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Southold to use quail to control ticks

LESHOWARD / FLICKR.COM The Southold Town Board is considering importing bobwhite quail into several town preserves.
LESHOWARD / FLICKR.COM The Southold Town Board is considering importing bobwhite quail into several town preserves.

With Shelter Island involved in a nearly decade-long effort to find ways to control the tick population here, neighboring Southold Town is beginning a new experiment help solve the problem.

On July 5, the Southold Town Board discussed details of a pilot program to import bobwhite quail into several town preserves, hoping the birds will eat the ticks that lead to Lyme disease and other serious ailments.

Officials also hope it will help restore habitat for the bird, which was once prevalent on the North Fork but has disappeared in recent years. “There are several different approaches we’re going to roll out in our efforts for tick eradication on town preserves,” Supervisor Scott Russell said.

Two weeks ago, the town discussed a pilot program in which an organic repellent made with cedar oil would be used on town preserves to kill ticks, he said. “As we research it and come up with new options, we’ll try to implement them and see what works and what doesn’t work,” Mr. Russell said.

“The bobwhite population is very, very low on [Long Island] right now,” said Byron Young, president of the Eastern Long Island Audubon Society, in an interview. “There are a couple of efforts to improve it in some locations, that I am aware of.” He said the decline of the species probably started in the late 1970s and early 1980s during the development boom on Long Island.

Bobwhites don’t like being around people or development, Mr. Young added. “I have not seen what I would consider a wild quail in five or six years,” he said and speculated that an increase in feral cats, which prey on young quail, and the increase in foxes are factors in the scarcity of the birds.

“Hopefully, we can bring back the population, but it will take time,” said Jeff Standish, Southold’s public works director.
Mr. Standish said the town plans to buy young birds from a hatchery and then release them when they’re about six weeks old, or when they are just starting to fly.

The town plans to purchase the hatchlings in late July or early August and raise them in captivity for six weeks. After that, the town will choose which preserve properties to release them to, based on which have the best habitats for the quail.

The plan is to buy about 100 birds, which will cost approximately $207, according to Mr. Standish. “A lot of people would like to see them around again,” he said.

“They will eat ticks. They’re a ground-feeding bird,” Mr. Young said. “But it’s not going to be like a vacuum cleaner and eat every single tick. They need to be free-ranging to be effective.”

Still, he said the effort to control the ticks can’t hurt.

“It gets a relatively native bird back into its habitat, and if they can survive and have the population grow, it would be even better,” Mr. Young said.