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This California valley quail chick, probably a month old, looks up in the morning light. How much of its survival instincts are embedded in its everyday life? I typically see 13 chicks starting off the life cycle in one family. At that rate we’d be overrun with quail, but were not. In ten years I have yet to see a dead quail, even though they surround our home–took this shot in our backyard. Maybe hope works.