Patent Application
20160198685
The disclosure herein relates generally to an enclosure for housing upland game birds, where the enclosure includes control mechanisms for selectively allowing egress of the upland game birds as well as other features to support maintenance of the birds.
Quail and other upland game bird populations are in decline in many portions of the country. Although many attempts have been made to repopulate such upland game birds in the wild, many of these attempts have failed due to predators or the inability to provide constant supervision of the enclosures in which the birds live during the repopulation attempts. For example, enclosures that house live quail can be placed in areas where repopulation is desired, but human interaction is required to facilitate release of the birds. In addition to being unduly burdensome, the human interaction interferes with the adaptation of the birds to the wild. In addition, besides the need for constant monitoring, many such enclosures do not provide adequate features directed to maintaining the health of the birds with minimal effort.
Therefore a need exists for enclosures that support raising upland game birds and acclimating them to the wild in order to facilitate reestablishment of wild populations of such birds.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the figures depict the general structure and/or manner of construction of the various embodiments. Descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring other features. Elements in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale: the dimensions of some features may be exaggerated relative to other elements to improve understanding of the example embodiments. For example, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that the cross-sectional views are not necessarily drawn to scale and should not be viewed as representing proportional relationships between different aspects of the embodiments. Moreover, it should be appreciated that the relative sizing of different aspects of the embodiments may be changed or adapted to suit the particular application in which the enclosure is to be used. For example, the size of the enclosure and entry may be increased to support larger birds or decreased to support smaller birds.
For the sake of brevity, conventional techniques related to construction of enclosures used for housing game birds or other animals may not be described in detail herein. The exemplary embodiments may be fabricated using known construction techniques. There are many inventions described and illustrated herein, as well as many aspects and embodiments of those inventions. As described in further detail below, providing an automated protective enclosure for upland game birds that includes a mechanical exit that is selectively controlled by controller enables birds to be acclimated to the wild and selectively released with minimal human interaction. Minimizing human interaction when raising and releasing birds to the wild helps to facilitate their adaptation to the wild, thereby improving chances for success in reestablishing populations of such birds. While described in the context of upland game birds, the automated protective enclosure described herein can also be used for other wildlife, including other birds or animals.
In one aspect, the described embodiments relate to, among other things, an automated enclosure for upland game birds that includes a unidirectional entry to an interior of the protective enclosure, where the unidirectional entry allows birds to enter the interior but prevents them from the egressing from the interior of the protective structure. In other words, the entry is a one-way entry that makes it easy for birds to get in, but difficult or impossible to get out. A mechanical exit from the interior of the protective structure is provided, where the mechanical exit can be maintained in either an open state or a closed state. The open state allows the birds to egress, and the closed state prevents the birds from the leaving from the interior of the protective structure. A controller, which in some embodiments includes electrically-powered control circuitry, is coupled to the mechanical exit, where the controller selectively actuates the mechanical exit between the open state and the closed state. In some embodiments, the unidirectional entry is located on the lower portion of the enclosure to allow ease of entry for the birds, whereas the mechanical exit is located on an upper portion, thereby helping to prevent predators from entering the structure when it is open, and encouraging the birds to exit the enclosure as a group (e.g. in the case of quail a covey may exit together).
Additional features that can be included to enhance the automated protective enclosure include an electronic call used to encourage the birds to enter the protective enclosure. The electronic call may be coupled to the controller such that the birds are encouraged to enter the protective enclosure at particular times or based on particular conditions. The controller may include a timer to facilitate the control of both the electronic call as well as the mechanical exit. For example, the timing of the movement of the mechanical exit to the open state may be based on the time of day, or based on a certain period of time a lapsing following activation of the electronic call. In such an example, the birds may be encouraged to enter the enclosure to feed at a certain time of day and then allowed to exit the enclosure after a fixed or programmable period of time.
The interior of the protective enclosure is designed to shelter the birds from the elements as well as potential predators. Food and water dispensers are included within the enclosure, where such dispensers may be equipped with sensors to detect the status of those dispensers. For example, a sensor may be provided to detect when the amount of water or food reaches a threshold level. When the sensor detects that the water level is low, that detected condition may result in release of the birds, and alert being signaled (e.g. red light turned on), or transmission of a request to refill the dispenser.
