Chapter 131 Pheasant with a Long Tail
“Each stage has its own way of living! You are still strong, even if you don’t go up the mountain anymore, you can still teach us younger generations your experiences in your youth! I don’t know. Before you know it, future generations and old relatives have already benefited from you! We should look forward, what do you think?” Son!" Chen Pao gave Yue Feng another evaluation similar to that of Uncle Zhao.
Yue Feng grinned and pinched the minced meat on the big eagle's beak with his fingers: "Maybe, but there's nothing bad about it! The eagle pine is gone, let's continue working. Let’s try to catch a few more and keep the eagle safe today!”
“Let’s walk further to the outer circle. There is a mountain stream over there. If you are lucky, you may encounter it occasionally! A larger pheasant with a longer tail!
When it snowed last year, I chased a big rooster with my dog. The longest quill on the tail was 70 to 80 centimeters. When I got home and packed it up, it still weighed four and a half kilograms!
They are all called pheasants, but the meat of that pheasant is delicious. Let’s go and see if we can encounter it! ”
Hearing that there are such large pheasants here, Yue Feng also became energetic.
Growing up in the mountains, Yue Feng knows a lot about the animals in the mountains. There are indeed different varieties or subspecies of pheasants in Bianshan.
Most of them weigh two to three pounds.
In addition, there is another type of pheasant that is relatively large in size and has very long tail feathers. This kind of pheasant is relatively rare, but its meat quality and taste are much better than those of the small pheasant.
Unexpectedly, according to Chen Pao, there would be such a good product activity near Shanxi Tuqiuzi in the north of Fang'an Village.
This slow peach-pointed eagle was very energetic and caught two rabbits without much trouble. It can definitely let go of pheasants, but I don’t know how the "Catch Tian'er" will perform in actual combat.
"Then let's go up. You will lead the way! This long-tailed pheasant is a separate species. Our falconry team also caught a lot of pheasants in autumn. There are more than a dozen ridges around the back mountain. , I have never encountered such a large individual as you mentioned!" Yue Feng responded.
“Yes, a single species!
I used to make a bet with Wang Daneck. He said that ordinary pheasants only grow so big after they reach a certain age. I said no. Later, I caught a live male pheasant with a dog. It should be a live male pheasant. The two-year-old chick has yet to grow the claws on its paws!
It may not be possible, let’s try our luck! ”
In this way, the two men chatted about the big pheasant. They stopped chasing in the area of the cemetery field and went directly across it and climbed up the mound along the gentle slope on the sunny side.< br>
The length of this mound is at least seven or eight miles from east to west. There is a small stream flowing down. In the summer, the water flow here is quite large, but now this season, it has been frozen. , you can still vaguely hear the sound of the stream below.
Under the leadership of Chen Pao, the two quickly crossed the cemetery area and walked slowly up beside the stream at the foot of the mountain.
After walking for less than a mile, a miniature 'stone bridge' made of large and small rocks appeared in front of Yue Feng.
It is a bit inappropriate to call it a stone bridge. In fact, it is a pile of stones built with stones of different sizes on a mountain stream. The water in the mountain stream is not large, so when it flows through it, it will Seeped through the pile of stones.
At this moment, most of the snow on the pile of stones had been trampled by passers-by, but there was still a thin layer of ice on top.
"Be careful, the road here is slippery!" Chen Pao greeted and crossed this area with a few steady steps.
Yue Feng painted a gourd and a ladle, quickly crossed the mountain stream, followed Chen Pao along the zigzag path, and slowly climbed up the mound.
Standing on the ridge of the mound and looking down, you can have an unobstructed view of the entire Fang'an Village. At this point, villagers have just gotten up to make breakfast, and smoke from several households is rising. On the snow-covered land, there is a unique local style.
Just as Yue Feng was admiring the beautiful scenery of the winter village with his arms akimbo, suddenly the sound of a pheasant came from afar.
The tone of this pheasant is slightly different from the pheasants that Yue Feng and the others caught before. It sounds rougher and duller.
Chen Pao suddenly raised his head when he heard the pheasant crow: "That's what it sounds like! It's different from ordinary pheasants, you should be able to hear it!"
Yue Feng nodded: "Then Let’s go after it! This thing has a long tail and its flying ability should be a problem!”
"Yes, the hen is small and has a slightly stronger flying ability. The big rooster only has one wing. Last time, Rhubarb chased him, climbed a ravine, and caught him on a shady slope!"
