Thread: Pheasants/Quail breeding season

Hope you are right Pointer – but sadly it is much different to this time last year

I was driving down our access road a week or so back and these guys were in the way – I stopped about 8m from them, I got out and leaned over the front door and took a few pics, I was a bit slow cause while I was snapping, a bl@@dy stoat ran from just in front of me, right through the middle of them – they didn’t even move – he must have been scared of me and the car – I just missed snapping him –


I did a bit of work on shelter belts at the lower end of the property yesterday – lots of lovely dry dirt under the trees – quail numbers were great – lots of family groups of 10 to 20 – saw some young ones about the size of bumble bees – must have seen more than a hundred birds during the day – stoats haven’t got those birds – maybe they are not on the stoat menu
I have set up six traps in that area but may have to refine my bait a bit – two days old and it is moving round – I will clean them out tomorrow and revert to just eggs – Maurie from - Traps NZ Cage Leghold Victor Possum Cat Stoat Rat Mouse tells me they don’t like smelly bait
Also saw a group of about ten juvenile pheasants down there so there is some hope