THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 31, 1994 TAG: 9408300143
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
If north Alanton residents notice a resurgence of quails in the neighborhood, they can blame it on Jim Hook.
Animal lover Hook, sometimes called ``St. Francis'' by residents on his block, has released 19 quails to run free in Alanton. He got the eggs from a supplier in Suffolk last spring, hatched the eggs in an incubator and raised the brown birds in a pen in his back yard. Recently when they were large enough to wander about on their own, he let them go.
``I raised the quail,'' he said, ``because I wanted more for the neighborhood.''
It seems when Hook retired and moved to Alanton 13 years ago, he could hear quails calling all around his house. Over the years, he heard the melodic ``bobwhite'' call less and less and decided to try and do something about it.
Hook also has released several pheasants from his yard but he wasn't trying to populate Alanton with pheasants, he said. Instead he ``rescued'' the birds from a hardware store where they were for sale. Hook didn't approve of the way the birds were being raised in the store, so he purchased them, brought them home and raised them in his garage.
Both the quails and pheasants could be loathe to leave Hook's back yard, however, because it is a certified National Wildlife Federation Backyard Wildlife Habitat. With plenty of good plants going to seed and providing food, lots of ground cover and bushes for hiding and lots of ponds full of water, the grass might not look greener on the other side of Hook's fence.
Hook wishes other residents would let plants in their yards go to seed and provide more cover for wildlife. That way, birds like the quails that disappear from residential areas might have a better chance.
``People get so fanatic about cleaning everything up!'' he complained.
Hook, who worked in advertising and as a photographer in New York City before he retired, found the interest he had in nature as a youngster was rejuvenated when he moved from the big city to Virginia Beach.
``I work harder at my hobbies here than I did at my real job,'' he said.
Not only does he maintain his Backyard Wildlife Habitat but he also raises Japanese koi in three different fish ponds and is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.
He has koi that are 2 feet long as well as numerous young fish in a variety of color combinations such as black, gold, orange and yellow. He's breeding them to bring out distinctive color patterns.
This year alone, he has rehabilitated and released three blue herons, two tundra swans, a red-tail hawk, two kestrels and six great horned owl youngsters.
Hook has combined his photography interest with his interest in nature. He has documented on video various birds that he's rehabilitated as well as the progress of the quails - from egg to adulthood.
One fascinating video shows a quail hatching from its egg. You can watch as the bird pecks about 80 percent around the big end of the shell. That end of the shell then opens as if on a hinge. Finally the tiny quail fights and fights to free itself from the rest of the egg.
``Boy, they struggle so hard,'' Hook said.
The hatchling was only 1 1/2 inches long, but within 18 hours it was taped as it ate and drank with its brothers and sisters in the 10-gallon aquarium which was their first home.
Another piece of video pictures Hook high on an extension ladder returning a young owl that had fallen out of its nest back to a home. Hook couldn't find the actual nest, so he nailed a bicycle basket, as a substitute nest, on a tree in the vicinity of where the owl was found. The parents returned and began caring for the youngster, he said.
Another shows the release of a tundra swan at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge had called Hook to pick up the ill swan which had been found on the beach. Hook brought the bird back to health and when he let it go in one of the refuge's impoundments, the video shows the swan as it recognizes the sound of a flock of swans trumpeting nearby.
Still another video shows a great blue heron that was recuperating from a run-in with an electrical wire. Hook took a video of the bird as it ate its meal of minnows from a plastic dish.
Hook said he has been asked if he is interfering with Mother Nature when he rehabilitates wild animals. He says no.
``No, because 99 percent of these events are man-made not natural disasters,'' he said. ``It gives you a good feeling to know that you have given them another chance at survival.''
P.S. SNAKES ALIVE, a program on local snakes by Seashore State Park interpreter Gary Williamson will take place at 8:30 p.m. today in the amphitheater on the campground side of the park. The program is free but there is a parking fee. Call 481-4836.
THE TIDEWATER SAMPLER GUILD'S annual juried sampler exhibit opened this week and continues through Oct. 2 at historic Francis Land House. The exhibit will consist of traditional samplers stitched by guild members and also a display of antique needlework tools. The program is free with admission. Call 340-1732. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow@infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
``I raised the quail because I wanted more for the neighborhood,''
says Jim Hook, who has lived in Alanton for 13 years. During that
time, he heard the melodic ``bobwhite'' call less and less.
by CNB