time had a good knowledge of partridges, can see only too plainly how myxomatosis and the decimation of rabbit stocks definitely affected the welfare of partridges, especially following cold springs and wet hatching times.
Ant absence
Always being interested in such matters, my eye caught a letter in The Field from Major WV Burdon and, though not wanting to steal someone else’s thunder, I was impressed by what this correspondent had to say, and, though I have no intention of quoting from the letter at length,
I will quote a couple of points that particularly held my attention.
“Ten years ago every hedge was a rabbit-run,” he writes, “and the edges of all corn fields were eaten down. The rays of the sun struck the soil and hatched the insects, which fed the young partridges. Now the corn grows to full height right up to the hedge, and ground level never sees the sun from July to harvest… The ant provides a basic requirement of the partridge chick. Having searched wide areas, I believe the ant to be
Happily, I have always kept a copy of the Country Life enquiry report by me and I quote two points from it herewith. “An interesting experiment was made in the bad year 1927 by one of our correspondents. He states as follows: ‘In 1927 I had ant heaps carted daily to the vicinity of all hatching nests and young coveys. As a consequence, in spite of a very wet rearing period, I had quite a successful year in contrast to other shoots in the district. My object was to prove that if there was plenty of insect
“Having searched wide areas, I believe the ant to be extinct on good partridge land”
food available the young partridge can stand wet and cold.’
“‘But without artificial assistance,’ ask the editors of the report, ‘do young partridges to any great extent, get ants’ eggs?’ Another observer informs us that after a close study for many years he has never found a big ant heap, such as are found in old pastures, downland and rough heatherland that has been opened by partridges. He has only known woodpeckers to feed systematically on these. In his opinion, the only ants’ eggs available for young partridges are from small colonies to be found at the foot of hedgerows or in banks separating the arable land.”
The report continues: “Ant heaps cannot exist where the land is tilled and for this reason an old partridge never takes her brood more than a yard or so into a corn field. It may not be generally known that ants place their eggs according to the sun each day – they start facing east and work their way round towards the west by 5pm. In warm weather the eggs are all close to the surface of the heap, which is facing towards the sun, but if it is a cold, dull day, eggs are six to 10 inches down in the ant heap. If the east side of an ant heap is opened in the evening no eggs will be found near the surface but on a fine evening quantities will be found on the west side.” The report adds: “As a last resource use the commercial dry ants’ eggs and insects sold for the purpose, but these are costly and the result not so good, and it would even pay to bring in the natural small ant heaps by lorry from a distance, in preference.”
I hope the above will set many partridge keepers thinking, or rethinking. The Country Life report makes it clear when ant eggs can be found lying on the surface of heaps. That, of course, is when the young partridges find and consume them and I, myself, have never known a partridge, adult or young, to open a heap. Why go digging unnecessarily?
This article was first published in the 4 July 1970 issue of Shooting Times.