Thankful for ongoing efforts to restore bobwhites

As a lifelong admirer and student of Mr. and Mrs. Bob White (and pursuer till they died out), it’s a joy to read about their restoration efforts here. Bryan Hendricks, Rex Nelson, Bob Brown with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the editor of this newspaper, commission Chairman Emon Mahoney in El Dorado, and most recently Flip Putthoff regarding Pea Ridge, are keeping my (our) hopes alive.

Further, in the Pea Ridge article, it’s heartening to finally read about the nocturnal ground predator as a major contributor to the bobwhite’s demis, that being the most untalked about and difficult problem of all. Why? First, they are, well, nocturnal. People don’t see that their population has exploded. Second it’s the hardest to solve. Habitat is relatively easy: spray/kill the fescue, plant warm-season grasses, let the fence rows grow up, increase Conservation Reserve Program incentives, and do it in large enough blocks as it takes about 40 acres of decent habitat to support just one covey. Not so easy with skunks, coons, armadillos, feral and house cats, feral hogs and ground hogs (only I think they are herbivores and so not a quail problem, but I’m not sure). Coyotes are a bit of bad/good news. Bad news that they too destroy ground-nesting bird’s eggs and chicks. The good news is if the aforementioned numbers were slashed, the coyotes would move on. Quail, meadowlarks and other ground nesters are at the bottom of the field food chain. The number of critters in the upper links is way too high, resulting in the bottom link’s disappearance (and failure at restoration).

So this summer, try an experiment at Pea Ridge. Conduct controlled hunts of the nocturnal ground predators on the area, in the morning paying $10 per dead animal brought in. There are lots of ol’ boys with their hound dogs who would go for it. Might even be a way for some high school students to earn summer money. Give it a shot … literally. And all outspoken advocates for Mr. and Mrs. Bob White, thank you, and keep on with your good work. DAVE JOHNSON Fayetteville