< br>"Then let's go! Chase him!" Hearing this, Yue Feng became even more eager to try.
Some people may be confused after seeing this. If you don’t catch the rabbit, why go after the pheasant? Isn’t this a rare thing?
At first glance, it does not sound like a rare thing, but Yue Feng still has some obsessions. He has seen the kind of one-meter-long head that is smaller than one meter in movies and dramas more than once. I have pheasant feathers, but whether I fly hawks or hunt, I have caught a lot of pheasants, but the longest one is only fifty or sixty centimeters long. No matter how long it is, let alone getting it, even the real thing is not available. Saw it with my own eyes.
Men are teenagers until they die. No matter they are eight or eighty years old, they all like some fixed things, such as an 18-year-old beauty, or a stick as straight as a sword from top to bottom.
Another example is this pheasant feather that I have never seen in kind in my previous life.
Now that he has come out with Chen Pao and heard the detailed information about this long-tailed pheasant, Yue Feng will definitely be more concerned about catching rabbits.
The two men mounted an eagle and a rabbit-catching stick, and chased them along the ridge, and soon came to the area where the pheasants crowed.
At first glance, there was no difference in the terrain here, but after a closer look, Yue Feng found some clues.
The floating ice on the surface of the creek at the foot of the mountain has melted into a small section in this area. Standing on the mound and looking down, you can even see a small part of the underwater gravel of the creek.
Although there is snow all over the mountains this season and there is no shortage of water sources, the living habits of specific species of prey are still different. This long-tailed pheasant seems to have a preference for water sources in mountain streams.
"It should be this area! The snow cap of the mountain stream has melted for a while!" Chen Pao also discovered this detail very keenly.
"Did you slip away? I didn't see the pheasant!" Yue Feng continued to observe along the stream at the foot of the mountain.
"You can't run away. This thing is a thief. It's not like you don't like to take off after being frightened. Just stick to the bank of the stream and look for it. I guess it's still running!" Chen Pao said very experiencedly. .
Not to mention, let Chen Pao speak. Yue Feng followed the method he said and quickly discovered the traces of the long-tailed pheasant.
This pheasant seemed to have discovered the two people on the ridge in advance. It was running along the waterside on one side of the mountain stream with its head lowered and running wildly downstream!
“Over there!” Yue Feng immediately pointed in the direction where the pheasant was escaping. Chen Pao also noticed this finger! But the big eagle doesn't seem to notice it yet, its attention is still in the area on the other side!
The straight-line distance from the top of Tuqiuzi to the pheasant below was more than two hundred meters. Seeing this, Yue Feng lowered his head and looked around, and quickly picked up a fist-sized pebble that had been stepped on before.
He rounded his arms and threw the pebbles toward the mountain stream below.
With the height bonus of the mound, Yue Feng didn't throw it straight at the long-tailed pheasant. He actually got thrown into a snow-covered mountain stream.
Poof!
A muffled sound seemed to scare the running long-tailed pheasant. The guy immediately took off and flew towards the lower reaches of the mountain stream.
As soon as the pheasant took off, the big eagle on Chen Pao's hand immediately connected to the signal, instantly kicked off his hands, and chased after him from top to bottom in an almost gliding posture.
Anytime a raptor has a height advantage, hunting will be easier. Just like this time, Mantao Jian chased after him and slowly approached the long-tailed pheasant that took off without even flapping his wings desperately.
The big pheasant was originally startled by the sound and habitually took off to avoid it. However, it suddenly discovered that there was a big eagle chasing behind it at high speed. It was immediately paralyzed with fright, and it flapped its wings crazily and chased downstream.
The eagle made a move. Chen Pao's first reaction was to choose the nearest angle and go down the Tuqiu Mountain Liangzi to chase the eagle. However, as soon as he took a step, he was grabbed by Yue Feng.
"Don't worry, uncle! You chase along the mountain ridge, and you won't be able to see it after you go down! I have good legs and feet, so I'll go down and chase along the stream!"
Yue Feng said this, Uncle Chen He reacted: "Okay, then you go down and chase me, I will guide the direction on the mountain ridge!"
"That's it!"
Yue Feng responded and turned back almost the way he came. His two long legs ran wildly in the snow and chased after the pheasant and the eagle.
This is what it is like to fly an eagle from a high place to catch pheasants. Basically, the eagle has to jump at least one wing away. Yue Feng was already mentally prepared for this when he agreed to come over to catch pheasants. After all, it was not All the places where pheasants are kept are as good as the natural topography over the Black Coffin Ditch.
