Growing up in the tiny farm town of Orland at the north end of California’s Central Valley, a pheasant sighting was a daily occurrence for me. These beautiful Asian transplants were so plentiful, and pheasant hunting was so popular, the annual season opener was practically a national holiday.
People often ask me what happened to all the pheasants. As always, the destruction of habitat is a major factor: Most of the grass-filled ditches where pheasants once nested have been eliminated. Some farming practices have resulted in nests and young birds being crushed under heavy machinery. Perhaps the most damaging factor is the explosive increase in the number of feral cats; it’s estimated that these natural predators kill hundreds of millions of song birds and game birds every year. People who allow their family pets to multiply unchecked or become established in the wild do more harm to wild bird populations than all of the poachers combined.
Most game wardens or wildlife officers will tell you that the odds of going out on any given day and catching someone in the act of taking a deer out of season are pretty remote. With thousands of square miles to patrol, it’s like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack.
