Reborn in the 1980s: I made my fortune hunting wild game in Changbai Mountain

"Come with me! These four chicks are so well-behaved, I've raised them!" Little Eagle Liu saw Yue Feng's curiosity piqued and immediately got up to lead the way.

Yue Feng and Jin Long followed Grandpa Liu out of the side room and then walked along the stone path in the courtyard into the eagle shed in the north room.

The setup of the eagle shed in the main house of the north building is much more complicated than it was in the spring. The doors and windows, which originally had two layers of wire mesh, now have an additional layer on the outside, so you have to turn a corner to get inside from the main gate.

"What's going on? Why did they add another layer of barbed wire?" Yue Feng asked curiously.

Little Eagle Liu waved his hand: "Let's add an extra layer of insurance! The innermost layer of netting isn't perfectly straight under the eaves, so a cat can't squeeze in, but a bird can!"
Back in the summer, someone was getting married in the alley and setting off firecrackers, which scared the eagle! I went inside as usual, and almost flew out the door when I pushed it open! Now, with this new door, I don't have to be so careful when going in or out anymore!

"Oh! This design is pretty good!" Yue Feng nodded after listening.

Soon, Grandpa Liu opened the first net door, led the two brothers inside, closed the outer door, and then opened the second and third layers inside.

Upon seeing their owner bring two strangers into the cage, the two eagles and their four chicks inside all began to squawk loudly.

This call is different from a hawk that hasn't broken in; it's a reaction to a territorial intrusion. At the breeding farm on Yuefeng Mountain, gyrfalcons exhibit similar reactions if strangers enter their enclosures.

"What are you yelling about! We're not outsiders, do you think we'd eat you?" Old Liu waved his arm towards the house, whistled, and several white hazel burls standing high on the roof beams fell down one after another.

Compared to the two adult breeding birds, the four chicks born this spring are slightly smaller and relatively thinner.

It's clear that Grandpa Liu takes great care of the birds. They are very friendly with people, with a row of them perched on his arm. Their fluffy feathers make them look like little white balls of fluff.

Yue Feng glanced at them one by one: "Tsk tsk, grandpa, your maintenance skills are simply unbeatable! Double inscriptions, huh?"

"Huh? What is Double Inscription?" Grandpa Liu was quite pleased to hear Yue Feng praise Yang Gong's work in the first half of his speech, but when he heard the unfamiliar name Double Inscription, his eyes showed a hint of doubt.

"Double imprinting means that humans and breeding birds participate in feeding the chicks together when they first hatch!"
Chicks raised this way will see their owners and parents as their own kind! Later, when they reach adulthood and go into heat, or interact with each other in daily life, they will be much more affectionate than chicks raised solely by their parent birds! Yue Feng explained briefly.

"That's pretty much what you said! The chicks haven't even opened their eyes yet, and I've been feeding them every day by climbing a ladder!"
While these two birds were nestling and warming their chicks, I chopped sparrows and mice, skin and bones included, into minced meat and fed them, including the parent birds! Just as women need postpartum recovery, eagles also need time to recover!

"That's a dual-mark!" Yue Feng exclaimed, giving a thumbs-up once again.

The old man may not know the underlying principles, but because of his extreme passion, he accidentally performed a double-imprint operation on the fledgling bird, which is considered to have achieved the desired result in one step.

"Was your gyrfalcon also raised using this method?" Grandpa Liu continued to ask.

"Pretty much. When I have free time, I usually feed them two or three times a day, morning, noon, and night!"

"Oh! So you mean that when these virgins grow up, they're more likely to go into heat, right?"

Yue Feng nodded: "Being more likely to go into heat is one aspect, but there's another special advantage!"

"What convenience? Don't keep the old man in suspense!"

"Hybridization!" Yue Feng blurted out a term that Grandpa Liu had never even considered.

Hybridization simply means the act of producing offspring by combining parents of different strains or varieties.

For example, breeding a Greyhound with a Whippet will produce a Greyhound-Whibnet mix, which is fast, agile, and combines the advantages of both parents' breeds.

For example, crossbreeding horses and donkeys produces mules, whose offspring are strong, have great endurance, are resistant to roughage, and are less prone to disease.

"How can eagles hybridize? They're not the same species, how can they pair up?" Grandpa Liu scratched his head, puzzled, when he heard this term.

