Repel quail

[cpp gardener]

Just my 2 cents worth on not being a fan of shooting them. I understand, I just don’t like.

It would be better to continue encouraging Bobwhites on your spread Meadowlark, rather than introducing a new species.

 

[Koenbro]

Today I installed the bird netting. Do y’all thinks the plants will regrow? They have no leaves left.

 

[cpp gardener]

As long as they have roots and stems they will regrow. It will just take a little longer to produce food.

 

[MiTmite9]

Thank you for your reply @Meadowlark. I used to be pro-quail, particularly as they are cute in the spring as they run around with like 10-15 young. Must have an atrocious survival rate into adulthood as their number seems pretty stable despite prodigious progeny.

That said I want to enjoy our garden and this is a zero-sum game at this point. I don't intend to hurt them. That's why I was thinking about a barrier. Building it might allow placing a sun shade fabric in the summer, or a thermal cover on the rare winter nights when it freezes. So the initial labor + materials is a lot, but hopefully will last and provide other benefits.

Would a scarecrow work?

My wife and I both work full time away from home so we can't be at home to fire cannons etc. We used to have dogs but small ones are taken away by owls and even large ones are attacked by coyotes. We live in a pretty suburban are with lots of wildlife. Our dogs were attacked before, neighbors lost theirs to coyotes.

Any ready made enclosures one can buy?

Birds can be spooked by shiny, reflective things. Maybe try De-Bird Scare Tape? Found on Amazon. Not a costly solution. Or maybe you have access to some old CD disks you can hang, here and there ---- so that they twist and move with the slightest breeze and scare the quail away from your garden beds?

I agree with Meadowlark when it comes to Quail. I have always seen them as an indicator of a healthy ecosystem. I hope you will try preventative methods and not harm any quail.

Sorry to hear about your dogs, by the way. I have sometimes warned people re: Owls and coyotes. (My tiny guy was 4.2 lbs, so keeping an eye on him was imperative.)

I would get a pellet gun and put the quail on the plate between the tossed salad and artichoke. People here pay a fortune for those little bite sized chickens.

UGH.

 

[MiTmite9]

I don't want to railroad this thread and make it about quail hunting, I totally respect that the OP has no desire to eat them. But curiosity always over powers my will to not ask lol. So I have to ask if that "wow" emoji from @cpp gardener is negatively placed at the foot of my comment due to the unbelief that some people harvest quail for food or if it is more a "wow" awesome idea! lol. I'm guessing with quail hunting having over a million yearly registered hunters per year in US and the farm raised quail meat retailing for up to $30 per lb in the US it probably shouldn't be shocking that they are tasty little buggers.

For my part, I don't appreciate people advocating killing animals ---- on a gardening site.

 

[MiTmite9]

I would get a pellet gun and put the quail on the plate between the tossed salad and artichoke. People here pay a fortune for those little bite sized chickens.

Please stop.

 

[Meadowlark]

This thread has run its course...time to move on.