Chapter 198 Going Home
“This is Liangkou Village, the largest village here, with more than two thousand families living there.”
After the group arrived at Liangkou Village, Wang Qingzhong introduced road.
Liangkou Village is located in a valley. Ponds, trees, farmland and houses are scattered here and there. A series of winding paths traverse it. Only two mountain passes in the north and south can enter and exit.
Standing in front of the mountain pass in the south, I can see at a glance that the red sun is rising and the mountains seem to be covered with a veil of mist.
Under the mist, there is the morning smoke and the barking of dogs.
Make this place seem remote and peaceful.
"Is it close to Tianshui Village from here?"
Han Ninggui asked.
“Yes, go out from Beishankou, walk a short distance up the mountain road, and get on the plank road, you will soon reach Tianshui Village...”
Wang Qingzhong was very familiar with this place. He led them all the way through the mountain pass, then walked into the village from the field ridge, and then walked out in a zigzag manner.
The destination is Tianshui Village.
They have a lot of stuff and can’t move fast.
In addition, Han Ninggui also took out the hair, blood stains and other things of the grass leopard from time to time, and asked Xiao Jin and others to search according to the smell to see if they could find other clouded leopards.
When meeting villagers, they will also ask Wang Qingzhong to come forward and inquire.
So when we walked out of Liangkou Village, it was almost ten o'clock and it took more than two hours.
But still nothing gained.
In fact, Wang Qingzhong, Han Ninggui and others had already visited all the nearby places yesterday.
Most of the photos that needed to be retaken were completed.
In fact, most of the task of entering the mountain has been completed.
But due to the appearance of Crested Ibis nearby.
Due to the protection of the crested ibis, in recent years, inspections of the surrounding mountains and forests with a radius of thousands of miles have been very limited.
I am afraid that an accident may affect their survival. After all, there are only a few of them in the world.
Now that the crested ibis group is gradually growing, and their habits have gradually become clearer, the restrictions have gradually been relaxed to allow in-depth inspections.
So when they came here this time, they wanted to do some simple investigation, record it, and explore the road first.
Unexpectedly, they met Chen Ling's family in the town and learned that there were golden monkeys and clouded leopards in the mountains. Naturally, they didn't want to miss it.
You must search carefully.
Although until now, there are still no traces of other clouded leopards.
"There can't be just one dog in the whole Lutou Mountain, right?"
After spending most of the morning, four dogs were looking for it, but still nothing was gained. Han Ninggui couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.
"Logically speaking, it shouldn't be. Since there are female clouded leopards, there must be males nearby."
"Besides, this season is when they are in heat, and the smell is the most obvious. . ”
Clouded leopards generally come into estrus in winter and give birth to cubs in spring and summer.
Those who usually live alone are about to mate at this time. As long as the male and female smell each other's scent, they will come to the door on their own.
“……”
Chen Ling shook his head slightly: "Obviously, it's obvious, but there are more mountain streams and rivers here in Lutou Mountain, so the smell is easy to interrupt. Besides, there are fewer and fewer clouded leopards in the mountains. It's not easy to find similar species through smell."
The mountain range around Fenglei Town is called Lutou Mountain. It’s not that the mountain looks like a deer head, but that there used to be more deer in this big mountain.
When mountain people enter the mountain, they can only walk a few steps before encountering various wild deer, hence the name.
As Chen Ling said.
There are many flows in this mountain and it is quite complicated.
If one or two mountains and rivers were fine, it would be nothing with Xiao Jin's abilities.
In the past, when chasing Pagouzi, we chased him across the river.
Too much water flow will not work.
The smell is easily washed away and blocked, and even the most agile dog cannot find it.
“What you said makes sense, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, it’s really not easy.”
Han Ninggui forced a smile and said, "If there is nothing gained today, we will stop looking."
Since Wang Qingzhong is familiar with the mountains, he can find something quickly by comparing them with the original photos.
The original task progressed relatively quickly.
In addition, we also spent two days living in harmony with the wild golden monkey population.
The harvest has been great.
But he was not happy at all, and felt very heavy in his heart.
It is difficult to find even a few good hunting dogs.
This proves that clouded leopards are really becoming rarer and rarer.
The power of a good hunting dog needs no elaboration.
It's like training a dog with wolf blood and becoming sensitive to the smell of wolves when entering the mountains.
After a good hunting dog knows the scent of a clouded leopard, it is easy to find similar ones.
"Uncle Han, in fact, the native leopards are sometimes hidden too deep. The last time our village went into the mountains to hunt, we seemed to have encountered one, and there were many in Kinmen Village near us. The hunters also said that there were wild leopards in their mountains this year. "
"There were very few of them before, but many of them have escaped this year."
Chen Ling noticed Han Ninggui's expression. Knowing that this was a person who really cared about endangered animals and plants, he comforted him.
Han Ninggui perked up after hearing this and asked quickly.
After hearing Chen Ling's complete story, he became happy: "Although they don't belong to the same mountain range, they are in the same county and they are all south of the Qinling Mountains, so they should be the same kind of clouded leopard."
