River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-07-24
QUAIL IN NORTHERN WINTERS
The Birds Have Demonstrated The r
Ability to Withstand the Sc
verify of the Season.

Reports from Michigan, Wisconsin
and Minnesota show that the quail
in the southern parts of those states
wintered well; in the northern parts
there are no quail winter or summer,
says the New York Sun.
The hardness of the birds has
proved surprise, as in western Wis
consin and eastern Minnesota the
snowfall was the heaviest in years. In
January it was the belief that the
quail would be almost eXterminated.
In that month came the kind of
snow that is the most deadly to
ground-bird life--soft and continuous
until a depth of nearly foot on the
level was reached, then slight rise in
temperature followed by drilling
rain, which wet the snow thoroughly,
then fall and hard freeze, convert
ing the snow surface into solid ice,
roofing over the particles beneath.
When a storm of this kind comes the
birds take shelter under bushes, but
the snow finds them and covers them.
When the freeze follows their only re-
course is to tunnel their way to the
upper air and the quail is often not
strong enough to make way thsough
the frozen crust with it's beak.
An imprisoned flock takes turns in
hammering at the crust, but even if
they gain their liberty, coming out one
by one through hole just large
enough to permit of egress, they find
their feeding places almost impene=
trably covered and have a strong
chance of starvation.
Now and then a kind-hearted farmer
throws out wheat or chicken feed
near his barn, but generally the
bevies are left to look out for them
selves and whether they live or die de-
ponds entirely upon the length of time
the frozen crust lasts. Quail are ex-
ceedingly daring and ingenious in find
ing food under such circumstances.
Some bevies come up to the farm
yards and associate amicably with the
chickens, sometimes even going into
the henhouse to roost. The huge
Brahmas and Cochins regard the in
vasion with dislike, but cannot catch
the nimble little marauders who get
much more than their share of the
food until their small crops are filled.
Other bevies stay along the edges
of streams. Here the snow upon one
or the other bank is apt to be lighter
and to drift and leave the ground bare,
and it must be singularly barren
ground from which a snow-harassed
quail cannot manage to extract some
nutriment.
Others feed upon the still-clinging
seeds of weeds which project above
the crust and others try their already
sore bills along the crevices of old logs
and trees, looking for worms which
have gone as far in from the cold as
they can get.
The state of Wisconsin has been at
much trouble and expense as to it's
quail. Some years ago there were not
a dozen quail to a county; they had
been shot, Melted and trapped almost
to extinction.
Some thousands of pairs were i'm
ported from Oklahoma, a territory
which does not now permit the ex-
portation of quail, and they were
turned loose in a cold and strange
country to die or multiply as they saw
fit.
No effort was made to take care of
them, but a law was passed forbidding
the shooting of quail under heavy
penalty for five years.
At the expiration of that period
they had increased marvelously.
Then the farmer element in the legis-
lature extended the period by three
wears more, which has two years to
run.
If the quail are not exterminated by
some savage winter there will be rare
sport in Wisconsin in 1904, unless the
grangers again intervene. The farmer
wants the quail let alone, because in
his opinion it is %laughterer of pota-
to bugs, 1t does eat potato bugs, but