Forest protection starts with picking up a lynx girl

Chapter 282 The Magical Baby in the Stream

On the third day in the wild, we arrived at the location agreed upon with the ranger of the Wenquangou management station.

There was no cell phone signal and the people hadn’t arrived yet. I couldn’t get in touch with them so I could only set up the tent and wait.

We gained a lot along the way.

The vegetation on the northern slope is lush and the bamboo forest covers a large area.

Chen Ying flew the drone around and roughly estimated the area. Within a range of ten square kilometers, the bamboo forest area was enough for one or two giant pandas to feed.

The reserve covers a large area with a large difference in altitude, so there are many varieties of bamboo here.

The most well-known to Chinese people is the arrow bamboo.

There was a song about "Bamboo in Bloom", which refers to the most common variety, Phyllostachys chinensis.

But in addition to the cold arrow bamboo, there are more than 50 species of bamboo that giant pandas can eat, and they like more than species the most.

The giant panda's diet varies with the seasons.

In spring and summer, bamboo shoots are the preferred choice for eating.

In autumn, they like to eat bamboo leaves.

In winter, due to climate reasons, the quality and quantity of bamboo leaves decrease, and they will eat more bamboo stems.

They also have the habit of "chasing bamboo shoots" because the bamboo shoots grow at different times in different mountain ranges, different bamboo species, and different altitudes, just like beekeepers chasing the flowering period.

Although the climate in the north is colder, it is actually more suitable for giant pandas to live here as long as the food source is guaranteed.

Mountains, water, bamboo, sunshine and freedom all belong to them.

While waiting for the reunion, Chen Ying did not do nothing.

He chose a suitable place, installed an infrared camera, and marked the place.

It took half a day to determine the distribution of bamboo forests and water sources in this mountain forest from about 1200 to 2000 meters above sea level.

In order to make better use of the drone for exploration, he climbed directly onto a large rock on the mountainside to operate it. The mountain wind was howling, and it felt like anyone who was a little thin would be blown away.

It was almost evening when the two rangers arrived.

"Those monkeys were like crazy. To avoid them, we had to go around the bottom of the ditch. We took a detour and wasted time."

Seeing the scratches on the faces and hands of the two young rangers, Chen Ying frowned and quickly took out some medicine for them to clean and disinfect.

This wound does not require any medicine, but it must be cleaned and disinfected thoroughly to prevent accidental infection.

"Is there really no way to deal with those monkeys?"

"It was the mating season for the monkeys during this period, and they were like chicken blood, totally impossible to guide."

The mating season for macaques is mostly from August to November. Of course, southern monkeys can mate all year round, but most of the time they conceive is in late summer and early autumn.

Chen Ying didn't know much about the strange group of monkeys. According to what he learned, the two monkey groups that used to hang out in Huashu Valley and Wenquan Valley had moved away, probably because they were no match for this group of Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Moreover, the personalities of golden monkeys and short-tailed monkeys are relatively mild, while macaques are omnivorous animals with relatively violent temperaments.

Chen Ying comforted the two for a while, took the initiative to take on the task of cooking dinner, and asked them to have a good rest as they had to continue their journey tomorrow.

While eating, the three of them introduced themselves.

The main reason was that Chen Ying was not familiar with them, while the two rangers had heard of Chen Ying's name for a long time.

"My last name is Chi. I'm already over 30 this year, older than the two of you. Just call me Brother Chi. Yingbo is from a village under our management area. After graduating from vocational high school, he returned home to farm. Last year, he joined the forest patrol team and followed us in the mountains for a year. He is a down-to-earth young man."

From the name, you can tell that Yingbo is a child from a minority ethnic group. When he speaks, there is still a hint of the local ethnic dialect.

The agricultural planting taught at Yingbo Vocational High School has some gimmicks of modern smart agriculture, but in fact it mainly teaches how to operate agricultural machinery.

But there was no agricultural machinery available in the mountains here, so he finally had to ask someone for help and use his connections to get a job as a forest ranger at the management station.

His situation is similar to Xiao Deng's.

Xiao Deng was luckier as he met a big brother like Yin Li who was willing to help him.

Now Xiao Deng is studying at other management stations and preparing to take self-study exams to obtain a university diploma. He hopes that in a few years he will have the opportunity to take the civil service exam.

Yingbo doesn't like to talk much and seems much shyer than Xiao Deng, but he is extremely careful in doing things.

After seeing Chen Ying collecting data and observing carefully, he took the initiative to help.

Dabai and his family of four were impatient with their slow pace, and they had to move according to the planned route, but Dabai and his family were wild beasts after all, they could walk when they wanted to and rest when they wanted to, without any task indicators.

So after making sure that the Twolegged Beast had reunited with his companions and was safe, Dabai and Jiaojiao took their two children and rushed non-stop to the bamboo forest on the mountain that had the best odor.

Sesame did not follow. It was eager to move on and find its own territory.

Two days later, Zhima said goodbye to Chen Ying in the morning light at five o'clock.

