Our Van Gordon Sauter found 5,000 pheasants at Keith Hansen's pheasant farm in the flatlands of the Sacramento Valley. Keith raises eight breeds of this bird when he's not growing rice. Pheasants, whether they're "white wings," "blue mutants" or "Mongolian roosters," don't hail from California or even North America. They're imports from the wilds of Asia and Africa, brought to the United States during the late 1800s. So, why raise pheasants? Some are gamebirds raised for sport. Plus, they're mighty good eating! Don't let their regal plumage fool you. The typical pheasant isn't your sweet pet canary, or even the docile family chicken. Some of these birds can be downright mean. They wear blinders to keep them from pecking each other into mincemeat. The chicks hatch in mid-spring. By autumn, the mature birds are released, a few at a time, into Keith's nearby rice fields. Hunters who join Keith's pheasant club pay about $900 per season for a chance to bag up to 40 birds. But not for much longer. Instead of burning rice stubble - a once common practice - California law says that Keith and other farmers have to find cleaner ways to get rid of the stuff. Flooding is one of the few options, but that destroys habitat needed for pheasant hunting. Without dry land, Keith's operation could be all washed up in a few short years. Ironically, just when Keith's pheasant farm is winding down, leaving him with more free time, he'll have to hunt around for a new place to hunt. But that won't be hard, since California still has dozens of pheasant clubs, with plenty of birds from one end of our state to the other. If you have questions or comments about this story, please E-mail our Executive Producer Corita Gravitt at corita.gravitt@mailexcite.com.