Why is it that no one seems to be able to successfully establish a wild population of Ruffed Grouse using captive reared birds?
You are absolutely right that efforts so far to establish wild populations from captive Ruffed Grouse have failed, at least to date. I personally believe that there are many reasons, but I will describe some of the ones I feel are the most important. * Most suitable Grouse habitats are already at their “carrying capacity”, so any new grouse released are simply driven out to the marginal habitat where they lead a meager existence until killed by a predator. Some releases of wild trapped grouse have succeeded when they were introduced to restored forests they could not have found on their own. Bear in mind though, that these were strong flying wild birds already well versed in avoiding predators, and experienced at finding food sources. * Unlike ringneck pheasants and valley quail, ruffed grouse in captivity get extremely tame and lose all of their fear of man and other creatures (dogs, etc.) that they get used to. Once released these birds are at a great disadvantage. Also, having been
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