Pago 3 - THE FOOTHILLS VIEW - Monday. May 14, 1984
A View From Outdoors
The Wildlife Commission
receives many requests to
stock quail from hunters and
landowners. Most people are
surprised to find that wildlife
biologists generally discourage
quail stocking as a wildlife-
management practice. Much
of this confusion arises as the
result of two things. First, the
Wildlife Commission has pro
grams to stock deer and wild
turkey, so why not quail? Isn’t
this discrimination against the
small-game hunter? The
answer is “no,” because deer
and wild turkey are stocked
only in areas where there is
suitable habitat and a lack of
wild breeding stock — these
projects are really attempts to
restore populations of these
species, and are not stocking
programs per se. Biologists
have always found that if there
is adequate habitat for quail,
birds from surrounding areas
will quickly fill the void.
A second confusing point is
the difference between stock
ing quail as long-term, wild
life-management, and for
short-term, “put-and-take”
recreation. Stocking alone has
never worked as a long-term
means to increase quail
populations, and has more
often than not even failed to
provide efficient put-and-take
recreation. The game-farm
programs of the past serve as a
good example. Many state
wildlife agencies, including
North Carolina, once operated
game farms to raise quail for
stocking in the field, ultimate
ly hoping to increase the
hunter’s bag. Without excep
tion, these stocking attempts
were dismal failures.
Here is why. It’s not unusual
for 60 percent of the pen-
raised birds to die within a
month after being released in
to the wild. In fact, one study
showed that of 360 quail
stocked in the fall, only 28 per
cent could be located 45 to 60
days later. And by April, the
statistics were even grimmer —
only six percent remained.
Survival from spring stockings
was even worse.
There are techniques —
such as flight conditioning,
call-back pens, and feeding
stations — that can reduce
mortality in stocked birds.
Under the best of cir
cumstances, however, mortali
ty is still high. With wild birds
in good habitat, 70 to 80 per
cent die and are replaced
through natural reproduction
every year. If the habitat that
you have stocked is so poor
that native birds are unable to
survive, there is no reason to
expect pen-raised birds to do
any better.
This put-and-take stocking
of quail is not cheap, either. A
good price for a flight-con
ditioned quail is $2.50. At that
rate, it would cost the N.C.
Wildlife Resources Commis
sion about $1.5 million to in
crease the average hunter’s
bag by one bird. And this is
assuming that all of the birds
stocked were recovered by
hunters, which may be the
utimate in wishful thinking. In
reality, studies have shown
that very few birds released in
statewide stocking programs
are recovered by hunters. For
example, one state experimen
tally stocked 13,500 banded
birds and offered a $100
reward for every band return
ed. Advocates of quail stock
ing were sure that this would
bankrupt the agency, yet only
152 bands were returned. Ten
nessee concluded that after
stocking nearly a half-million
quail over a 12-year period,
they were spending $180.71
for each artifically reared
quail harvested by a hunter.
In spite of the high costs and
excessive mortality, many peo
ple still choose to stock quail
on their own lands. Some
techniques have been
developed in the last few years
to improve the short-term sur
vival of pen-raised birds. One
technique which is used by
many field-trial organizations
is to stock a large number of 8
to 10 week-old birds about 4 to
6 weeks before the season
opens. These birds are released
qbietly in groups of 10 to 15
birds, and food is scattered
near the release site on a
regular basis. This technique
seems to reduce post-release
mortality, and allows the birds
to adapt to their new environ
ment.
What is the alternatve to
quail stocking? Habitat devel
opment is the best answer —
it’s cheaper, more effective,
and lasts longer. Quail require
many different things within
their home range — good
escape cover, nesting and
brood-rearing areas, and ade
quate winter food — and all of
these needs may be met
through habitat management.
If any of these factors are
missing, however, quail pop
ulations will suffer. Determin
ing which factor is limiting
WEIGHT CONTROL
CLASSES
For Information
Call Daphne Bridges
704-434-7770
After 4:30
434-2227
UDD W, HAMRICK
FUEL SERVICE, INC.
Distributor '
HOME HEATING SERVICE
KEROSENE FUEL Olt
automatic car wash
SELF SERVICE GAS
E. COLLEGE AVE.
BOILING SPRINGS. N. C.
quail numbers, and how this
may be corrected, can be
tricky. However, help is at
hand. Commission wildlife
biologists are stationed
throughout the State, and
these men are happy to work
with landowners to improve
the wildlife habitat for quail
and other species on their
lands. For the name of the
wildlife biologist in your area,
contact your local wildlife en
forcement officer or call the
Wildlife Commission’s 24-
hour, toll-free. Wildlife Watch
Hotline at 1-800-662-7137.
A Taxing Question
RALEIGH - To pay or not
to pay sales tax is the question
being asked by consumers and
retailers when it comes to fer
tilizer, lime and some other
agriculture products.
‘There is no sales tax on fer
tilizer or lime,” said James R.
Stevens, fertilizer administrator
for the N.C. Department of
Agriculture. “Every spring
there is confusion about this
and we try to clear it up for
consumers and retailers.”
Stevens said in addition to
fertilizer and lime being exempt
from sales tax seeds are also
non-taxable. This includes cer
tain plants such as flower seeds,
sets, tubers, roots, tobacco
plants, tomato plants, pepper
plants, egg plants, potato plants
and others raised in beds or hot
houses for transplanting.
. Potted pl^ts, trees,^ shrubs.
cut flowers and other large
plants are not tax exempt.
Those with questions about
sales tax on fertilizer, lime or
plants should contact Stevens
in the Plant Industry Division,
N.C. Department of
Agriculture, Raleigh. Phone;
919-733-3939.
North Carolina Acid
Rain Brochure Available
Acid rain is a subject much
in the news these days, and a
new brochure entitled Acid
Rain in North Carolina deals
with the effects that this pollu
tion is having on the Tar Heel
State. The brochure is a joint
effort of the Acid Rain Foun
dation, N.C. Wildlife Re
sources Commission, Division
of Conservation Education,
512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh,
N.C. 27611.
found- Lmg. Male Cat. U*"” ”•"”9 >>>»'*'
Cay, ilrlpei- longhaUed, '“U”- Contact Ma,y at
434-7320.
BOILING SPRINGS
FLORIST
Also Available:
Roses, Corsages, Plants
And Cemetary Arrangements
[Jtlk BLANTON, Owner
RENEE WALKER, Manager
Locoted 2'/t Miles From Boiling Springs On Highway 150 South
CALL 434-9662