" If there is really not much harvest here, I will call a few old friends and go to your mountains next year.”
The content of the book he wants to publish has not been completely sorted out yet, and it will definitely be this year. No more.
......
While talking all the way out of Beishan Pass and across the river, Xiao Jin and Hei Wa suddenly reacted, wagging their tails and barking in front of the plank road.
"Sure enough, it is greatly affected by the river."
Han Ninggui looked at Chen Ling, "This must be the scent of the clouded leopard in our hands."
Chen Ling nodded.
In the town, the kite guests told them that the grass leopard was picked up by the medicine farmers in Tianshui Village, and they were indeed not lying.
This Tianshui Village is not big, but has a good reputation. What is famous is that this village has a mountain spring, which is clear and sweet. It does not freeze in winter. There is water all year round. It has been for hundreds of years and there is no sign of drying up.
Because it can be drunk directly, it is a favorite place for businessmen and wanderers like wandering around to rest.
Walking through the plank road, we arrived at Tianshui Village.
I wanted to find out about the medicine farmer in the village.
I didn’t expect to meet Yao Zike again here.
They were two young men who were not very old. They led the packhorse and stopped at the entrance of the village. Mother-in-law and dolls gathered around them.
The two kite flyers each carried a long kite flying pole as usual, with a kite standing on each shoulder.
"Fly the kite, fly the kite quickly, fly the kite quickly..."
The little dolls were chirping.
The two kite riders did not rush even under the urging. They first tied the packhorse to a nearby tree, and then came over holding the harrier pole.
This harrier pole is about two meters long, and the other end of the pole is a shovel.
The two stood apart, about ten steps apart, shoveled a piece of soil on the ground with a shovel, and threw it into the woods outside the village.
The birds in the forest were frightened and flew out.
At this time, I saw two kites standing on the shoulders of two kites. A kite flapped its wings, rose into the sky, flew over people's heads, aimed at a bird, and flew through it with a whooshing sound like an arrow. Then, the naked eye could only see two shadows passing through the birds in the sky, and then two birds shot down from the sky, spinning and falling.
The little dolls opened their eyes excitedly, then jumped up and down and clapped their little hands and shouted: "Catch one more, catch one more."
It still didn't feel like enough. .
After the two kites flew out once, they flew back to the kites and put them back on the kite poles. The hawks looked around defiantly and stood tall, looking very proud.
The two kite passengers also smiled slightly, untied the goods from their packhorses, and placed them in front of them.
The meaning is obvious. If you want to continue watching the show, you must first come and see what they are selling.
These are clothes, hats and boots, mainly coats, with quite unique styles.
It can be exchanged for grain, leather and other items, and it can also be bought with money.
Chen Ling knew what Yaozike did last time, but he had never seen how they did business.
Not to mention this strange way.
I took the lead and walked up to them. After looking at them for a while, I realized that the quality of these coats was really good.
Most of them are made of yak skin and wolf skin.
I couldn’t help but ask: “Are you from Qinghai-Tibet?”
"Yes."
The two kite guests, one tall and one short, were both quite thin. After looking at them in surprise, they nodded with a grin.
"You are also a caravan? Why are you bringing only dogs and no horses?"
"It is not a caravan. It is winter. We come to the mountains to hunt and play for a few days."< br>
Chen Ling squatted down with a smile and reached out to touch the coats they displayed: "How can I sell this wolf fur coat?"
"One hundred and fifty yuan."
"What if I trade wolf skins with you?"
"Nine wolf skins for a coat."
"Nine Zhang? Do you have nine wolf skins in this coat?”
“No, six”
These two kites were more sincere than those seen in the town two days ago. After shaking their heads, they gestured on a coat, "This is one, this is one... six in total."< br>
“A man wears six or seven coats, and a woman wears four or five. Big wolf and little wolf are different. Men’s coats cost you nine. It’s hard to tan the wolf’s skin.”
Listening to the accent with a strong Qinghai-Tibetan flavor, Chen Ling smiled, stood up and said: "I have six wolf skins in my hand. How much will it cost to replace you with a coat?"
" Sixty yuan.”
The people in the surrounding Tianshui Village were about to disperse when they saw the Yaozi Ke selling things.
They have always taken their children to watch kites perform acrobatics, so they forget about spending money on shopping.
But when they saw Chen Ling and the others coming, they were not in a hurry to leave.
The clothes don’t look like those from the mountains, and they also have a dog with them, which is quite strange.
Some people who know Wang Qingzhong have already come up to ask questions.
At this time, I saw Chen Ling and Yao Zike chatting about buying a coat, and I became more and more curious. Keep watching the fun.
However, when Chen Ling took out the wolf skin, the two kites were stunned and looked at each other, a little confused: "Well, you can't exchange this wolf skin for six."
" Huh? "
Chen Ling was also stunned for a moment. The short kite pointed at the wolf skin and said, "It's not clean."
