Nest predators: are we overlooking crows?

Dead Eye-NC

Eight Pointer
As someone who does a fair amount of crow hunting and coon trapping, its a lot easier to put a dent in the coons. my DP traps are hunting 24/7. on my property i notice a tremendous reduction in number of coons after 5 years trapping. Crows take a lot of time to kill a bunch and many times you rarely get more than a couple. I dont think you can put a dent in the crow population as there are so many and they get educated real quick.
 

timber

Twelve Pointer
I completely agree with you about the predator control. There is no denial of that on my part. To answer your question about what has increased since that time my answer will be the population of humans in this area and the destruction of habitat to accommodate this growth. This has led to the wildlife having to share less space. Since the 60's when the raptors became protected that increased avian predation. Also, the collapse of the fur market has led to fewer trappers taking the nest predators. So, in all yes, the predators have been given an advantage and this needs to be put in balance.
Either way we are in agreement about the predators all I am saying that we have a long way to go to try and put it all back in balance


Just my opinion the quail numbers being a lot lower is way more than just population growth and predators. I have always thought it was some kind of disease or some chemicals we use on the crops. In parts of eastern NC the population of people has shrunk probably as much or more than the amount of quail. Some of the smaller towns may have more people but a lot of that is because of the free housing projects that were built in them but they have little to no affect on quail. I use to hunt them hard and is no doubt the population has dropped but also the coveys that are left are a lot less visible mainly because of way we harvest timber now. These 300 and 400 acre clear cut thickets are all but impossible to quail hunt now after they get a few years old.
 

NC Quailhunter

Six Pointer
Just my opinion the quail numbers being a lot lower is way more than just population growth and predators. I have always thought it was some kind of disease or some chemicals we use on the crops. In parts of eastern NC the population of people has shrunk probably as much or more than the amount of quail. Some of the smaller towns may have more people but a lot of that is because of the free housing projects that were built in them but they have little to no affect on quail. I use to hunt them hard and is no doubt the population has dropped but also the coveys that are left are a lot less visible mainly because of way we harvest timber now. These 300 and 400 acre clear cut thickets are all but impossible to quail hunt now after they get a few years old.
I agree with your opinion. There are other spokes in this wheel besides the mentioned ones. Just one example, and I am not faulting anyone for making a living, when you clear all your land and make it look like a lawn for when you don't have crops on it then you leave no habitat for the birds and other wildlife to call home. Pesticides being as efficient as they are, kill off one of the main food sources for young poults to get their best protein from. Taking a bush hog to your property in the spring when you are leaving the field fallow that year remove habitat and food and makes it a barren landscape and the birds and other wildlife leave.. Like I have been saying there are a lot of spokes in this wheel and until everyone gets on board with seriously bringing the birds back with combined efforts between private public lands what we have is what we have. If it is good for the bird it is good for the herd.
 
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