Chapter 168 Ground Mouse
Seeing the two donkeys in such a hurry, Chen Ling thought it was his grandson who was causing trouble, so he dropped a bag full of corn and ran over.
Only when I got there did I realize that it was not a little kid messing around, but an adult, the youngest son of the Ermao Donkey family.
This boy is going to the mountains to collect honey.
Last time I went hunting in the mountains, I encountered several large beehives, which looked very greedy.
It's a pity that I didn't have time to pay attention to it at the time, so I just left a mark.
After I came back, I kept thinking about it. It happened that I was not too busy today, so I took the guy to the mountain.
Prepare mugwort and match ropes, find the honeycomb, light it under the tree, use smoke, and after all the bees are smoked away, just use a long bamboo pole to pick off the honeycomb.
However, the boy felt that the smoke from the match rope was too small and slow to smoke, so he found some dead branches and piled them under the tree to light a fire.
Now the fire is getting stronger and the smoke is stronger, making the bees dizzy.
Just kick the tree trunk with your foot, and it will fall into the fire like dumplings.
It’s really exciting and enjoyable.
But he was only looking at the honeycomb on the tree and forgot to clean up the weeds and dead leaves around it. He accidentally ignited it and the fire spread immediately.
Fortunately, this hive is not far from the foot of the mountain, and there are a lot of people working in the fields recently. When Chen Ling and Ermao rushed over, there was no open fire, but there was still thick smoke, which was choking. very.
But Ermao Donkey didn’t care whether the smoke was choking or not. After seeing his son, he whipped his son with a belt and beat him hard. The villagers tried to persuade him but it was useless. He was so stunned that his clothes were all covered with it. Oozing blood.
If something like this happens, we must be more ruthless.
People in the mountains are most afraid of fire, especially during the harvest season. Whether it is summer harvest or autumn harvest, the weather is relatively dry and the wind is strong.
If a mountain fire breaks out, no matter how green or yellow you are, as soon as the wind blows, it will burst into flames all over the place, burning you up, and there will be no time to save you.
A few days after the incident, the grandson of the Ermao Donkey family followed Xiao Sen to Chen Ling's house to play. He said that after his father was beaten, he acted like a normal person the next day and went up to the mountains to collect honey again. I came back with a few big beehives.
Chen Ling was stunned for a moment and sighed that this guy is a talent.
The two donkeys were already stubborn enough, and it was useless for anyone to persuade them to do what they decided. I didn't expect that this kid from his family was even more stubborn than him.
He is slandering others.
After Ermao Donkey went to the countryside, he was publicized in the village that he had become an epidemic prevention officer at the livestock station. The villagers did not know the difference between an epidemic prevention officer and a veterinarian, so they unanimously treated him as a veterinarian. I heard that I was quite surprised after this incident.
I felt that the Chenling Township government had refused to go there before, so why did she suddenly become a veterinarian? So many people came to ask.
Chen Ling didn't say anything more to them. He only said that if there was anything wrong with the poultry and livestock at home in the future, just come to him.
The villagers all smiled and agreed.
Despite this, there are actually very few problems with poultry and livestock. In rural areas, they are mostly kept free-range, and there are no problems all year round.
In the blink of an eye, there is only one tail left in the leap month of August.
The corn in the field is gradually growing older, and it is the harvest season.
Corn cobs ripen quickly, and the tender corn can be eaten only for about ten days a year. After this time, it will quickly become old and hard, and can no longer be eaten.
Fortunately, these days, Chen Ling's family has no shortage of tender corn, and there is always one on the table.
In addition to the ones exchanged from Ermao Donkey’s house, there were also gifts from several people who borrowed sprays and sickles.
After eating the tender corn, every household in the village began to prepare to harvest it at home. They called it 'breaking off the corn'. Chen Ling has not been idle at home these days, giving it to Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng. I helped break it off.
Carrying the basket, put on old clothes, straw hat and gloves, got into the corn field, opened the bow from left to right, and cracked the basket. In three to five minutes, the basket was full, and then poured it onto the ridge of the ground. , he continued to break them off, one person was faster than three people, and each family was finished in one day at most.
Wang Lixian had a large family, and the girls and sons-in-law followed him down to the field. He got up early at six in the morning to collect the goods, and brought them all home at noon.
In the evening, the three families lit up electric lights in the yard, gathered around the tall corn piles, and began to peel the corn, chatting and listening to the radio. It was also very fun.