In some embodiments, an entry sensor may be provided in conjunction with the unidirectional entry, where the entry sensor detects entry of a bird. In some embodiments, the entry sensor is a switch, whereas in other embodiments more complex sensors may be employed. For example, the entry sensor may include a radio-frequency identification (RFID) detector/reader. In some embodiments, the protective enclosure is also equipped with a temperature sensor and a heat source, where the temperature sensor is used to determine when supplemental heat should be provided to the enclosure, thereby helping to ensure the temperature supports the needs of the birds. In yet other embodiments, the temperature sensor may be used to send an alert if the temperature exceeds a high or low threshold or trigger a cooling mechanism to reduce the temperature in the enclosure (e.g. a fan or air conditioning unit). A light detector may be included in certain embodiments to allow the time of day or sunrise/sunset conditions to be detected and used in controlling aspects of the operation of the enclosure. A battery can be provided to power the electronics and mechanical movements for the protective enclosure, and, in some embodiments a solar panel, wind turbine, hydro-generator, or other power generating device is used to charge the battery to ensure continuous availability of power.
The automated protective enclosure 100 depicted in
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The floor section of the enclosure rests on a set of runners 6 that may be used to facilitate movement of the enclosure 100. In one embodiment, the runners 6 are wooden runners (e.g. 2×4″s). In addition to promoting ease of movement of the enclosure, the runners 6 help to elevate the floor section of the enclosure above the ground, thereby allowing waste from the birds to fall through the floor section and not accumulate in the enclosure, which could endanger the health of the birds. Elevating the floor of the enclosure above the ground also helps to facilitate airflow through the enclosure, thereby helping to prevent overheating during the summer months.
In some embodiments, the floor section includes two layers of material separated by a gap. For example, a bottom layer of wire mesh 27 may be attached to the lower portion of a floor section support member 28 and whereas layer of wire mesh 17 is attached to the upper portion of the floor section support member 28. A floor having two layers of material separated by a gap in this manner helps to prevent predators from reaching through the floor section of the enclosure to grasp the birds residing within. In one example embodiment, the layers of material used for the floor section may include ½″ galvanized wire mesh, where the separation between the upper and lower portions of the floor section is on the order of four inches.
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The enclosure includes an electronic call 14 that is selectively engaged to facilitate ingress of the upland birds through the unidirectional entry 9. The electronic call 14 encourages birds to enter the enclosure within which they can be retained until the mechanical exit is actuated to permit their later release. By calling the birds into the enclosure and preventing them from leaving, the birds can be protected from predators during certain parts of the day when such predators are typically preying on the birds. For example, the birds may be attracted to the enclosure 100 just before nightfall and retained until early the next morning. The electronic call 14 preferably mimics the birds call or sequence of calls in a manner that encourages the birds to enter the structure. Such electronic calls are well known in the art. In some embodiments, the electronic call may be capable of mimicking the calls or sequence of calls corresponding to a number of different species of birds. In controlling the electronic call, selectivity with respect to which birds are being called and at what time those particular types of birds are called can be employed to selectively attract different species of birds to the protective enclosure 100. Which calls are used and at what time can be selectable or programmable features (e.g. dip switch, programmable register, controlled by remote programmable device) or hard wired.
The protective enclosure 100 also includes controller 12, which controls some or all of the controllable features included in the protective enclosure 100. For example, in the embodiment of
In some embodiments, the controller may include communication capability such that it can receive and/or transmit data corresponding to the operation or state of the protective enclosure. For example, controller 12 may include or be coupled to a Bluetooth, cellular, or WIFI interface, enabling the controller 12 to transmit or receive data. Examples of data received by the controller may include parameters corresponding to when the mechanical exit 8 should be opened, when a light associated with the enclosure should be turned on, or when the electronic call 14 should be activated to encourage birds to enter the enclosure. Examples of data transmitted by the controller can include status information regarding the food dispenser 15 or water dispenser 16, the number of birds counted entering the enclosure by the entry sensor 18, images captured by the camera 22, current temperature within the enclosure, current exterior temperature, and current settings for various variables associated with control of the features us included in the protective enclosure. In one example, the controller 12 is programmed to control the electronic call 14 to attract a specific species of bird, where the controller 12 sends image data associated with birds entering the unidirectional entry 9 each time a bird enters the enclosure. In such an example, a remote user can control which species of birds are called to the enclosure, where the user is able to monitor the entry of birds into the enclosure via the image data, thereby providing the user with notice as to when the particular species of bird being called has entered the enclosure.
