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Baby Quail Rescue July 2020

I got a call yesterday from one of the hotline volunteers at the wildlife center where I volunteer. She had a call about some baby quail that had fallen into a drainage ditch in a residential neighborhood. When I got there the poor quail parents were frantically running and calling, trying to find a way to their young. The grate over the drain was large and extremely heavy, but I could see at least a dozen newly minted baby quail that had fallen in and were in obvious distress. No way I could safely lift the grate so the wonderful lady who originally called us went to find several strong neighbors to help. After several attempts and four strong men later, the grate was pulled off and I carefully slid about 4 1/2 feet down into the open drain. I gingerly scooped up twelve tiny quail, each about an inch long. Unfortunately one ran into the adjoining 12” drain pipe and worked its way all the way under the street to the other drainage opening so we had to get that grate removed too! All 13 babies were safely rescued and temporarily put into a carrier.

As a couple neighbors discussed putting screens over the grates to keep the babies safe, I released them away from the road and into a wild area that bordered the development. I made sure the quail parents were following me—It was such a beautiful reunion! All thirteen of them scrambled into the brush with two extremely happy parents.

It was so beautiful, and one of my all time favorite rescues. I wish I could have photographed the ending but I must have turned off my GoPro when I crawled out of the drainage (yes, I carry a step stool with me so it wasn’t too hard getting out). My focus is always on the animals and the rescue, so any footage or images I get are incidental or taken by onlookers. As an aside, all this occurred while trying our best to maintain safe distances and while (thankfully) everyone wore masks.

24th July 2020 24th Jul 20