Yue Feng explained with a smile, "As I just said, the advantage of the Eagle Double Imprint is that it will regard itself and its master as the same kind!"
Since they are the same kind, when they reach sexual maturity and the time comes for mating, humans can act as 'mates' for the next generation of breeding birds. The little orchid will deposit its sperm onto a human's hand or body!
We can make a honeycomb-shaped hat or gloves, collect the sperm from male birds, and then we can use that to our advantage!

For example, the collected sperm can be used to fertilize another female kestrel in estrus with dual markings, resulting in a hybrid falcon of a grey-backed falcon and a common falcon!

Upon hearing Yue Feng's cutting-edge remarks, Jin Long couldn't help but ask, "If an albino grey-backed falcon and a common falcon crossbreed, will the offspring be red or white?"

Yue Feng grinned: "I don't know about that! The color change depends on the dominant expression of the gene. Whichever color is more dominant will be displayed!"
Hybrid offspring generally combine some characteristics of both parent birds!
For example, the grey-backed falcon is fast, and the common kestrel has excellent loiter time; their offspring may exhibit variations in wing size, innate talents, and other dimensions!

"From what you're saying, it seems that any closely related species can potentially produce offspring through hybridization? You think you can use the sperm from this pile to breed with rabbits and tigers in heat?" Grandpa Liu continued to ask.

"Sure! As for whether the fertilized egg can develop normally, and whether the offspring that hatch can successfully grow up, we still need to verify it through practice!" Yue Feng nodded.

After listening, Grandpa Liu nodded with a smile: "Hey, if hybridization is really successful, this thing is definitely worth a try!"
My friend in Tianjin, whom I told you about, has a rabbit-like falcon that goes into heat every year, but since he doesn't have a suitable male to mate with, it keeps laying blank eggs!

"Once this second-generation brat grows up and goes into heat, let's give it a try! Maybe we can come up with something weird and wonderful!" Yue Feng said with a smile.

Yue Feng wasn't just spouting nonsense about raptor hybridization; in his previous life, he had seen related content in foreign literature on artificial breeding of raptors, which was relayed on forums.

Gyrfalcon, Saker falcon, Peregrine falcon, and Grey-backed falcon—these widely distributed birds of prey in the order Falconiformes all have the potential for successful hybridization under suitable conditions!
Furthermore, in addition to falcons, hybridization can be attempted between goshawks and crested goshawks, sparrowhawks and hawks, brown-eared hawks, etc., to produce offspring.

Even more exaggerated is another bird of prey, the upland buzzard!

Interspecific hybridization of other bird-of-raptor species at least considers the degree of blood relation. For example, falconiformes and hawksbill-formes cannot successfully hybridize. But the buzzard, a bird of prey, breaks this boundary.

In the field of raptor hybridization, the buzzard's status is somewhat similar to that of the legendary great bustard, almost reaching the point of being available to anyone.

Falcons, eagles, and hawks can all hybridize with buzzards to produce viable offspring. Foreign scientific institutions have even published a special report titled "Frankenstein's Monster Eagle."

We've strayed from the topic; let's return the focus to Grandpa Liu.

After listening, Little Eagle Liu nodded: "The information you just shared is invaluable! If we had to figure it out ourselves little by little, it would probably take us at least ten or eight years to come up with this! Who would bother raising other chicks for no reason!"

"Hehe! Yes! We just happened to get onto this topic! I haven't tried it myself; it's a saying passed down from my ancestors! I also asked a friend at the Forestry Bureau to help me find out about similar information abroad. It seems there's similar research overseas, but as for whether there have been any results, I haven't found any more detailed information!"

"Well, let's not talk about that now. Take a look at these four chicks. Tell me which one you like! When we get back, we'll take it with us!" Grandpa Liu gently stroked the white fur ball's head that was perched on his arm with his index finger and asked Yue Feng.

It's free, so why be picky? Besides, chicks from the same litter of white mutants have highly similar genes. They have plenty of food when they grow up and don't go hungry, so their appearance is basically the same when they grow up. It doesn't make much sense to be picky.

“As long as it’s a male and a female, it’s fine! These chicks haven’t gone hungry while they were growing! They’re all very robust!” Yue Feng said with a smile.

"Then I'll let you tie it up however you like!"

"No problem! By the way, has this little guy ever been used to wearing hats since he was a baby?"

"They've gotten used to it. I started training them to put hats on them when they were just twenty days old. Now they don't resist at all. They just tuck their heads in and go to sleep with the hats on!"

"That's perfect! You thought of that in advance, which saves me a lot of trouble! If I hadn't been labeled before, I would have had to teach her from scratch and she would have needed some time to adjust!"
Oh, by the way, I brought you more blueprints for the screw-and-cap screws on various eagle breeds this time! I'll give them to you when I come back!

