British Expats - Roadkill Guilt

Quote:

Originally Posted by sid nv (Post 12732694)

The creature that strikes me as most intelligent when crossing the road is the Quail. Quails roam about in families and prefer to walk across the road, although they can fly in a push. They can always figure out which way to run whan a car approaches, the shortest path to safety. Chicks can be tiny, but parents scoot them out the way in good time. The only time they get caught out is when they are in the middle of the road and cars are coming both ways, so they are caught out in a pincer attack. In this situation I hit the brakes, and if I get rear-ended that is the other driver's problem.

...

Did you know, if a baby quail is separated from the parents for more than about 10 minutes, they are likely abandoned? I recently found a baby quail (really, really small!) in my yard in Arizona around 6pm. I assumed that if I put it back outside the fence, it would reunite with its parents. I returned home around 9pm, and checked in on it ... it was right where I put it, outside the fence, and now it's dark and the Coyote's and such are out and about (I live next to an open space). So I brought it back inside the fence, and put it in a cardboard box lined with paper. It was hardly moving, but making a high pitched sound, constantly. I then did some research.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news...zona/10282643/

"And if you don't see the parents for about 10 minutes, chances are the babies are abandoned."

Wildlife with Specialized Needs

I found a local (well, 40 minute drive ... :) ) rehab center and drove it there the next morning (2nd link above). When I got there, there was another family ahead of me who had brought in an identical chick. Here's the two chicks placed in a small container at the rehab center ... the chick was amazingly energetic and noisy, after spending the whole night/morning virtually stationary.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...a53fe65be8.jpg

And here's a family of geese crossing the road near my place in CA in April ... cars happily stop for this (I live in a pretty sedate place :) )

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...ef1bbaeaf6.jpg

Baby quail are born with a yolk sac in their stomachs and can live several days after birth without food.