Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

Chapter 184: Chapter 184 A Bit Abnormal but Not Much (Requesting Monthly Pass)

As for food, Leo had an inexplicable obsession.

Perhaps, it was an injury from his youth that he would spend his life trying to make up for.

The little guy had been hurt by an animal trap and starved for several days. Once his injury healed, he was either eating or on his way to eat.

Even when being mischievous and playing tricks, he always had to have something in his mouth.

Now seeing mom and dad eating delicious food, how could he not be anxious?

Not doing a direct speed descent was a sign of respect for life.

His short legs busily scrambled, releasing his claws a little more than a meter above the ground, tumbling and scrambling toward Great Bai, bleating non-stop.

Little Cub was different, gracefully climbing down and cuddling up to Jiaojiao, licking a bite with his tongue, smacking his lips disapprovingly, and then burying his head in Jiaojiao’s belly to start eating heartily.

It’s no wonder Great Bai is such an exceptional dad. Seeing Leo clamoring, he bit off a piece and stuffed it into Leo’s mouth, even teaching him how to chew so that he could spit out the skin completely.

After snapping a bunch of photos and videos of the Great Babies, Chen Ying, with a backpack still containing a bit of reserve fruit, continued on.

Huaqiu Valley had seen an increase in pheasants and small birds.

No street rats or monkeys around, this place had become a paradise for birds.

Near the stream, he spotted a group of rock sheep moving around on the opposite mountain.

The group of about a dozen rock sheep appeared to have descended to find food, and now they were eating while heading back to higher altitudes.

He quickly recorded the scene and sent the photos to the chat group, asking Little Deng to forward them to the other members of the Protection Station.

He had not heard about rock sheep descending in the winter of last year; as far as he was aware, they had never been spotted at these altitudes.

Jinya and Leopard Sister primarily hunted antelopes and forest deer muntjac.

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Just as he was about to put away his phone, he saw a black and white animal suddenly leap out, pinning down one of the smaller rock sheep on the edge of the group.

The other rock sheep ran frantically uphill in shock, while the one that was pinned down struggled in vain and quickly lost its life.

Was today particularly fierce? Not only had he seen a group of rock sheep, but now a snow leopard too!

Chen Ying hurriedly called Master Zhao to ask if he had ever seen snow leopards in the vicinity of Huaqiu Valley.

The answer was no; flower leopards were common, but snow leopards had never been found below an altitude of three thousand five hundred meters.

Chen Ying began to worry, not knowing what the current situation was in the high-altitude areas, and why both the rock sheep and the snow leopard had descended here.

The small first-aid station sat at an altitude of around two thousand, and Huaqiu Valley was currently at just over two thousand four hundred.

He estimated that the altitude on the opposite hillside would not exceed three thousand.

Although records indicated that snow leopards might descend to altitudes ranging from two to four thousand meters in winter due to a lack of food or to follow their prey, there had been no sightings of snow leopards in their area of Jiamu Town for the past five years, at least.

He really wanted to hang a cat tag on that snow leopard!

After the snow leopard killed the rock sheep, it stood on the animal’s neck, looking at Chen Ying for a long while.

Chen thought it might be a familiar leopard paying a visit, but then the animal bit into the rock sheep and turned to leave.

Watching forlornly for a while, Chen decided to head back.

He hadn’t gone far when he witnessed an interesting spectacle unfolding behind him.

Jinya and Little Jin were chasing after a red-golden-furred squirrel that was darting erratically through the woods.

This squirrel was larger than the others and extremely agile, easily evading the two big cats’ chase with just its own nimble movements.

Of course, judging from Jinya and Little Jin’s behavior, they were clearly just playing.

After a while, Jinya gave up first, pouncing towards Chen Ying and running over to him.

It looked up, intending to say something, when its eyes caught sight of the rock sheep on the opposite mountain, and suddenly, its pupils dilated.

Chen Ying pressed down on its head.

“Stop looking, there’s an unfamiliar snow leopard up there. And rock sheep aren’t on your menu, okay? Let’s not court danger, shall we?”

Are forest deer not tasty, or do small roe deer get stuck in your teeth?

As a medium-sized cat, you run off to challenge the impossible—can you have a keener sense of your own abilities?

Jinya smacked her lips twice, then turned and left.

Hmph, today’s two-legged beast had mocked her; she was displeased.

The little red squirrel escaped from beneath the cat’s paw, paused high up on a tree branch, glanced down cautiously, and then quickly left the area.

Little Jin descended the tree, rubbed against Jinya’s jaw, looked up at Chen Ying, and then followed Jinya off in another direction.

Back at the emergency station, Little Sen and Old Gao were crafting by hand.

“What’s this?”

“Artificial nesting boxes.” Little Sen, while lending a hand, explained.

“Spring is nearly here, the peak season for birds’ breeding. Brother Gao plans to make several more artificial nesting boxes to place in the forest, and a few on the mountain cliffs as well.”

He picked up a nascent nesting box to show Chen Ying.

“These are made from dried beech trunks we found in the woods, using natural adhesive. It’s spacious enough for small to medium-sized raptors to raise their chicks.”

This artificial nesting box was much nicer than the ones Chen Ying had made before.

Besides that one, there were a few smaller nesting boxes, better suited for hanging on trees.

Handcrafting nesting boxes took a lot of time and effort. Old Gao was a skilled craftsman; it would take him two to three days to make a small one.

There were also the processes of drying and installation to be done; managing to install about a dozen before the breeding season began was quite an accomplishment.

“Why not buy some?”

“The bought ones aren’t really suitable for wild environments like this. They could be used in parks and city green belts.”

Or perhaps it was a cost issue: good-quality nesting boxes were expensive, and manufacturers wouldn’t deliver them deep into the forest—the transportation costs alone would be prohibitive.

Old Gao was now trying to make use of local materials where possible, and only if necessary, he would buy some materials with the research project funds to craft them himself.

The animal shed was currently empty, so they decided to clear out one to store the nesting boxes, waiting for clear weather to install them at the pre-set locations.

For the rock cliffs, additional hands were needed; Old Gao had made contact with the equipment department, ready to set a date for a collective installation.

Aside from nesting boxes, there were also cameras to be set up, a job that was beyond a one-person undertaking.

Chen Ying couldn’t be of much help with the nesting boxes; mainly because Old Gao disapproved of his craftsmanship.

With nothing else to do, Chen Ying simply took a trip to Xiaozhai Village, guiding them in constructing the village’s own animal rescue shelter.

He also checked in on how the family of Large Spirit Cats was faring.

“Two of the three cubs have gone, probably to live elsewhere. In recent times I’ve only seen one coming and going.”

His uncle’s neighbor would sometimes come to help clean, taking the chance to clear some weeds from the yard.

“That small roe sleeps here occasionally, settling above the Spiritual Cat, sleeping separately. Look, that blanket is where the small roe regularly sleeps.”

The Big Spirit Cat Mother still preferred the old house—dark and cramped, but more secure.

The two departee Big Spirit Cats were males and hadn’t reached the age to leave the nest, but they grew quickly, and their demand for food was sizable.

Hunting became much harder with all three crammed together.

Chen Ying wandered around and didn’t spot the Large Spirit Cats, so went looking for the Spiritual Cat Mother.

Sure enough, the lazy Big Spirit Cat Mother was still hiding in the small house, fast asleep.