I am a local in North America

Chapter 8 Unearths a Giant Alligator Snapping Turtle

In theory.

Fish bones, once ground up, do have some nutritional value, but their absorption efficiency is too low, and there are also certain safety risks.

You might go through all that trouble to grind the fish bones, only to find that you've expended less energy than you've absorbed the nutrients.

So after removing all the leftover fish meat, Su Jierui casually tossed the fish bones onto the wooden rack outside to dry, where they had already accumulated into a small pile.

Dried fish bones are easier to crush and are rich in calcium and collagen. If one day we are really out of food, we can roast these fish bones, grind them into powder, and that should be enough to last us for two or three days.

Any resources that can be used for survival should be carefully considered, because you might be able to outlast your opponents with just a slight advantage.

Since the start of the competition, Su Jierui has only lost five or six pounds, and has developed more solid muscles, with his abs becoming more and more defined.

The last time the program crew came for a regular physical examination, they couldn't help but give him a thumbs up, saying that he maintained a good mindset and even seemed healthier than before the competition.

However, despite the praise, he didn't express any sense of "you might be the champion," which made him a little worried, suspecting that another contestant also had a very good chance of winning.

During his physical examinations, the production team would periodically remove the footage and replace his batteries with fully charged ones.

Su Jerry is unaware that Roland has already captured a large prey, but the production team certainly knows. Naturally, they would subconsciously feel that Roland has a better chance of winning, mainly because the hunter named Roland seems more experienced and mature...

"Today is the 81st day. Although I hope good luck will come my way, I have to prepare for the worst and hurry up and continue to stock up on other food."

"This morning I went to check the ice-covered lake and found that several hundred meters of the shore were frozen over. Perhaps the temperature dropped last night and it snowed for most of the night, so the entire Great Slave Lake is now frozen."

"This means I might need to start drilling ice holes for fishing, and also place gillnets at the entrance at night."

I checked this morning and there were black bear footprints on the shore, extending all the way to the place where the fish entrails were buried yesterday evening.

As he expected, the black bear was indeed very hungry and desperately needed food for the winter. It even came to stroll around his camp early in the morning, but was scared away by the makeshift alarm device made from a tin can.

On the surface, Su Jierui remained calm and collected, then, addressing the action camera, he said:
"I also made a new discovery: the black bear I named Bell always lowers its head and tries to dig in the soil whenever it passes by a certain tree."

"If I were to make a bold guess, there might be some animals hiding underground nearby, such as marmots or red foxes? In any case, I should take a closer look. Black bears can smell food 1.5 kilometers away, so maybe I'll find something."

"Alright, I'll go clear the snow from the doorway first. The snowfall was about 30 centimeters deep overnight. I woke up twice last night from the cold. I also need to bring back the rest of the firewood today..."

Before the charcoal fire went out completely, he heated up the leftover yellow perch from last night and managed to eat a breakfast that was only about 60% full.

Dressed neatly, he went out again, wearing two layers of socks and two layers of gloves, completely covered up, and carrying an axe, bow and arrows, fishing rod, magnesium flint and steel, and so on.

Besides some basic survival supplies, Su Jerry selected ten items, the list of which is as follows:

1. Waterproof rain cover

2. Multi-functional dagger
3. Axe

4. Long-handled saw
5. Bow and arrows
6. Paracord

7. Cast iron pot
8. Sleeping bag for warmth

9. Magnesium rod and flint
10. Steel wire
As for the water purifier tablets and kettle that many people choose, Su Jierui doesn't need them. He can use chopsticks to pick up food from the pot, and his drinking water is treated by boiling and filtering it with charcoal. After being filtered with charcoal, the water tastes a little strange, but it basically has no impact on health.

A good axe is essential in this cold forest, as it can be used to chop firewood, for self-defense, and to carve ice holes in the lake.

With an axe in his left hand and a cane for slip resistance in his right, he went out to check the gillnet on the lake. There was a cod that was entangled in the net and frozen solid.

This is the only freshwater species in the cod family, and the largest can grow to about 1 meter in length. Unfortunately, the one that Su Jierui caught was only about 35 centimeters long and weighed about 3.5 kilograms. It was only a little over a month into winter and was still quite fat.

With this gain, I've already made a killing by going out today.

After showing the cod to the action camera again, he returned to the shore and followed the black bear's tracks, pretending to be worried that the bear hadn't left yet, when in fact he knew there was no danger nearby.

After walking for a long time, we arrived at the place where we had hidden the fish entrails last night. The black bear had dug away the snow on the ground, exposing the soil, leaves, and dry grass.

Once again feigning ignorance, he hinted that there might be animals hidden underground before starting to dig.

The surface soil was frozen solid, and tree roots were intertwined, requiring an axe to cut them down.

Before long, Su Jierui was sweating profusely from the heat. His clothes, which hadn't been washed for several days, also had a faint odor.

But he didn't care at all. He could catch the dying large alligator snapping turtle by expending a little energy. This kind of big turtle could provide him with a lot of nutrition, as well as some trace elements.

The diet has been too monotonous these past few months, basically consisting of reindeer meat, fish, wild onions, starchy spruce bark, and cabbage fern tubers. We need to supplement our diet and change things up.

I was really craving the taste of roasted alligator snapping turtle meat, so I dug down forty or fifty centimeters into the ground. The soil became softer and softer, and my mouth was watering.

Time passed by minute by minute.

The opening was dug bigger and bigger, and the pit was dug deeper and deeper. Every now and then, he would turn on the action camera and have a few self-doubts, saying things like, "Maybe I'm just wasting my energy," or "The sunk cost is too high, I'll leave after digging for a while longer." But his hands never stopped moving.

While the earth above was disturbed, the alligator snapping turtle on the ground remained motionless, likely frozen stiff and in a near-death state, unable to make any further movements.

Even if Su Jierui didn't dig it up and eat it, the only outcome would be that it would be buried deep underground and quietly die and rot.

at last.

The axe in my hand struck something hard; after clearing away the soil, I could see a tortoise shell.

"My God! May our ancestors protect us!"

"It's an alligator snapping turtle! A very large alligator snapping turtle! Is it still alive?"

"If it were alive, it would have a lot of flesh!"

Su Jierui's excited shouting was 70% acting and 30% genuine craving.

After hurriedly clearing away the surrounding mud, I struggled to lift the alligator snapping turtle out of the water. I realized I had underestimated its weight, and I almost strained my back.

The carapace is about 60 centimeters long and weighs about 70 to 80 kilograms. It couldn't wait to show off its catch.

(End of this chapter)