BobWhite Quail: December 2004 Archives
"And what is a weed but a plant whose virtues have yet to be discovered." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Walk into nearly any County Agent's office and you may see a poster on their wall depicting the "Common Weeds in Texas Pastures." At times I'm tempted to take some correction fluid and change the title to "Key Food Plants for Quail." "Weed" doesn't have to be a four-letter word.
If you're a cotton farmer, plants like johnsongrass and pigweed (carelessweed) probably don't engender much admiration. If you're a rancher, plants like buffalobur, broomweed, and western ragweed don't pay the bills. But if you're a bobwhite, these plants (and other unmentionables) are on your Top 10 list on the buffet.
First, do no harm.
The same oath subscribed to by medical doctors should shape our prescriptions for managing quail habitat. Think critically about your thoughts, goals, and actions for improving quail habitat on your property.
As you read the following, ask yourself if the proposed activities work more to the good of quail, or to the good of the quail's various complement of enemies. Caveat emptor: I'll admit that much of the following reeks of speculation on my part, and is therefore certainly arguable. Consider them food for thought.
Seems this may be a hard candy Christmas for some quail hunters. While most of us are caught up in a quail of plenty, I continue to hear laments from some veteran quail hunters. The area in questions tends to be from Coleman County on northward to Shackelford County. Stephens and Callahan counties may be the epicenter.
If you hunt in those areas, please update me with your quail hunting. And by all means, if you see weak, dead, or apparently diseased quail, let me know immediately; try me on my cell phone at 325-650-0311.
All seems to be well on the western front, and I hope it stays that way!
Last August, I made the trip from San Angelo to Lubbock to deliver my daughter Krissa to begin her odyssey at Texas Tech University. Big Spring is about the halfway point, but the world isn't bilaterally symmetrical around Interstate 20. Between there and San Angelo, the world is basically rangeland, above that demarcation it's basically cotton. If your world revolves around quail like mine does, you can find similarities between quail and anything. Let's pull some bolls.
Cotton is king in Texas. The bobwhite is the prince of gamebirds. So what do these "crops" have in common besides royal bloodlines?