Within the upper portion of the protective enclosure 100, a perch 10 is provided around the interior of the enclosure. The perch 10 allows the birds to rest in a position proximate to the mechanical exit 8. While on the perch 10, the birds can sun themselves and observe their surroundings. As shown in
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A communication link 51 coupled to the controller 12 allows for data transmission to and from the controller 12, thereby facilitating remote programming as well as delivery of data associated with enclosure operation. As discussed above, the controller 12 may be coupled to a camera 22 for capturing images, a heating element or other temperature control device 19, the electronic call 14, and other accessories associated with the protective enclosure. For example, other alerting devices such as lights may be used, or other attractants to lure desired animals into the enclosure may be provided (e.g. pheromone emitters and the like).
While not depicted in the figures, additional embodiments may include further partitioning within the protective enclosure that enables groups of birds to be contained in smaller groups. For example, small wired enclosures baited with food within the overall enclosure may be used to capture sets of birds to facilitate extraction and transport of those sets of birds. In such an example, a smaller internal holding pen may be used to capture and transport birds. Such holding pens that use bait to capture birds are known in the art. Inserting such pens within the protective enclosure described herein can help in capturing and moving birds in efficient manner, as it may be difficult to capture the birds if they have free run of the entire interior of the protective enclosure. In other embodiments, the interior of the enclosure 100 may be divided into sub-chambers, where the sub-chambers may have different characteristics. For example, multiple sub-chambers may be present where each has different ingress/egress characteristics. In such an example, one sub-chamber may be restricted to only allowing younger birds to enter based on a smaller entryway. In another example, one sub-chamber may be provided with a door to which a transport container may be attached for transporting captured birds, whereas another sub-chamber allows birds to leave by the mechanical exit 8.
In some embodiments, the controller 12 can selectively enable or disable ingress to the interior of the protective enclosure 100. For example, in some cases the controller 12 may be programmed to only allow ingress to the interior during certain times of day or certain weather conditions. Controlling whether ingress to the interior of the enclosure is allowed may be accomplished by the controller actuating a gating mechanism associated with the unidirectional entry 9. For example, an additional door covering the entry 9 may be provided that can be controlled by the controller 12. Specifically, a wire or rope attached to the distal end of the ramp 31 away from the opening 9 may be selectively retracted to close the ramp and block the aperture in a manner similar to a drawbridge. In other examples, the distal end of the entry cone 49 shown in
In certain embodiments, the enclosure 100 may be constructed in a manner that promotes further mobility of the enclosure 100 by allowing it to become more compact through folding or simple break-down. For example, the various surfaces of the enclosure maybe held together by hinges and easily detached fasteners such that the enclosure can be folded or disassembled for easier transport or presentation on a store shelf.
By providing an enclosure to protect and provide sustenance to game birds that includes a number of controllable features, unmanned operation of such an enclosure is possible, which helps promote adaptation of released birds to the wild while still affording those birds some level of protection and support. Having a mechanical exit that allows the birds to be selectively released and a unidirectional entry enhanced by a mechanical call allows for some control as to when the birds are kept within the enclosure, thereby permitting the birds to be protected during the most vulnerable times. Added features such as a camera, communications link, sensors, and temperature control further enhance the utility of the enclosure.
Although the described exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are directed to an enclosure for helping to populate upland game birds in the wild, the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to the exemplary embodiments, which illustrate inventive aspects that are applicable to a wide variety of animal enclosures. The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only and should not be taken as limitations, as the embodiments may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Accordingly, the foregoing description is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the inventions as defined by the appended claims so that those skilled in the art should understand that they can make various changes, substitutions and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventions in their broadest form.