"Okay, I've revised it a few times myself, but I still haven't found the right size! Since you brought it, it saves me a lot of trouble; I can use it right away!"

"No problem! We men don't dwell on those things!"

……

The three of them chatted for a while in the north eagle house while watching the eagles. Jinlong couldn't help but glance at the watch on his wrist.

"Xiaofeng, Grandpa, we think we've had enough, shall we set off? Mingkai and Xiaodong should be there by now! They must be worried because they can't find us!"

Yue Feng nodded: "Then let's set off. We can talk about other things after we finish eating! We'll be staying in the capital for at least seven to ten days this time!"

"go!"

……

The three people filed out one by one. After carefully closing the cage door, Grandpa Liu got into the Jinlong car parked outside.

Once the three people were seated, Jinlong started the car, stepped on the gas, and sped off.

We were a little late because the Jinlong bus was driving a bit fast, speeding all the way, and arrived at Quanjude in less than twenty minutes.

At this time, Quanjude has already opened its doors to welcome guests, and there are many two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles parked outside.

Jinlong parked the car and saw Xiaodong and Mingkai standing on the seats next to the counter in the lobby from a distance.

"Xiao Dong, Ming Kai!" Jin Long shouted loudly as he walked in front.

Hearing the greeting, the two brothers turned around. Xiao Dong asked in confusion, "Brother Long, didn't you say you were here a while ago? When we got here, the lobby manager didn't see you. We thought you were joking. If we had been five minutes later, you would have left!"

"I went to Grandpa Liu's house with Xiaofeng to see the eagles, which took a little while. Call someone!"

"Brother Feng, Grandpa Liu!" Xiao Dong greeted Ming Kai immediately.

"Which single room did you book? Let's talk about it inside," Yue Feng nodded to Xiao Dong and Ming Kai, then asked.

"Come with me! Manager Liu, the duck and other dishes we ordered are ready to be served!" Jinlong called out, leading everyone into the private room.

Despite his simple attire, the old man remained remarkably calm and composed when he came to the restaurant with a group of young noblemen.

Once inside the private room, Jinlong immediately pulled the old man's hand and led him to the head seat, with Yuefeng sitting next to him. The remaining three brothers then took their seats in order.

"Brother Feng, your documentary is really popular now! Is that top-quality white eagle still at home?" Mingkai asked impatiently as soon as he sat down.

Yue Feng grinned and shook his head: "The eagle is no longer in my hands! It was taken away by Xiao Weimin, the director of the film crew, when he went back to Beijing!"

"Given it away? Didn't that eagle get bitten by the fox? Has it healed?"

"Okay, it's all better now! It was just a little bit of a roof tile that was lifted. There were no serious injuries. After resting for a while, the swelling went down, and I'm fine now!"
Although that eagle was white, it wasn't as clumsy as an ordinary white eagle; its muscles and physique were extremely strong! Yue Feng said, trying hard to recall the eagle's condition.

"What's wrong, Mingkai? You're thinking of using a whole eagle to catch rabbits? You don't have time for that!" Jinlong asked, trying to get to the bottom of things, when he heard Mingkai's question.

Mingkai grinned: "You know my situation! I don't have the energy to mess with this thing, but my dad's friend is into it!"

I was thinking, this is a top-quality eagle that's been featured in a documentary! If it were still in Brother Feng's possession, I'd buy it and use it to get things done—that would be incredibly impressive!

"Damn! I haven't even gotten my hands on anything yet, and you're already planning on it!" Jinlong immediately became possessive of his food when he heard that his 'big brother' wanted to add Mingkai as a pendant.

Yue Feng grinned: "Now that it's winter, catching a good eagle is going to be a bit difficult! If there's a chance, I'll take you guys into the mountains to catch one next autumn! When the big eagles are around here, we can still find some decent ones!"

Hearing Yue Feng and the other young men discussing the eagles, Grandpa Liu, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "I know a place where eagles overwinter every year in the low-lying forests! If you're lucky, you can catch a good one!"

"Huh? Grandpa, are you talking about Beijing, or somewhere else? Really?" Mingkai perked up instantly upon hearing this.

It doesn't have to be the eagle from the documentary, but it can be one personally verified by the protagonist, Yue Feng.

"Over there at Miyun Reservoir! The eagles in Walin are all quite capable!" Grandpa Liu said unhurriedly.

Upon hearing this, Yue Feng's heart stirred slightly. (End of Chapter)