When my son was young, he always competed at State Fair when he was in 4-H. The fair had a hatchery display and hatched chicks, ducklings and quail. Every couple of days, they would give the babies to any 4-Her that wanted them. State Fair was always a busy time, take care of the animals at home, drive the hour to the fairgrounds to be there by 7am, spend the day, leave at 10pm, drive the hour home, take care of the animals, sleep a few hours and start over the next day. This went on for two straight weeks every year as he showed rabbits, cavies and poultry.
One year, he came home one night with 20 baby quail. When we got home I had to hurridly set up a cardboard box with a heat lamp, chick start & water until I had time to make a longer term set up. I placed the box on the counter in my bathroom and shut the door to keep out our two housecats, Bill & Bubba.
The next day when we got to fair, I couldn't remember if I had shut the door to the bathroom that morning. I brooded all day about the safety of those quail, but there was no one to call and check on them. When we got home that night, the first thing I did was run to my bathroom and I was so grateful to see the door safely closed tightly. I opened the door to check on them. I was greeted by chaos, towels on the floor, spilled water/feed, tipped box, no quail chicks and two staring cats.
Ever since I have referred to baby quail as kitty treats
I couldn't get mad at the cats, they were only doing what came naturally. I was angry with myself for carefully closing the door for safety and not confirming the cats weren't hiding on the INSIDE. I can't imagine the chaos of those two cats chasing down the twenty tiny babies. I guess the only revenge the chicks took was being WAY too rich for the cats and upsetting their (shall we say) digestive systems. Of course, I paid for that one as well, since I had to do the clean up.
We never came home with more baby quail and that was twenty years ago.
Deb
