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Show A It's Your Wildlife Jl&Lisj By Garth Carter I Chukar season ended 'January 'Jan-uary 15, and I hope you got to try a couple of the tasty upland gome birds. Cottontail season continues until the last of this month. The daily limit is 10 rabbits, and possession limit is 20 rabbits. To legally hunt cottontails you must possess a 1977 Small Game or 1977 Combination license. gkc Locally the cougar hunt is ! still on. The season began November 1 and continues through April 15 in this area. (Check cougar and bear proc- ' lamation for variation in different dif-ferent locales.) Hunters must possess a valid 1977 Combination Combina-tion or Small Game license in addition to a resident cougar permit. The resident cougar permit costs $15, while the non-resident permit costs $150. The season limit is one cougar, and upon killing the animal, it must be taken to a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Re-sources Conservation officer or office within 48 hours after date of kill for the purpose of obtaining physical measurements. measure-ments. Dominick Adornato from the state of New York recently recent-ly bagged a female cougar from the cottonwood area on the Bookcliffs, his guide was Ray Lyons from Colorado. The female measured 27 in. at the shoulder and had a length of 76 inches. The three day hunt ended after the cougar returned to several of the sheep it had killed previously ! near the cottonwood ranch. : -gkc-j In an effort to fill a vacant wildlife niche I requested a i transplant of quail to the Moab area. A few days ago I received a memo indicating that there are possibilities of obtaining Gambel's Quail from the St. George area, or California Cali-fornia Quail from Salt Lake, j Common names for the I Gambel's Quail also include ' desert quail and Arizona I quail. This species is similar in I size, form, and coloration to the California quail. They are ( distinguished by their red- dish-brown crown and black E belly patch. j Gambel's Quail prefer brush j desert areas and irrigated j agricultural regions in lower elevations. Pairing occurs in t late winter or early spring. After pairing a territory is selected then the male de-J de-J fends this territory against J other males. Nesting usually ' begins in April, whereupon an average of 12 eggs are laid. Both parents assume nesting : and after arrival protective $ responsibilities. Seeds, green j vegetation, insects, and culti-- culti-- vated grains are primary food sources. Populations in the desert are largely dependent upon winter rainfall and subsequent subse-quent development of vegeta-, vegeta-, tion. Major populations are j dependent upon the farming practices in the area. Crops j and method of farming play J the most important role in population size. Local farmers (several, including Tommy White, Bill Boulden and the Pete Dowle Ranch) have played play-ed important roles in allowing such a transplant on their properties. Cover for roosting and nesting, food source, water wa-ter availability are factors in transplants that must be met to insure proper population stability. Let's keep our fingers fing-ers crossed that we might be lucky enough to receive the requested birds in the near future. |