I am a local in North America

Chapter 9 Snowshoe Rabbit

This is such a large alligator snapping turtle; it's usually quite aggressive.

Fortunately, it was frozen stiff, and even though Su Jerry moved it around, it didn't move at all and was no longer aggressive.

Once on the frigid ground, where temperatures drop to below -10 degrees Celsius, the snapping turtle would freeze to death very quickly without him even lifting a finger.

Thinking he could get back and cut it up as soon as possible, Su Jierui dragged it across the ice of the lake for nearly 2 kilometers back to the camp. He was so tired that he was out of breath, and the air around him was too cold, making his nose and throat feel a little sore.

First, go back to the shelter, start a fire, close the door tightly, and then go outside again.

He was very skilled at killing fish, but when faced with an alligator snapping turtle, he felt at a loss. He could only try to slowly break it down, splitting it open with a few axe blows from the vulnerable part of the shell, then removing the internal organs and cutting it into pieces of alligator snapping turtle meat.

Most of the weight is in the bones and shell, and the meat yield is not as high as Su Jierui had imagined. What surprised him was that the yellow turtle had a lot of oil, which looked very nutritious.

Having made thorough preparations and researched the ingredient beforehand, Su Jierui knew that turtle oil was extremely high in calories, with just a small cup enough to meet a day's calorie needs, but it was also very greasy and could easily cause diarrhea.

In the wild, severe diarrhea leading to dehydration can be fatal, leaving no choice but to withdraw from the competition.

Therefore, he decided to eat only turtle meat and extract the turtle oil, which he would store as a reserve food. Unless absolutely necessary, he would rather go hungry for a few days than compromise his safety.

While it's still fresh, after finishing the large head of the grilled alligator snapping turtle, there's a lot of meat on the neck. The texture is somewhere between chicken and beef, firm and chewy, but not as tender as fish, and it has a slightly fishy taste.

However, once the turtle oil was started to be rendered, the real fishy smell was released, which was so strong that it almost made me vomit.

Muttering "Holy crap!", Su Jierui quickly took the pot out, worried that the smell wouldn't dissipate and would affect his rest that night.

It was impossible to throw it away. After cleaning it up, I continued to render turtle oil outdoors, and this time I felt much more comfortable.

After boiling it into oil and water, before it solidifies, quickly pour it into a homemade spruce wood bowl.

I put the small bowl of alligator turtle oil that had solidified quickly into the smoked meat storage cabinet for now. After thinking about it, I also cut off a few slices of deer leg meat, roasted them like ham, and ate them to suppress the fishy taste in my mouth.

Perhaps attracted by the smell of rendered oil, while habitually scouting the area around the camp, Su Jerry discovered that a red fox had actually gone out during the day and was approaching the camp.

This made him restless, so he immediately got up, grabbed his bow and arrows, and went out hunting.

After walking for a few minutes, I caught a glimpse of ochre red moving against the snow-white background out of the corner of my eye.

Su Jierui immediately held his breath, slowly crouched down, and observed using the spruce tree as cover.

Unfortunately, the red fox has a very keen sense of smell and hearing. It suddenly raised its head, turned its ears, and found itself directly facing the direction where Su Jerry was hiding.

The next second, without hesitation, it disappeared into the shadows of the dense forest with a few light leaps, like a red lightning bolt, leaving only a series of plum blossom-shaped footprints on the snow.

The ground was covered in snow, which crunched underfoot, making it hard not to startle the red fox.

"Too alert."

Su Jierui straightened up with some regret, but wasn't overly frustrated.

In the wilderness, hunting failures are common, especially for animals like red foxes, which are actually rare to hunt with a bow and arrow.

He put away his bow and arrows, preparing to return, but his gaze inadvertently swept towards the dry riverbed not far away, where there were also traces of prey.

If you can catch a red fox, its fur is both warm and comfortable, but the meat is just so-so, with a distinctive gamey smell and not particularly appealing in taste. It usually requires strong seasonings to mask the gamey smell.

Unfortunately, the red fox was too clever and escaped in the blink of an eye. However, he didn't return empty-handed. Su Jerry soon found the tracks of an adult male snowshoe hare, which was digging through the snow near the river, looking for dry grass buried under the snow.

He crept over quietly.

A white figure, almost blending into the snow, was scurrying about, its large hind legs leaving a series of distinct marks on the snow.

Su Jerry entered hunting mode again, learning from his earlier mistake of scaring away the red fox, and this time he was even more cautious.

After observing the terrain, he decisively chose to take advantage of the riverbank's slope, and in an almost crawling posture, he circled around in a semi-circle, avoiding the wind and quietly approaching, perfectly concealing his scent.

The snow made a very slight "crunching" sound underfoot, but fortunately the snowshoe hare didn't notice and continued to happily eat hay.

Sujere moved behind a sufficiently thick tree trunk, about 20 meters from the snow rabbit, which was the best balance point between the power and accuracy of the bow and arrow.

Slowly nocking the arrow and drawing the bow, the entire movement was as smooth and steady as breathing, as if afraid of making any unnecessary noise that might disturb the target. The arrowhead was steadily aimed at the snow hare that was still focused on foraging for food.

"Whoosh-"

The arrow left the bowstring, slicing through the cold air with a short, sharp whistle.

Almost simultaneously, the arrowhead pierced the snow hare's neck, a vital spot. It didn't even have time to make a sound; it just twitched violently before collapsing softly onto the snow, a glaring crimson stain quickly spreading across its white fur.

After confirming that the prey was completely dead, he quickened his pace and walked over.

He picked up the still-soft snowshoe hare, weighed it in his hand—it was about three or four pounds—and showed his prize to the camera, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

He deftly pulled out the arrow, wiped the blood off in the snow, and put it back in the quiver.

Then, he carried the snow rabbit upside down back to the camp.

Unfortunately, I ate too much at lunch. The roasted rabbit meat tasted better than the fish and alligator snapping turtle meat.

Although rabbit meat is low in fat and high in protein, and doesn't provide many calories, in the depths of winter when food options are becoming increasingly monotonous, any fresh meat is a great comfort to the taste buds and the spirit.

We returned to camp, completely satisfied.

My hands and feet are cold; I did too much exercise today. My plan to move the dead tree for firewood will have to wait until tomorrow.

The snow stopped for a while, but strong winds continued in the afternoon. Su Jerry had to go out from time to time to clear the snow from the roof to prevent the tarpaulin from collapsing due to its weight.

I drifted through the days in a daze until night fell, and another day was over.

For dinner, I couldn't bear to eat the snowshoe rabbit, but instead ate the leftover alligator snapping turtle meat from lunch with some cooked dried mushrooms, and then drank a cup of tea made from spruce leaves.

The tea has a refreshing aroma of pine and lemon, and a crisp, slightly spicy taste. While not particularly delicious, it can provide some vitamins, containing trace amounts of vitamin C, provitamin A, and minerals.

After drinking the tea made from spruce leaves, we ate the leaves as well.

At this moment, whether it tastes good or not is completely unimportant.

With a $100 million prize in front of him, anything that could keep him going and prevent him from having to drop out due to malnutrition was worth doing.

He stared at the flickering flames in the fireplace and suddenly realized that he hadn't updated his YouTube video account in almost half a year. He had probably lost all his active core fans, resulting in a loss of thousands of dollars every month.

If I don't win the grand prize, then all the hard work I've put in during this time will have been for nothing.
(End of this chapter)