It set its sights on this canyon area.

On the sunny side of the valley bottom grows its favorite bamboo, with tender bamboo shoots poking out.

Moreover, there are no giant pandas or their natural enemies in this area, and the temperature and climate are very suitable for wintering.

Zhima even found a dry cave in the crevice of a rock, which was sheltered from the wind and rain. After tidying it up, it became a perfect nest for the winter.

The three people divided the work and set up three infrared cameras facing the crevice and the nearby water source.

"Brother Ying, look over there. What is that?"

Yingbo and Chi Ge were about to call it a day after finishing their work with the camera when they turned around and saw a creature with smooth hair lying on a rock beside the stream. "What is this? A water rat?"

Yingbo had never seen this kind of animal before, and he dared not move, for fear of scaring the other party or provoking it to attack.

Chen Ying had just finished setting up the cameras on the other side and walked to the riverside. Following Yingbo's line of sight, she saw the little fellow looking around vigilantly.

"Otter? Why are there otters here?"

Of course there are otters in their province. Chen Ying has seen them before and even helped rescue an injured otter.

But within their protected area, I have never heard of any traces of otters being found.

It happened so quickly that Chen Ying picked up her cell phone and started taking pictures.

Brother Chi also reacted, picked up their work machine and took a slightly blurry photo of the otter, saved it to the background of the machine, and could submit it directly when there was a signal outside.

The advantage of this machine is that it has its own positioning statistics, which can be uploaded to the system database for review, which is faster than Chen Ying's submission.

The otter was not small in size, with half of its body submerged in the water and its upper body lying on the rocks on the shore, its paws still holding a half-eaten fish.

When the otter first saw Chi Ge and Ying Bo, it showed a little aggression, but after Chen Ying arrived, it gave all its attention to Chen Ying.

Even when Chen Ying was trying to approach it, the little guy simply handed over the remaining half of the fish.

Chen Ying didn't answer, but touched the otter's little head.

It stretched out its claws and grabbed Chen Ying's fingers, then opened its mouth and made a "chirp" sound.

Chen Ying grabbed it by the armpits and lifted it up.

From mouth to tail, it's less than one meter long, so it looks like a small creature.

"Brother Chi, Yingbo, please help us. Look along the stream to see if there are any other otters."

"Is this an otter? I've never seen one before."

Yingbo leaned over, looked at the little guy eagerly, and wanted to reach out and touch him.

Chen Ying adjusted its position so that its butt was facing Yingbo.

"Pet it. It has a good character."

The little guy, who was praised for his good personality, wanted to turn his head and show his teeth, but turned back, threw away the fish and hugged Chen Ying's finger instead.

Chi Ge walked up and Yingbo walked down, and they each walked more than 300 meters without seeing a second otter.

"Why are you here alone, little guy? Where are your family?"

The little otter said he didn't know. He slept for a while and woke up to find his family. This was not where he lived before.

"It rained a while ago, and the water level probably rose at that time, and this little otter was washed here."

Brother Chi checked the files and found that the last flood was a week ago and lasted for about three days.

In other words, the little otter lived alone for at least a week.

"We're going to go upstream along the stream this time. How about taking it with us?"

It was too dangerous for this little creature to live alone, and this section of the river valley was not suitable for otters to live in.

"Okay, let's take it with us. If we can't find its tribe, we'll see if we can find a place suitable for it to live."

Yingbo wanted to say something, but looked at Brother Chi and didn't say anything.

"Are you worried that it won't be able to find other otters and will die of loneliness?"

"Well, it would be lonely if it were alone."

"Then let's pray that we can find its people."

Or if that doesn't work, take it out and try releasing it somewhere else where there are otters.

Of course, for these little guys, the best option is to release them into their original habitat, which is better for them.

The little otter didn't worry at all whether he would be lonely until he grew old. He was particularly attached to Chen Ying and would take the initiative to catch small fish in the water to feed him.

(Fish is delicious, eat fish!)

The fish in the stream are not very big, the largest is only the size of an adult man's palm. The little otter needs to eat three fish in one meal to be full.

After discovering that Chen Ying didn't eat fish, the little otter stared at him worriedly for a long time, fearing that he would starve to death.

Only after they discovered that the two-legged animals would eat other things did they feel at ease to go to the stream to play and eat.

Chen Ying didn't expect to find such a unique little creature when she went into the mountains this time. She held it in her arms and refused to let go.

That night, they changed their camping spot and found a place to spend the night near the stream so that the little otter could rest.

The next morning, just after five o'clock, the little otter brought them a small gift.

"Oh my god, Doctor Chen, look, is this turtle dead or alive?"

Chen Ying took it and looked at it. It was a Chinese soft-shelled turtle, the size of a human palm.

"Did the little otter bring this?"

"Yes, they are placed right here. There are three of them. I see the heads of these two are still moving, but the claws of this one are not moving at all, you see."

Brother Chi fiddled with the grass turtle's exposed little paws, but sure enough, it didn't move.

(End of this chapter)