Do you think that a red squirrel would take a Coturnix?

[JJMR794]

Well, lo and behold, I went around every inch of this pen this morning, and found a hole about two inches across chewed through the hardware cloth right at the ground level on one side, under the sheet of plastic I put on for the winter as a wind/water barrier.

THIS WOULD MAKE FOR A HANDY QUAIL EXIT...​

 

[JJMR794]

FOR THE RECORD..... IF YOU EVEN HAVE THE SLIGHTEST INKLING SQUIRRELS ARE GETTING YOUR BIRDS.... I HAVE RECIPES

 

[Fat Daddy]

I got to agree, the quail made the big escape thru the hole in the wire... Likely was lunch outside the pen...

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Only because they couldn't pull them out, if they could have they would have carried them off and the birds would have just been 'gone'.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
THIS WOULD MAKE FOR A HANDY QUAIL EXIT...

Well, I didn't explain it in enough detail or properly, but because of the way I built it, the quail can't get to this area -- there is double wall construction with inner and outer layers of wire.

This is another reason I suspect the squirrels -- they could go in this hole, scale the vertical inner studs, and come out at the top of the inner wall about 4 feet off of ground level where the sidewalls meet the roof. It would be really, really hard to a quail to get between the two wall sections (but hey, anything is possible). It has a top cap, but there are some small gaps. I didn't seal them but will do so -- right now, I could totally envision a red squirrel pressing through the opening. They can get in pretty small spaces.

What I'm wondering -- am I going to find a pile of quail mummies in the spring just like I find piles of walnuts, hickory nuts, corncobs in my outbuildings? Because this is what I think is happening -- the squirrels are going in there, grabbing quail, and hauling them off to stash and eat later. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd find feathers, skin, and bone -- you know how messy squirrels are.

If it continues to be a problem, I may just install an electrified wire mesh around the pen -- they have electric fence kits now that are cheap.

 

[Fat Daddy]

Quote:
THIS WOULD MAKE FOR A HANDY QUAIL EXIT...

Well, I didn't explain it in enough detail or properly, but because of the way I built it, the quail can't get to this area -- there is double wall construction with inner and outer layers of wire.

This is another reason I suspect the squirrels -- they could go in this hole, scale the vertical inner studs, and come out at the top of the inner wall about 4 feet off of ground level where the sidewalls meet the roof. It would be really, really hard to a quail to get between the two wall sections (but hey, anything is possible). It has a top cap, but there are some small gaps. I didn't seal them but will do so -- right now, I could totally envision a red squirrel pressing through the opening. They can get in pretty small spaces.

What I'm wondering -- am I going to find a pile of quail mummies in the spring just like I find piles of walnuts, hickory nuts, corncobs in my outbuildings? Because this is what I think is happening -- the squirrels are going in there, grabbing quail, and hauling them off to stash and eat later. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd find feathers, skin, and bone -- you know how messy squirrels are.

If it continues to be a problem, I may just install an electrified wire mesh around the pen -- they have electric fence kits now that are cheap.

Or like JJ said, Eat more squirrel....

 

[Robo]

If I wasn'tso tight onmoney I'd come up there and pick them off for you...

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
We used to either just fry them like chicken, coating them in Bisquick and pan frying in a mix of butter and oil, or we made a weird but very tasty kind of stew/soup out of them -- you browned the squirrel just a bit in a little oil or butter with a little bit of chopped onion, then added chicken stock to cover, simmered until tender with a couple of bay leaves. When it's almost done, you dump in a can of peas and a couple of tablespoons of ketchup, and let it cook for another 20-30 minutes.

I've never eaten a red squirrel, though, I can't imagine they would be worth the bother since they're so small. We always had the fox or grey squirrels (whatever the heck they are that are so common here in Michigan -- the large, rust colored ones).