They prefer the tender breast of quail or other birds. The cat is the worst enemy of quail we have. I have some doubts about the accuracy of their statistics, though. But it wasn't just semi-wild cats the association had in its gun sights. It also was offering bounties for snapping turtles, snakes, skunks, weasels, hawks, owls, crows and blue jays.
Vermin destroy ten times the quail and woodcock than is killed by the hunter.
More than two-thirds of the quail eggs never hatch because a snake, skunk, mink, weasel, cat or crow have killed the old birds. If the old birds were lucky enough to escape, the vermin ate the eggs. A snake was killed in Henderson the summer of 1924 and 16 quail eggs were found in its stomach. Crows eat bird eggs of all kinds. Consequently, the association was offering a system of points for each animal or egg exterminated.