September Rain Might not have been a blessing

As in 2010 we have had a great year and quail look like a big recovery.

Read the entire article.
One of the carriers of the problem. Insects

I saw a covey of 21 birds the other day.

http://today.ttu.edu/2014/08/researchers-blood-sucking-eyeworm-a-culprit-to-quail-decline/

This article has been out for several weeks now. I hope we don't have a repeat. I hope they can find a cure.

I was out in the field yesterday and I didn't see any crickets but the grasshoppers are everywhere. I'm guessing they carry the larvae/egg also.

I hope the quail have developed a resistance on their own. This year has mirrored 2010 with rain pattern and temperature. We know that the quail the survived 2010 were tough and maybe those genes have been passed on to the quail we have now.

I have been hoping for that type of genetic mutation for years. You have to assume the quail that survive each year are tougher or have a better genetic make up than those that don't. One would think through natural selection we would have our best quail ever.

that's called evolution, and it doesn't happen in one year

Why, of course it does. The weak/stupid ones die for one reason or another, and that only leaves the stronger/more wiley ones to reproduce the next generation. Example: You start putting a lot of pressure on your deer/hogs/whatever, and it doesn't take centuries and eons for them to become nocturnal animals. They have evolved.

if someone beat the hell out of you every time you went to walmart, would you keep going back, unless you are stupid, you wouldn't, that is not evolution

Good article and good research. I wonder if that parasite is responsible for the quail decline in the Northern and Central zones.