Vikki the Vet Cures Quincy the Quail

Dan and Cynthia Dale have a hobby farm.

They have a lot of quail on their hobby farm.

Dan and Cynthia Dale are hobby quail farmers.

Cynthia Dale is a drama instructor by day.

While Dan Dale does the news.

And in the evening, they enjoy keeping their quail.

Now it’s not just the case that a quail is a quail.

There are all kinds of quails.

There are Common Quails, California Quails, King Quails, and many more.

There’s even a Jumbo Brown breed.

Quincy is a California Quail.

He’s a male quail.

And he is the quintessential quail.

Which just means that Quincy the Quail is a quality example of your typical quail.

Quincy is also a curious quail.

And sometimes curious quails get into quagmires.

Quagmire is just a fancy word for getting stuck in a mess.

One evening Cynthia Dale was in the kitchen cooking a quiche.

While Dan Dale was outside inspecting their covey of quail.

A covey is the collective name for a group of quail.

Dan Dale walked into the barn, and Quincy, the curious quail, waddled in after him.

Quincy scanned Dan’s work area looking for the perfect perch.

When he found what he was looking for, Quincy jumped up onto the counter … and in the process, he knocked over a tin of odds and ends.

Upon hitting the floor the tin of odds and ends fell all over the floor.

And, of course one of those odds and ends was a rusty nail.

“Heaven to Betsy!” said a startled Dan Dale.

“Quincy you crazy quail you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Dan Dale cleaned up the odds and ends on the floor but he missed the one rusty nail.

After cleaning up, Dan went back to what he was doing.

Whereupon, Quincy the Quail perched himself on top of an overturned pail.

As Quincy sat precariously perched on top of an overturned pail … he got distracted by what Dan was doing … and when he leaned forward a little too far … lo and behold Quincy, the inquisitive quail, fell off of the pail and landed on that one rusty nail.

As Quincy squawked in pain, Dan ran to his pet quail.

“Oh no!” said Dan Dale as he tried to soothe his scared quail.

Dan tried several times to pull the nail out, but when that didn’t work, he collected Quincy in his arms and hurried him into the house.

“Quincy has hurt himself!” said Dan as he entered the kitchen.

“He’s got a nail stuck in his foot.”

“How did that happen?” asked Cynthia.

“It’s a short story,” answered Dan.

“But the important point is: I can’t get it out.”

“Are you sure?”

“I guarantee it’s really in there!” said Dan Dale.

“I’ll call our vet Vikki,” said Cynthia.

“No answer,” said Cynthia as she hung up the phone.

“Send her a pic,” said Dan Dale.

So Cynthia did.

Mere minutes later, Vikki the Vet called the Dales.

“We’re in quite the quandary,” said Cynthia Dale.

“Our quail Quincy has stepped on a nail!”

 “And we can’t get it out.”

“I’m staying late at the clinic tonight,” said Vikki the Vet.

“Come on over, and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Are you sure?” asked Cynthia.

“You don’t want your quail to get septicemia,” said Vikki the Vet.

It’ll be bye-bye birdie if that happens.”

“Okay, we’re on our way,” Cynthia responded.

After Vikki the Vet got the rusty nail out she made quick work of cleaning up Quincy.

She soaked his foot in some suds, then she applied some antibiotic ointment, and finally, she gave Quincy the Quail a tetanus shot.

“Thank you so much,” said Cynthia Dale as she gave Vikki the Vet a hearty hug.

“Thank you for helping our quail Quincy,” said Dan Dale.

“Goodbye,” said Cynthia as she reached for the door.

“And so it goes,” said Dan with his signature sign-off.

And that was the story of Quincy, the quail that landed on a nail.