Don't Allow your ditches to be mowed

Help The Black Sky Project pheasants
DON’T ALLOW YOUR DITCHES TO BE MOWED!

Taken from The Black Sky Project facebook page.

The Black Sky Project has been at it again releasing pheasants. Last year the release total was over 10,000 pheasants. Yep 10k! Help us give these pheasants a little more habitat to run. Please don’t allow your ditches to be mowed.

Here’s why…..When the last cutting of the year occurs the grasses do not have enough time to grow tall enough to allow for cover at the beginning of the next spring for nesting. The ditches that we have saved from mowing have had great success with nesting year to year. The ditches that are mowed however have had no success and of course do not hold birds.

The ditch mowing season starts July 15th. This is also a concern since the chicks are still small and some of the hens will re-nest if the first nest is lost to predation etc. We have knowledge of nests getting run over, chicks getting run over and also protective hens getting run over due to not getting out of the way soon enough. Not to mention our chicks that we release at 4 weeks old will be out in these ditches.

This July 15th date is also a major problem when you consider the fact that the Quail and Hungarian Partridge are just now having their chicks. Pheasant, Quail, and Partridge have a 0 to almost 0 count on the DNR roadside survey. The Black Sky Project will keep releasing thousands upon thousands of pheasants and quail every year.

Please help us with our efforts by doing something so simple….not mowing the ditches. We also encourage everyone to of course plant habitat for these birds to migrate to. If you plant it our birds will come!!

We are based out of Odebolt but last year we were in over 5 counties in NW Iowa. With the pheasant count virtually 0 we had to do something. Not only do families no longer get together to hunt the communities suffer from this loss financially. We get the kids involved as well with chick surrogating, habitat projects, etc. The first birds in the U.S. were released and so will be the last ones….we will have black skies again!

Visit The Black Sky Project on Facebook!!  We work from our pocket, and for the love of our communities. If you would like to help us and donate or have any questions please contact Bryce or Tammy Hustedt. We also would like to take this opportunity to thank the many generous people who have donated so far. What we do would not be possible without you!