Fireants have hit the quail population pretty hard, too. I don't remember the last time I flushed a covey when out walking. When I was a kid, I did all the time.
/johnny
That’s a shame. Quail are delicious.
Did not know about the fire ants harming quail.
We have fire ants, but not terribly bad. At least not in our tight land farms. In sandy land farms it seems worse.
When I was growing up, we were serious quail hunters. I remember my father hunting almost every day. One of the last years I was home before moving away after college, he hunted 47 of the 54 day season. He had a great English pointer, a really smart animal.
We had a large quail population at the ranch, until 1986 when the flood hit here. The 2 pastures al riverside were under 12 feet of water, and the fire ants rode in. I haven’t seen a covey in quite a few years.
We had an invasion of ants in the garden. Huge mounds. But they can stay until this weather improves. I don’t like cold.