Chapter 84: Pheasants in the Black Coffin Ditch
Damn it, this big red eagle now weighs about two pounds, one or two and eighty yuan. The muscles in the chest are very developed, and you can't even touch the seam in the middle keel.
The whole body of the big eagle is covered with fleshy bumps. As long as the crop is not injured, it is not a big deal.
Yue Feng sat on the ridge, holding the eagle on his back. He took out a kettle from his pocket and ordered some water for the eagle. After waiting for about two minutes, the eagle had returned to its normal breathing rhythm.
Afraid of hidden injuries, Yue Feng stayed where he was and kept observing the eagle. It was not until ten minutes later that the eagle loosened its fur again. Yue Feng knew that the eagle had regained its strength. Get up and keep going.
Compared with the wonderful performance of the first rabbit, the next few rabbits were a bit boring. Basically, after Yue Feng chased them away, the big eagle chased them and easily captured them within thirty meters.
It is worth mentioning that after the first rabbit spent its life to tell the big eagle that grabbing its butt was not very efficient in hunting, the subsequent rabbits all had one claw when the big red hawk chased them. The hoop seals the mouth, and the claws wrap around the waist to subdue the prey.
Yue Feng is quite contented. Although this surrender posture is quite strenuous, at least it is much better than grabbing the rabbit's butt without letting go of his claws.
Yue Feng went out from eight o'clock in the morning and wandered outside the village until about twelve o'clock. There were already six more rabbits in his shoulder bag. The largest one weighed nearly five kilograms, and the smaller one weighed more than three kilograms.
Including the two rabbits that were temporarily raised at home, it would definitely be enough to deliver game to the city canteen in the evening, so Yue Feng adjusted the prey for hawking in the next afternoon to pheasants.
In fact, in normal falconry activities, catching pheasants with a big eagle is not a good job.
Compared with the big eagle catching rabbits, the risk of losing the eagle when catching pheasants is many times higher.
Why do you say that? It’s a very simple reason. Pheasants are birds. After being coaxed up, they have the ability to fly with two to three wings. Their mobility is much better than those that can only run on the ground on four legs. rabbit.
In addition, the big eagle cannot be held flat, and the initial velocity of the eagle when it leaves the hand is significantly lower than that of the eagle when it is held flat. Some, the flight distance of the falcon chasing its prey will inevitably be lengthened.
The new eagle has just been put up for three days. It is far from reaching its peak both mentally and physically. If you are lucky when chasing pheasants, it will be okay. One or two wings. If you take it down within a few seconds, you can at best run behind with the eagle handle to make it a little more tiring.
If the eagle's physical strength is not up to the standard to catch the pheasant, and it cannot catch the pheasant after chasing it, it may take several hours to find the eagle in the eagle-handle position once it lands on an unknown tree.
Despite knowing this, Yue Feng has no intention of giving up. This problem will have to be faced sooner or later. He must try it at least once and then make subsequent adjustments based on the actual performance of the Eagle.
I agreed to Master Niu to supply hares and pheasants to the canteen. If I have hares, I can't tell others. I don't dare to let the pheasants go. Yue Feng can't afford to lose this person.
As for the loss of the eagle, Yue Feng is not too afraid. An experienced falconer like him will conduct a risk assessment in advance when choosing a falconry site, and will not just choose a place with complex terrain. Flying out to catch pheasants in a place where no one is seen is not hawking, it is gambling.
After some thinking, Yue Feng chose the first battlefield for catching pheasants in the Heicoff ditch northeast of Xing'an Village.
This name may sound scary, but the reality is actually a little more complicated than it sounds.
This Black Coffin Ditch was originally the spillway of the Muling River in the north of the village. When the rainy season comes every year, when the water level reaches a certain level, the flood will be released from this ditch and merge into the larger river farther downstream. . One year it rained heavily and the water level of the creek surged. Many black wooden coffins were washed out by the floods in Black Coffin Ditch. According to the villagers, this place should have been a cemetery for centralized burials hundreds of years ago.
Later, the big ditch of the floodway got a name, and became the Black Coffin ditch in the mouth of the villagers in Shiliba Village.
There are two main reasons why Yue Feng chose this place as a place to fly eagles and catch pheasants. One is that the terrain here is relatively open, and the reclaimed farmland is afraid of being destroyed by floods, so the places where things are planted are On the middle and upper soil slope of the ditch, there is a large impact plain below.
It's not the rainy season either, the bottom of the ditch is full of pebbles of different sizes, the plants are not lush, and the sparse place is very bright.
There are many pheasants here, and the view is wide. The nearest forest is three or four miles away in a straight line, so it is definitely the first choice to catch pheasants.
After making up his mind, Yue Feng walked back with his hawk on his back. He carried six rabbits on his back, weighing more than twenty kilograms anyway. He walked home on a small road, put down the prey, and then set off lightly. In less than half an hour, Yue Feng had reached the upper reaches of the Black Coffin Valley.
The terrain here is higher. At a glance, the soybeans planted on the slope have been harvested, and the river beach below is covered with sparse short grass. As soon as I stood at the height of Hulukou, I heard a distant sound. Here comes the male pheasant’s signature clucking sound.
The eagle also heard the cry of the pheasant. It tightened its feathers and looked around with its head, as if to find the location of the prey that had just called.
Yue Feng walked down the path from Hulukou and walked forward leisurely.
According to Yue Feng's experience, these pheasants like to hide in the buffer zone between the soybean fields and the short grass at the valley bottom. In these locations, the weeds are relatively taller and they feel safer.
He walked forward slowly from the edge of the soybean field. After taking a few steps, Yue Feng gave him a few symbolic blows with the stick in his hand.
Sure enough, it was pretty much what he expected. He had only walked less than two hundred meters when he heard a flapping sound coming from four or five meters below his feet. A strong male pheasant was like a helicopter. It seemed to flutter its wings and take off, flying towards the shallows below.
Seeing this scene, the big red eagle in his hand activated instantly. It kicked hard on Yue Feng's arm, then flapped its wings and chased in the direction of the pheasant.
There is no harm if there is no comparison. If you look at it at first glance, the first wing of this big male pheasant taking off is actually not that slow.
But compared to Yue Feng's iron-backed red eagle, the Pheasant is much slower.
The pursuit from a high position only flew less than fifty meters forward and backward. The big eagle had already caught up with the pheasant. It turned sideways from the bottom up and looked back, and directly volleyed the big pheasant into the air. hug.
Compared with the various funny performances in catching hares before, the performance of Iron-backed Red in catching pheasants can be called professional. The flight speed is extremely fast and the pursuit distance is short. It's a classic.
Yue Feng stopped admiring the eagle's working skills and ran down with his long legs.
(End of this chapter)