Going down the mountain huffing and puffing, Yue Feng ran wildly along the area next to the mountain stream.
After catching up with the landmark that he paid attention to when going down the mountain, Yue Feng gradually slowed down.
No matter how much human legs run, it is impossible to outrun the wings of a bird. Yue Feng expected that the big pheasant could fly six to seven hundred meters with just one wing, and he walked along the mountain stream at the foot of the mountain. Flying in the upper area, there is no obvious obstruction around, so it is not difficult to find the eagle.
Instead of running like a headless chicken, it is better to walk slowly and slowly after reaching the nearby area and listen carefully to the sound of the bell.
Whether the troops are divided into two groups to pursue, or they slow down and search in nearby areas, these are valuable experiences gained from hawking for a long time. In his previous life, Yue Feng rarely lost eagles while flying hawks. These details have proven to be successful time and time again.
On the other side, Chen Pao, who was also chasing this way along the mountain ridge, saw Yue Feng slowing down and thought he couldn't catch up anymore, so he gestured to Yue Feng anxiously. That is to say, Fang Ying did not carry a gun today, otherwise Chen Pao would probably have fired a warning shot.
After walking for a while, Yue Feng looked back at Chen Pao on the mountain ridge. Chen Pao was gesticulating repeatedly towards the area to the left of Yue Feng.
Yue Feng understood at a glance that Chen Pao meant that the pheasant chased by the eagle had entered the forest and asked Yue Feng to turn around.
This surprised Yue Feng. Why is this long-tailed pheasant so physically strong? One wing flew seven or eight hundred meters, and still had the energy to turn into the forest? The problem is that the forests on the mounds here are also broad-leaved forests, and they have all lost their light at this moment. There is a bright field on the ground, and there is no place to hide!
Yue Feng thought a lot for a moment, but he still decided to follow Chen Pao's command. After all, you can see far when you stand high. From the perspective of sight, Chen Pao's information is definitely more accurate than Yue Feng's own prediction.
In this way, Yue Feng walked along the mountain stream for another twenty meters and chose a slightly narrower area. After running for a few consecutive steps, he jumped directly over.
When he stepped on the snowy shell, he heard a crunching sound, and Yue Feng thought something bad in his heart.
Madan, this mountain stream looks quite narrow, but there is water under the snow shell. He stepped through the snow shell with one foot, and his cotton shoes were instantly stained with water.
Fortunately, Yue Feng reacted a little faster. Before his shoes were soaked, he jumped up and pulled out his legs. He stepped on the ground and stamped his feet vigorously before continuing to pursue Chen Pao in the direction pointed by Chen Pao.
The cotton shoes soaked in water became a lot heavier. Although they were not frozen into lumps immediately, Yue Feng could feel the subtle changes. This time, the play was not very good, and he actually stepped in the water. Fortunately, The mountain stream is not deep.
After chasing another few hundred meters in one breath, Yue Feng felt relieved after hearing the rhythmic ringing of bells.
Following the sound of the bell and observing around, Yue Feng soon discovered where the eagle and pheasant landed.
Under a linden tree as thick as a bowl, a big eagle is stepping on the neck of a long-tailed pheasant, plucking it with bites.
At this time, we can see the wisdom of the ancient eagle handlers. Use a large needle to pierce the feathers and sew a bell plate on the two middlemost cover feathers of the eagle's tail. On the bell plate, fasten a big ring made of copper. Eagle bell.
If an eagle is squatting still on a person's hand, it will basically not hear the sound of the bell. However, when it enters the mountain and catches prey, the eagle will definitely pluck its feathers habitually, and then move its head up and down. When it stops shedding its fur, the eagle's tail will definitely be raised up and down to maintain its balance.
At this time, the effect of the eagle's bells is reflected. From a distance, you can hear the clear, empty and penetrating bells, helping the eagle to quickly find its own eagle. Location.
Yue Feng leaned forward slowly and gently stroked back the tail of the eagle that was sitting in the snow, and then watched the eagle feathering and eating.
In less than three minutes, Uncle Chen also rushed over from the ridge. After seeing that Yue Feng had found the eagle, he slowed down and walked over.
"This pheasant can't fly very close with one wing! How's it going? Is it hurt?" Uncle Chen asked with concern.
Yue Feng pursed his lips and gasped while shaking his head: "It's nothing, I just stepped through the snow shell and got some water on my shoes! Look, Uncle Chen, these pheasant feathers are so beautiful!" ”
(End of this chapter)