Quail toes need protection from hair

Brooms are used to keep Chinese painted quail safe at the Otago Museum. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
Brooms are used to keep Chinese painted quail safe at the Otago Museum. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
Can the humble broom also become a quail-safe device?

And whatever happens when hairs are released in a Tropical Forest?

To answer these questions, look no further than the five male Chinese painted quail, also called king quail, which are "free roaming" in the Otago Museum’s Tropical Forest.

Museum living environments officer Dr Anthony Stumbo says that visiting humans tend to shed "quite a bit" of hair, which could get "tangled round the feet and toes" of the quail, potentially harming them.

He and other museum staff each day use a broom to sweep paths at the popular forest, which is also home to a host of brightly coloured tropical butterflies.

"The vegetation is too dense to do the garden bits, but I do try and comb through the areas that the quails spend the most time in to remove hair and stringy plant material," he added.

Daily sweeping of paths reduced "the amount of hair laying around" and the chances of feet and toe tangling.

"We also have a thrice-daily checklist for forest tasks, which includes observing all of the animals and looking for any issues such as hair tangled around quail feet. If this is observed, the quail is gathered up and the hair is removed.

"If we did not take these precautions, the hair can lead to the toes being so tangled that it cuts into the flesh and they lose circulation."

john.gibb@odt.co.nz

 

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