After the corn is shucked, it is tied to the wooden frame under the eaves and in the yard.
This is also a common scenery after the autumn harvest.
At this time of year, strings and piles of golden corn cobs will be hung in front of the door, on the eaves, and on the trees of every household. The rows of each household are quite spectacular.
After the corn is tied, strings of red peppers will be hung on the walls and door frames. Some people will also put yellow persimmons in the yard, or peel them and dry them to make persimmon cakes.
Such a scene can also add a festive atmosphere to a dull mountain village.
At times like this, the Chen Ling family is no exception. The Wang Lixian family gave them a lot of corn and peppers to dry, which is enough for their own food in autumn and winter. In addition, in addition to these, many wolfberries were dried to dry. When the weather was good, they were spread out on bamboo plaques and placed in the yard. They were all wild wolfberries that he had picked in the mountains these days when he had nothing to do.
......
An autumn rain and a cold. A few light rains after the autumn harvest made the weather completely cool. The north wind blew loudly at night, and the branches in the yard were blown. Whining sound. Chen Ling took advantage of his good health and didn't pay much attention at first. He still covered himself with a thin quilt when sleeping. But in the middle of the night, the couple couldn't bear it anymore. They turned on the light and took out a thick quilt from the cabinet. Just feel warm.
It’s cold, and people are too lazy to move. Except for picking up Wang Zhenzhen every two days, Chen Ling doesn’t move much at home. He makes meals every day to fill his stomach, then he lies down in the yard and watches. Watching my wife read a book and newspaper.
It wasn't until Han Chuang came to play with him on his motorcycle that he took the dog for a wander outside the village. He went to the reservoir to have a look. He wondered if it was because the weather was cold. A lot of the things in the water had stopped. There were no more things in the water these days. I didn't hear any villagers say there was any movement at night, so Han Chuang still didn't see any sign of the 'monster' when he came this time.
But he was not disappointed, because Chen Ling asked him to take two little rabbits back to raise when he left. He especially liked rabbits, which made him happy for a long time.
Jiang Xiaoqing did not come with him today. The two elders were wandering around with their dogs outside the village. They saw several young people in the village wandering around outside the village carrying shovels and hoes, as if they were looking for treasures. , walking around, digging here and there, the two of them were attracted to it.
After approaching and asking, I found out that these people were looking for mouse holes.
When these boys saw Chen Ling, they all greeted him, calling him Brother Fugui and Uncle Fugui.
"Why are you looking for a mouse hole? Are you trying to catch mice to eat?"
Han Chuang squatted down, stared into the hole curiously.
"If you don't eat, you are looking for food."
"Looking for food? How much food can be hidden in a mouse hole?"
Han Chuang couldn't help but find it funny.
Of course he knew that rats stole food, but the mouse hole was only so big and could hold a few mouthfuls of food. It was worth digging, so wasn't it a waste of effort?
We might as well catch mice, they are just pieces of meat after all.
Seeing Han Chuang laughing, these boys did not defend themselves and said directly to him: "Ask Uncle Fugui, he used to dig a lot. Sometimes he could dig up to 180 kilograms in just half a day."
"One hundred, one hundred, one hundred and eighty pounds?"
Han Chuang was frightened, and looked at Chen Ling with rounded eyes: "How many mouse holes have you dug."
"I haven't dug much. If I'm lucky, three or four will be enough."
Seeing that he didn't believe it and was very surprised, Chen Ling explained to him with a smile: "Ground rats are very good at stealing food." It's very big. Even though the hole is small, there are many holes connected in all directions. They also know that there is little food in winter, so they have to prepare enough food to survive the winter, so they work hard to transport it into the hole... …”
Ground mice are often referred to as voles. When the crops are ripe, they are more diligent than humans. As long as there is no one in the field, they will carry grain to their holes day and night. After the autumn harvest, a mouse hole was dug, and ten kilograms of grain was considered a small amount.
If you are lucky, you can dig out forty or fifty kilograms from a big rat barn.
Most of these big rat barns are found in fields. Digging a rat hole can sometimes collapse the ridges of people's fields, and they are easy to get scolded, so people look for them at the foot of mountains and ditches.
After hearing this, Han Chuang found it very novel and followed several young people to find mouse holes. When Chen Ling saw this, he called him over, went home, took a shovel and a hoe, and went to look for it near his home. It wouldn't be a problem to dig here casually.
