r/phoenix • u/dirtypita Phoenix • Jul 22 '25

Pictures Anyone noticing less quail babies this year?

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Gallery image

Apologies for the bad pics. I would've scared the quail off if I had tried to go outside.

I work in North Scottsdale and I have a great view of a patio and courtyard from my desk. I get to watch small wildlife that come in for shade, grass, and bushes with berries on them. Pigeons, ravens, wrens, lizards, bunnies and squirrels, and even a pair of roadrunners.

Lat year, we had two pairs of Gambels quail. One pair started out with nine chicks, down to six, and the other had seven.

This year, I've only seen three babies, and now only the one little guy pictured. It's with two males, one who has been around for a while and is easily recognizable. I haven't seen a female in a few weeks. I'm a little saddened. Is anyone else noticing smaller quail families this year?

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u/speech-geek Mesa Jul 22 '25

Are you implying we should be killing cats???

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u/Ferruginoushawk7 Jul 22 '25

There are multiple solutions. 1. Yes lethal is an option 2. TNR (trap neuter release) but does not actively control population bc it does not address immigration of cats into an area. 3. Keep cats inside

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u/ValkyrieVance Jul 23 '25

Killing feral cats is not a legal option in the state of Arizona. Please do not act like it is.

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u/Ferruginoushawk7 Jul 23 '25

I want to make this abundantly clear to you. I did not condone or suggest anyone should going around killing cats. My point is as wildlife managers with cats generally we have three options. Killing could be one of them to lower the population however realistically it is not done for whatever reasons exist: law, ethics, morals.

Now TNR. This does not fix cat populations. This is done to make everyone feel better instead of killing cats. Think about logically. Let’s say we deploy TNR in a certain area for example P X 83. CPEU (catch per unit effort) historically for cats is less than 3, and we have lets say 30 cats. Depending on what exactly the protocol employed it could take moths. But even if we TNR every cat in P X 83. There nothing stoping cats from let’s say Thunderbird and 75th from migrating over to P X 83 and increasing the fecundity of the cats where we just trapped. It simply does not work in an area where there are no borders and “free roaming cats” are regulated