Pheasant Predation and Habitat

Want a lesson on predation and habitat, and learn what kills pheasants? Listen to this. It’s long, but really, really good. Start at minute 25 to avoid the fluff.

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Found a turkey nest morel hunting and put a camera on it. It didn’t last 2 weeks before a raccoon found it.

I assumed that coyotes had a minimal effect on pheasants already. This seems to confirm that. What is missing though? Feral cats. I know they aren’t a natural predator (they’re invasive/introduced by us), but they can have a devastating role on ground bird populations. If you see one, dispatch it. Its simple: if you have a lot of feral cats roaming, you won’t have a lot of birds. I also know that coyotes actively hunt feral cats. Cats belong in a house, not out in the countryside as an introduced predator.

They touch on feral cats in the audio. They’ll kill pheasants for sure but not as big of a problems as fox, coons, skunk, weasels, and even mink. And, of course, large blocks of quality habitat is the key. But ya, I wouldn’t shed a tear if you want to lower the population of feral cats.

dirk-w. wrote:

They touch on feral cats in the audio. They’ll kill pheasants for sure but not as big of a problems as fox, coons, skunk, weasels, and even mink. And, of course, large blocks of quality habitat is the key. But ya, I wouldn’t shed a tear if you want to lower the population of feral cats.

I must have missed that portion. I stopped listening after about 25 minutes.

If you have good habitat, it’s amazing how fast you can build bird numbers with some basic predator management.

And god invented the 10/22 ruger specifically for shooting feral cats.

Let’s not get started on feral cats. lol

Right here in town there are a mess of them. There’s an outfit that comes and live-traps the suckers , has them fixed and shots given, then they bring them right back to where they were caught and release them again. Dispatch indeed. I endorse the process.

We have an abundance of shrews and mice in the and around the garage so in addition to traps I also put out the TomCat blocks, the blue ones with the hole thru the center for pinning them. The pesky raccoons eat them like candy, then they are no longer a pest. Just last week I watched a feral cat one evening eat a pair of the blocks I keep stationed where chipmunks are an issue. Haven’t seen that cat back again either while its usually on rounds every evening.

tornadochaser wrote:

If you have good habitat, it’s amazing how fast you can build bird numbers with some basic predator management.

And god invented the 10/22 ruger specifically for shooting feral cats.

Basically, there are a lot of animals, including us, that want to kill and eat a pheasant or their eggs. They have a tough, short life. Yup, habitat is where it’s at with some predator control.

I’ve seen about 3 skunks the past couple seasons. The guy made the point they have no natural enemies except great horned owls (no sense of smell), and stupid dogs. Interesting.

Short term populations of birds are also affected by the weather. Long, cold winters with deep snow doesn’t help. A wet June with lots of heavy rain doesn’t help reproduction either. Long term numbers are more related to habitat.

The good news on that front is that its setting up to be a great season. Last winter was pretty mild, crops got planted on time, and it was quite dry (at least where I hunt) the first 3 weeks of June.

Greg C wrote:

Found a turkey nest morel hunting and put a camera on it. It didn’t last 2 weeks before a raccoon found it.

While out catfishing in early June I watched a turtle lay it eggs in the side of a sandy cut bank. The next day I watched a raccoon dig up the eggs and enjoy a nice meal.