It happens to be late autumn now, and insects in the wild are about to disappear. The chickens and ducks at home can only eat some small fish and shrimps, and dig up some grass seeds and insect eggs. When winter comes, we won’t even be able to eat grass seeds.
Not only chickens and ducks, but also quails and pigeons, with so many big and small mouths waiting to be fed with food, why not take this opportunity to dig a few mouse holes and get some food back.
After the two of them got closer, they realized that there was no need to go two to three hundred meters around the cemetery. There were many things like raccoons in the cemetery, which was a restricted area for rats. Even if there was a hole, it was not a rat hole. With snakes Mostly species and small lizards.
However, down the slope two to three hundred meters away from the cemetery, there are quite a lot of mouse holes in the cotton fields and sorghum fields. Basically, you can find a mouse hole every three to five steps away.
Rats here are very thieves. They know that if they steal food, they have to hide away, either in the field ridges or digging holes in the ridges beside the ditch, or in places like cotton fields where there is little food.
And there are many open caves, dark caves, main caves, and fake caves, which is even more exaggerated than tunnel battles.
Basically what people can see at a glance is Myeongdong.
From Myeongdong, you can’t see if there are any rats inside. If you want to find the main mouse hole, you have to look for it in a dark hole.
Generally speaking, dark holes are relatively hidden, hidden under grass, beside tree roots, or among thorns on ditch slopes.
Especially on the slopes of ditches, you can often see a pile of new soil at the entrance of the dark hole, which means there must be mice inside.
Chen Ling taught Han Chuang to identify a few cave entrances and then immersed himself in digging. Heiwa Xiaojin had no choice but to lie down next to his owner and squint in the sun.
Chen Ling was very strong. He held the shovel two or three times and shoveled down the weeds and soil from the entrance of the hole. The mouse burrows and twists and turns.
Therefore, when digging mouse holes, you also need to pay attention to skills and don't be reckless.
Just putting in stupid effort won't do.
After digging a shovel, you should check the condition of the mouse hole. Be careful to let the soil cover it, otherwise your efforts will be in vain.
However, there are safe ways.
Pull some foxtail grass and stuff it into the hole. After stuffing one stick, continue stuffing until it reaches the end of the mouse hole. It doesn’t matter if the hole is buried. Just follow the traces of the foxtail grass to find it. .
Anyway, what we want at this time is not the mice, but the food in the mouse holes. Once we know the location, we can dig whatever we want. It doesn’t matter if the mice run away.
Chen Ling often dug when he was a child, so he was very familiar with it. He swung the shovel and started digging. Within a few minutes, a dark hole was dug out, and a squeaking sound could be heard from inside. Hei Wa stood up suddenly and stared at the entrance of the cave.
As for Xiao Jin, he was still squinting his eyes and basking in the sun out of boredom. It was obvious that he was not interested in the things in the cave.
This is all a lesson learned from digging badger holes in the past, and I don’t want to waste my efforts again.
"Brother-in-law, we came to dig up mice for you..."
When Chen Ling and Han Chuang were digging separately when they heard the sound of mice, Wang Zhenzhen waved his arms and led A group of people walked over quickly.
It was Liang Hongyu and his wife, as well as Qin Yueru and her daughter Xiaolizi.
"Uncle, I picked up a cat to catch mice."
After getting familiar with it, the little girl dared to speak and held up a chubby mountain civet to him.
"Okay, little Lizi is so smart."
Chen Ling praised him with a shovel, then talked to the adults and introduced Han Chuang by the way.
So a group of adults and children began to look for mouse holes.
After a while Wang Susu also came over with the cows, letting the cows next to them, watching them dig mouse holes.
At this time, Chen Ling had dug a small mouse hole, but there was no food. He was digging blindly, and Han Chuang couldn't do it either. He dug back and forth and lost the hole after stuffing it with foxtail grass.
On the other hand, Qin Rong dug a big mouse hole first. When he pushed the shovel down, the mouse ran out like crazy. However, Hei Wa easily caught up with him after taking only two steps.
One, two, three... After catching a mouse, Hei Wa took it back and paraded it in front of Chen Ling, barking and asking for credit from his master. Qin Yueru looked interesting, so she picked up the camera and came close to take pictures.
"Fugui, come and see, have I dug a mouse's nest?"
