OAK PRAIRIE WILDLIFE VIEWS
Is yours an extinction plan for Bobwhites?

Have you ever wished an animal or plant species would cease to exist? The vast majority of us would probably answer with an emphatic "No"! No one wants whole species of flora or fauna to disappear. However, if I mention the imported fire ants, I bet I would have a few takers. But even if fire ants are high on one's list of disagreeable species, most wouldn't want them to disappear from the face of the earth. Just leave their property; county; state; country; hemisphere.

So, if the vast majority of us don't want things to disappear from existence, the vast majority of us have never set down and composed an extinction plan for anything. I would have placed myself in this vast majority too. However, back in the 1980s and early 1990s, I unintentionally initiated an extinction plan for a species of bird most of us love. I was causing bobwhite quail to go extinct on my property.

What was I doing or where was I working that the eradication of bobwhite quail was the result? Back then I was a cattle manager for a couple of purebred cattle operations. As the operation manager, my main function, as I saw it, was as a grass farmer. Almost everything I did to further the cattle operation was focused on maximizing grass production. After all, grass is the fuel that makes the cattle operation thrive.

The bobwhite extinction plan started with the type of grass I wanted on my cattle operation. I wanted improved pastures of preferably coastal Bermuda. This grass was fertilized heavily in the spring to ensure good hay production and grazing conditions. I wanted the grass thick and green.

The extinction plan continued with weed spraying. I didn't want any weeds in my pastures. Weeds compete with grass, lowering grass production, and cattle don't eat weeds if they don't have to. All weeds were eradicated sometime in the spring.

Other than what cattle needed for shade, I didn't have much use for brush or woody species either. Brush also inhibits grass production by tying up water and shading out areas. Most of the brush was eliminated from the pastures. Brush in the fence lines gives an un-kept appearance and makes fence maintenance harder. So, the quail extinction plan plodded ahead, as all fence lines were cleared and kept clean of brush.

If most people were asked to compose an extinction plan for any animal, I think they would place the elimination of food at the top of the plan. My cattle operation eliminated any seed producing weeds that quail might use and most woody species. I created a virtual monoculture of a grass that provided no wildlife food benefit and reduced vegetative diversity. This also reduced the number and kinds of insects that might be present as a high protein food source. Basically, quail had nothing to consume to maintain survival, much less to fortify production. I think my extinction plan got off to a very effective start.

By keeping a thick mat of grass and eliminating brush, I created an environment where quail had no place to hide from aerial or ground predators. They also had limited areas of thermal cover (shade) during the hotter months. If I did have quail that could deal with a non-existent food supply, they were going to have to deal with a constant threat of predation or become invisible. I think my extinction plan culminated effectively.

After getting into the wildlife business, it didn't take me long to see that the things I did to further the cattle enterprise were (most times) in direct conflict with that which would benefit wildlife. Particularly for bobwhite, I found that I couldn't come up with a more effective extinction plan for that bird than the management plan for my cattle operation.

Now, am I advocating everyone sell their cows and start killing coastal Bermuda? No. Am I saying cattle are evil and need to be eliminated? No. In fact, cattle can be very beneficial to wildlife and quail in particular, if managed properly. What I am trying to point out is that in this day of urbanization, limited space, and habitat fragmentation, the management practices we implement to benefit one species may have negative and even lethal consequences for another. If you're managing your cattle operation as described above, believe that is the way to make it the most profitable, and don't care about bobwhite quail, then keep on trucking. But, if you're wondering where all the quail went, you might look at your own bobwhite extinction plan.

If you would like to contact your local biologist, see our Web site at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/ wildlifebiologist.