How to restore our quail population
Over the past several decades, a number of programs to restore our quail population have been recommended. But unless we include all of the reasons for our quail loss, these programs will fail. That is why we can’t ignore anything that is contributing to the diminishing quail population.
Sometimes part of the solution to a problem may be right under our noses; this time it is right under our feet, and the problem is so ordinary that we ignore it. Even if you rarely get out of your yard, you have seen mounds of fire ants. I have chemically treated dozens of their mounds in the past. But we tend to dismiss increases in these insects as inconsequential. However, they may be one of the main causes of the decline in Arkansas quail numbers.
Red fire ants are invasive, spreading rapidly throughout the South. They are a serious problem in Texas, and a major factor in the rapid decline of that state’s quail.
A quail’s nest with multiple eggs is where the fire ants wreak havoc. Fire ants can’t penetrate the shell of quail eggs, but as soon as the eggs in the nest began to hatch, quail chicks are the most venerable. And if that first hatching is detected by a scout ant, and the ants swarm, nearly all the chicks will be stung to the point where they can’t keep up with the mother quail and die.
The number of fire ant mounds are growing in Arkansas, and I believe there is a direct connection to our drop in quail population. Several years back I had a good covey of 15 to 20 quail in and around our sparsely wooded backyard of 30 or so acres. Over the past 20 years the habitat hasn’t changed, but the number of quail has dropped until they have disappeared.
Every month or so in spring, summer, and fall, I knock off the top of every fire ant mound I can find and put an anti-fire ant chemical on it. Other beds pop up almost as quickly as I kill a bed. I can only guess that thousands of mounds dot the grassy pipeline right-of-ways, which are the natural habitat for quail.
If we don’t get the fire ant situation under control, all the habitat enhancements and restocking of quail will be feeding fire ants. Research in Texas has shown that quail are less abundant in Texas counties that have been infested with fire ants for many years, and quail densities were nearly four times greater in the southeast before the invasion of fire ants. In these studies, the presence of fire ants was able to explain up to 75 percent of annual variation in bobwhite abundance.
If we treat restoring our quail as a multi-task endeavor, we can steadily see an increase in our quail population, but if we concentrate on just one factor, we won’t solve the problem.
The most obvious is when restocking quail in good habitat areas, the grounds should be surveyed to spot and remove any fire ant mounds.
The Game and Fish Commission should actively promote the purchase of anti-fire ant chemicals as part of its hunting and fishing license renewals.
Even donating chemicals to those who will apply it to the fire ant beds. Several hundred thousand hunters applying fire ant chemicals to mounds would make a huge difference.
The Game and Fish Commission should recognize all of the factors that contribute to the disappearance of Arkansas quail, and, along with free fire ant chemical, issue a moratorium on the killing of apex predators, which includes suspending the bear season until the bear population is at least 10,000 statewide (it was estimated to be 50,000 when we were called the Bear State) and put a $10/ tail bounty on feral hogs.
The original 1920s $10 bounty on apex predators contributed to the loss of our quail. Restoring the apex predators would reduce the feral hog population and impact the scavenger animals, which eat the quail eggs and chicks.
Unless we recognize all the factors involved, we won’t ever hunt quail in Arkansas again.