Aren't Those Quail Cute!!!

Q. I'm hoping you can help me with my quail problem.  I once thought they were adorable but now that they've eaten lots of my garden, I'm less thrilled with them. They have eaten my radishes (2 plantings), carrots, spinach (2 plantings), Swiss chard (2 plantings), lettuce, beets, jalapenos, Hungarian wax peppers. 

            I've made wire covered with plastic into arches and put plastic netting over them and held it down with U-shaped large clips.  They have eaten through the netting in places.  Or they have just landed on the netting and collapsed it enough to reach the new plants.  And the thing I hate the most is that they peck through a stem and leave the leaf just lying there.  To top it off, they now have eaten my mock orange into half its size and taken some rosemary (which grows so fast, I wish they would just stick to it!). 

            Last fall they pecked off two thirds of a valentine plant.  I would greatly appreciate any help you can give me.  I hesitate to use an ultrasonic type of machine as I enjoy all the hummingbirds and other small birds that come to the yard. 

A. I usually cut down the questions a bit but yours was so interesting (and I’m sorry but kind of funny) that I had to put the whole thing in. Those quail sure are cute aren’t they! When they are in someone else’s garden! I can almost hear some of the readers, “Get a cat!”

            Quail, as you have found out, can be a big problem for vegetable gardens.  The best way to keep them out is to fence the garden plots with metal chicken wire, 1 inch diameter hexagonal.  The ultrasonic bird repellents only work for short periods of time until they get accustomed to it.  That has been our experience at the orchard using these devices. 

            When you put up the chicken wire make sure it is 48 inch wide metal mesh and that it is staked securely about every five or 6 feet.  You must then run a wire between the stakes at the height where the top of the fence will be and tightly secured to the wire to keep it from sagging.             You should dig a trench about 6 to 8 inches deep on the outside of the stakes so that this fencing can be buried 6 to 8 inches deep.  This helps to keep animals, like rabbits, from getting under the fencing.  This is preferable to staking or stapling the bottom of the fence to the ground.         The mesh should be no larger than 1 inch diameter and even though this size will still allow small rabbits and baby quail access if they choose to leave their mothers.  This should reduce and nearly eliminate the problems to the vegetable beds.