Quail jail break

I've got a problem this morning. Two of our 11 quail escaped from their cage overnight. The opening in the wire mesh roof worked loose enough during the windy night for a small opening to form where the birdies could fly out. All of quaildum in our back yard is unsettled as a result.

My first clue that something was amiss came immediately after opening our back door and stepping onto the porch. I could hear the familiar high-pitched but sweet noises wafting from the cage area. Quail sing loudly to each other whenever someone's missing from the covey. Well, after listening and looking, I spotted the fugitives, circling their childhood home. Those still incarcerated were nervously skittering back and forth.

"Oh-oh," I thought, "before turning out Annie dog and her feline pal Licker, I'd better get 'em back in." So, I tried---in vain. Ran over to the pheasant roost and retrieved the fish net in hopes that they wouldn't scoot too far too fast. I calmly followed them around the hazelnut tree next to their cage a couple of times and then gave up.

The dog and cat remain in the bunkhouse. The intra-covey tune persists, and I'm thinking as I write how I'm gonna catch 'em and get 'em back in the cage before one of the other outdoor cats eats them. Willie's on the couch reading the newspaper, so when he's done, we'll both go out. I've caught errant quail before, but there's always been another person to drive them into a corner where it's fairly easy to throw the net over them.

These quail could probably make it on their own for a while----if I turned their other nine friends loose, that is. They're fairly mature and, with plenty of foraging time left in the summer, they could certainly have time to acclimate to wild conditions. We've talked about releasing them earlier than the usual October anyway, but I think Bill would like to be the one to do it. And Bill's still on a fire at Craigmont.

So, in a little while, Willie and I will get out there and give the quail round-up another try. In the meantime, we can count on some pretty bird music.

Epilogue: And then, there were nine! Sometime during the afternoon, Annie Dog has silenced the two quail escapees---forever. When birds skitter along the ground, dogs run after them. Not good. May they rest in peace.