Qin Rongxian pointed to the wide earth hole in the cave and asked.
The cave was bigger than the mouth of a bowl, with messy hay filling the cave entrance. With the tip of Chen Ling's ears, he could still hear the squeaking sounds inside, which were extremely small and delicate.
"It is indeed a mouse's nest. Uncle, don't move yet. There is probably a nest of little mice inside."
As Chen Ling said, he reached out and took out the hay from the hole.
When everyone heard what he said, they gathered around and stared at the haystack.
The haystack was in the shape of a cloth bag. After opening it, the inside was filled with cotton and bird feathers, making it soft and warm to the touch.
Open the cotton again, and pink and smooth little mice appear in front of everyone.
"Wow, it's a little mouse..."
Xiao Lizi's eyes immediately brightened up when he saw such a tiny mouse, and he hurriedly took out a mountain civet from his grandmother's bamboo basket. Patting its butt, pointing to the little mouse in the nest and urging: "Quick, cat, go and eat."
However, this mountain raccoon has long lost its wild nature and has grown into an adult. Liang Hongyu and the two of them have raised it as a treasure and will not eat raw meat. When they see the little mouse, they don't move at all. Instead, they keep shivering and hiding at Liang Hongyu's feet.
This is the fear of two dogs.
"Ren Xiaoli, what did your mother teach you, girls should be ladies and kind. The little mouse is so cute, how can you let the cat eat it? It's too cruel."
"You won't be allowed to do this again, you know."
Qin Yueru put down the camera and said with a frown.
Xiaolizi raised his head and glanced at her, but said nothing.
This little girl came to the village twice, and each time she ran around and played with the village dolls. She was no longer so squeamish. She caught earthworms and grasshoppers and dared to do anything. It was impossible for cats to eat mice. Nothing.
It wasn't until Chen Ling handed her the nest of little mice and helped Qin Rongxian to dig the hole bigger that the mouse barn was exposed, and more than 20 kilograms of grain were dug out.
Xiao Lizi then pointed at the mouse hole and said: "Look, Mom, the mice belong to thieves, they are broken..."
It means she did nothing wrong.
Qin Yueru felt depressed for a while and didn't know what to say.
"Yes, rats are the worst. They are always stealing food and are the worst at wasting food. It is natural for cats to eat rats."
Liang Hongyu smiled and touched her granddaughter's little head.
Then he pointed at the grain in the mouse barn and asked the little girl to identify it.
“Come and take a look at the grain your uncle dug out. Do you know what kind of grain it is and what it can be made into?”
It’s just that the little girl is not interested in food. After recognizing it, she couldn’t wait to ask Chen Ling: “Uncle, how come this mouse is like a human being, with a place to eat and a place to sleep?”
“Ouch. , you have discovered this. My uncle told you that these mice are very smart. They not only have a place to sleep and eat, but they also have a latrine."
With that said, Chen Ling went down with the shovel. A small hole as thick as a tea cup was dug out near the mouse nest. It was indeed full of rat droppings and had a pungent smell of urine.
When everyone saw it, it was exactly what Chen Ling said. They were amazed and felt that their horizons had been opened.
Actually, this place is not used by all mice, but is a place where female mice specifically excrete during their feeding period.
Other rats are dealt with outside the hole during the mild weather season.
Only when the weather is cold in winter and you don’t go out of the cave very often, you will open up a new place.
"This mouse is quite interesting. Let's continue to find a new hole."
Han Chuang was busy for a long time and couldn't find it, so he was a little unwilling.
"No rush. This mouse hole is very big, and it is a big family of mice. Now we have only dug out the corn bin, which weighs only about twenty kilograms. Let's look for it again. Maybe there are other grain bins. .”
Chen Ling shook his head, bent down and continued digging to the side.
"Huh? Really or not? No matter how smart the mice are, they can't be this smart, right?"
"Return, return, store food in separate warehouses?"
< br>Han Chuang's eyes widened and he stammered, obviously he didn't believe it.
It made two little girls laugh secretly, thinking that what this silly big man said was interesting.
As a result, Chen Ling searched and found another mouse barn, which stored sorghum and millet respectively.
But if you dig further, it will be gone.
“The weather is wrong this year, and the peanuts and soybeans haven’t come down yet, otherwise there would usually be a peanut warehouse and a soybean warehouse in a big mouse hole like this...”
(End of this chapter)
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