Operation Transfusion: We have lift-off! by Dale Rollins

If you were a child of the 1960s chances are you remember the phrase during NASA’s Apollo space program. The thundering lift-off symbolized the start of a new odyssey for the crew members and those of us who thought astronauts were like Greek gods.

An odyssey is defined as “a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune.” A successful space voyage required incredible planning by a large team of scientists. The project’s status was tracked intensively from Mission Control. Even then sometimes things went horribly wrong (e.g., Apollo 13; if you haven’t seen the movie starring Tom Hanks I highly recommend it). We listened keenly to news correspondents Chet Hundley and Walter Cronkite and scientific sidebars by Jules Bergman.

But in one respect, at least relative to quail managers, the NASA team had it easy—their scientific discipline dealt mostly with physics, not ecology. The former is bound by various physical laws (e..g, gravity), and behaves according to mathematical equations. The latter’s laws are less predictable and more vulnerable to chaos. But we work with what we have.

We indeed had lift-off on March 15 on a ranch on the Shackelford-Stephens county line. The scrub-brush plains of Shackelford and Stephens counties were the epicenter of quail hunting in the Rolling Plains—until about 2007. Since then, hunters have taken more bucks than bobwhites—a bitter pill to swallow for those of us who revere bird dogs more than antlers and chittam thickets over corn feeders.

The goal of Operation Transfusion is to evaluate the use of translocating “wild-trapped” quail back to their historic domains as a means of restoring sick populations. Frustrated quailfolk have tried releasing pen-reared quail ad nauseum—but it just doesn’t work. Translocation with wild stock worked for wild turkeys white-tailed deer in Texas, and it’s proven successful with bobwhites in southern Georgia. It should work in west Texas.

But such a mission takes a lot of planning too. Finding sources for wild birds was difficult. Granted, after two years of drought, and perhaps other insidious problems (e.g., eyeworms), quail abundance is at a record low level across west Texas. Garnering permission to trap quail under such conditions proved to be more difficult than what I’d ever imagined. But a half-dozen landowners did step forward and give us an opportunity to recruit some intrepid quail.

The “lead astronaut” for this mission is a young lady named Michelle Downey. Michelle hails from Connecticut, but has spent the last five years preparing for her current mission. Downey has completed internships at Tall Timbers Research Station (the Cape Canaveral of quail research), Utah and Colorado (working with sage grouse), and the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch. She has the skills, mettle, and support to make for a successful mission. Her Mission Control includes the board of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation, a team of staff and interns from RPQRR and Texas A&M Agrilife Research, and funding from Park Cities Quail and private donors. The timing is right, and the homework has been done. Now it’s up to the quail.

As of Mar 28 a total of 215 bobwhites had been relocated. All hens were fitted with radio transmitters to permit surveillance over the next six months. Do they stay on-site? Do they survive? And ultimately, do they reproduce?

The potential for chaos abounds. Drought still lingers. A long list of potential predators awaits any inattentive quail. Can a “quail named Sue” improvise, adapt, and overcome?

As that first bird hopped from its transport cage to terra firma on its new home, I lapsed into a fit of anthropomorphism when I proposed that the bobwhite might be thinking “that’s one small step for quail—one giant leap for quail-kind.” Stay tuned, film at eleven.

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TWP has done this in the coastal praries area.

There are so many unknown factors to consider in why we have lost most of our quail but without more rainfall, their trial release may have tough going.

Kinda funny that they chose the space program as a metaphor...like the quail population it is also going to hell in a handbasket.

The mind of Dale Rollins works in strange ways. There is no telling what he will come up with! His presentations are always entertaining.

I am interested to see how this goes. Re-population by relocation of wild trapped animals has worked in other species, turkey and deer in Okla. are good examples. Okla. also tried introducing Ruffed grouse in Eastern Okla. and that failed. I say "introducing" because I don't know of any history of ruffies in Okla. before that attempt.
Pennsylvania has had some luck in select fields with Pheasants originally trapped in Montana. I read somewhere that Penn. was the number 1 pheasant state in 1960, but now is pretty much put and take.

http://www.timesleader.com/article/20130224/news/302249793

I have two concerns regarding relocation efforts. First, do we know what is causing the quail decline? It started before the drought, so that is not the only causal factor. Second, and this is very selfish, repop. by relocation takes a long time and I doubt I will live long enough to enjoy good quail hunting again. But hey, its worth a try and I hope it works.

Too bad it didn't work...if all that public land in Eastern OK had grouse I wouldn't waste another dime chasing quail.

Maybe they should pick a species that is more adaptable to replace bobs...I've always been impressed with valley quail...

A few years back a guided hunting preserve in south central Nebraska tried stocking valley quail and Huns on their properties. The valley quail did not last long, but the Huns hung around a while. We ran into the Huns just off their property on Public Hunting land a couple of years after they had stocked them. Don't know if they are still around because I haven't hunted there in a while.
Ruffies would have been fun, but you have to watch out for Hogs and now bears in southeastern OK. I ran into my first feral hog in 1973 on a fishing trip to the glover river. My fishing buddy and I renewed our tree climbing skills on that ocassion. Learned that Pine trees aren't as easy to climb as a big old elm or mulberry tree and fishing poles aren't good "switches".

i've fished the glover...love the remoteness of that part of the world.