I had a bad experience the other day - I went from being an innocent witness of an attempted murder to being an accomplice to the same murder. As I was leaving my parents house last Saturday I pulled up to the intersection and was waiting for cars to pass in each direction. I noticed a small group of quail running across the street aabout half a block away. Then, to my horror and shock, I saw a single, lone quail run into the street right in front of a car. The car missed the quail, but the quail proceeded to run in front of a truck headed in the opposite direction of the car. The quail stopped square between the tires of the truck, thus avoiding being crushed; however, the quail began to panic and started flying. It flew right into the bottom of the truck, feathers flew everywhere and the quail rolled several feet before stopping.

At first, I was sure the quail was dead. I watched it for a brief moment - by this time all traffic was gone. I was shocked to see the quail begin to move and try to stand up. For a moment I thought the quail might be okay as it wobbled to it's feet, but sadly it did not last. The quail fell over sideways and did not try to get up again. It was clear that the quail was still alive, but was not going to live.

I felt a sense of duty to ensure that the quail was not suffering. The thought of crushing an animal - even an animal that is already dead - has never held much of an appeal to me, so I was naturally tempted to drive away. Duty called, though, and I knew what I had to do. I turned around and took aim at the seemingly lifeless bird. I missed the first time and had to turn around and try again. The second time I "mostly" hit the bird. I turned around to inspect the damage and determined that the quail was indeed dead.

I guess the question you probably all still have is, "Why do quail run instead of fly?" Trust me - I know what you mean.