So... Mr. Tumnus the pet quail met his first love and lost his ... innocence ... this past weekend. Chronicles here in my blog, if you haven't already seen them. Today, he is acting very strangely, and I'm wondering what's up. When I go outside, he always runs up to the fence to say hi. But tonight, he ran like a bat out of hell and hurled himself furiously at the fence, over and over. I thought, "Oh no! Freckle (aka Mrs. Robinson) is attacking him and making his life miserable! He wants out!" So I opened the gate and he threw himself into my hand and started climbing up my arm, making this very odd repeated sound: "Errr! Errr! Errr! Errr!" over and over, nonstop. Then he began biting me, not breaking the skin, but twisting it. All the while, furiously trying to climb higher up. I took him out and held him for a couple minutes hoping he'd calm down outside the pen, away from his "tormentor." But he just kept making that sound and acting weird. So I went back in the pen and set him down. He ran over to Freckle and jumped on her back and mated. And that's when it occurred to me that maybe he was competing with me for her attention. Or... maybe now that his sex switch is flipped, it occurs to him that he wants to mate with me, too? After that, he came running back to me and began all over to attack. Then he noticed my three-year-old by the fence and ran over to him and started hurling himself at the fence over there. A few moments later, he calmed down and went back to acting normal. So which is it? Love or hate? Or something else entirely? Thoughts?
Sounds like he is protecting his girl! See, and you were worried he would be a "scaredy quail" all his life! He is in love....
he was raised byhimself right? I think he sees humans as a potential mate/competitor. I once had a cockatiel that would get very happy with any attention I gave her... then she would lay an egg... my other bird would get jealous and would fly on my head and pull at my hair.
Yeah, he was raised by himself and I'm not at all surprised that he sees me as one of his species. I do wonder how I appear to him though--male or female. Whether his attacks are the equivalent of a barroom brawl over a girl or an attempt at romance. And obviously, he's crazed in the head. Poor guy. It is kind of funny though, to have this little creature so wildly attempting to... do *something* to me. It's the most interactive I've ever seen a quail get with a human.
Well Mr Tamnus Has Got Him A Little And Become Big Man On Campus.... The Attack Is A Dominance Thing... Justs Wants You To Be Sure Who The Roo Is Around There Now That He's Found Out What His Special Purpose Is He's Trying To Make Sure Everyone Else Around Knows Too... He'll Get Over It Once The New Wears Off And And Child Support Payments Kick In
Ha ha! You are too much. Thanks for the feedback, guys. It's really funny to think of that little old guy trying to tell me what-for with every ounce (all 3 of them) of his being. Interested to see what he does this morning. I tell ya--I'm pretty happy with that big girl we got for him. She's laid an egg a day starting with the very afternoon we ripped her away from her sisters and plunked her down in new territory. Go, Freckle!