Chen Ling suddenly blushed and became embarrassed, "Can that be regarded as a wolf skin?" How many to exchange?”
"Four, if you add another hundred yuan, we will give you a wolfskin hat."
"Okay."
Chen Ling nodded happily, put down the wolfskin, And pay them with money.
I got a soft and thick wolf fur coat, which was very heavy. It also matched with a wolf fur hat.
“Do you want to buy it or not?”
"I won't buy it. I have it at home. My dad also has a tiger fur coat. It was given to him by someone else. It's more than a hundred years old. I'll show it to you when I go to the city."
Shanmao laughed. road.
“Are you hunters who specialize in hunting?”
At this time, the tall kite guest asked.
“I’m not here to hunt, I just come here to have fun.”
Han Ninggui took over the conversation, took out the dead grass leopard, and showed it to them, "Have you two little brothers seen this thing?"
"Shan Biaozi, I have seen big ones."
“Really seen it?”
“Yes, I have seen it, several times.”
“Where did you see it? Is it far from here?”
The two kites looked at the suddenly excited old man and pointed in one direction.
"Shan Biaozi comes out at night and stays on the trees. You can't catch them."
"No."
Han Ninggui explained: "We won't catch them. , I just want to know if there are many of them now and which mountains they live in. I don’t need to see them. I just need to find their footprints and their feces.”
After all, clouded leopards are different from golden monkeys. Even if golden monkeys don’t get close to people, they will. It can still be seen. If the clouded leopard wants to hide and hides in the tree without moving, even if the dog knows that it is in the tree, people may not be able to detect it.
So it is an investigation of their living environment and population size.
"Then you have to go to Changgu County. There are many people in Changgu County who come out to look for food at night. You can encounter them on the mountain roads. Horses and kites are afraid of them."
Tall ones. Yao Zike said.
"Canggu County? It's a bit far..."
Han Ninggui frowned when he heard the specific location.
Changgu County can only be reached by crossing the neighboring Zhuguo County. Zhuguo County is also divided into East Zhuguo and West Zhuguo. The road is extremely difficult to walk. It can be said that the farther west you go, the more blocked it is, and it is difficult to drive in.
In such an environment, it is normal for more clouded leopards to choose to make their homes there.
"Are there a lot of these things over there in Changgu County?"
Lynx also asked.
“Well, there are quite a few. We stayed in Canggu for two nights, and when they screamed at night, it was like a ghost crying. It was scary.”
The short kite guest said and smiled sheepishly: "I heard that Shan Biaozi was making the dolls. They are just like cats, and they are much stronger than cats. After making the dolls, there will be a big hole under the buttocks."< br>
"Hahaha, it's like this..."
Han Ninggui laughed: "But it's not a trap made by making dolls, it's dug out to scare other male leopards."
The pit is marked with odors for pooping and urinating, and of course there is also the smell of mating. It means that the female leopard living here has mated with me, and no one is allowed to come again.
"Male leopard? Why do you call them leopards here? I heard people over there say that Shan Biaozi is a little tiger."
The kite guest was puzzled.
Shan Biao is the one who will give birth to three sons when a tiger has three sons.
It means a very ferocious little tiger.
Many places around Fenglei Town are called this.
Wang Qingzhong also said: "Yes, we are all called native leopards. To the east of Changle Township there are also called Lao Mahu and Mahu. There are also bamboo fruits in Changgu called Shanbiao from north to south. , Miao Village is also called that...this thing is called Fa Ke Duo Li.”
"Well, Azhong is right."
Han Ninggui nodded: "There are many names for clouded leopard. In fact, this thing is not a leopard, nor a tiger."
"The name is Old Mammoth Tiger. The method is pretty good. The word "犸" is very accurate. Look at its teeth."
As he spoke, he opened the grass leopard's mouth to reveal its long fangs, "This thing is similar to a saber-toothed tiger. "
"But the Ma tiger is different. The Ma tiger and the old Ma tiger are not the same thing..."
As soon as he said this, a boy watching the fun behind him suddenly shouted: "I know this, the ma tiger is black. My grandma said that the ma tiger can spit black smoke, its eyes are like lanterns, and it can eat a hundred in one bite." Little baby.”
The adults burst into laughter.
Han Ninggui also couldn't laugh or cry, "You are right, the Mahu tiger is black, and its eyes are like small lanterns, but it can't spray black smoke."
The old Mahu tiger belongs to the native leopard. A way to call it.
The Ma tiger is a kind of black tiger called "Bawangxi". It is ferocious and eats people. It is much more ferocious than ordinary tigers.
Among the people, it is often confused with the old mammoth tiger and scares little children.
It existed in history, but it has long ceased to exist.
As he said that, seeing that the people next to him were a little confused, he smiled and said: "You can just listen to it as a story."
The people in Tianshui Village laughed along with them.
The conversation then became more and more lively.
Han Ninggui took this opportunity to ask Wang Qingzhong for information about Clouded Leopard.
I asked the hunters and medicine farmers in this village again.
The answer I got was similar to Liangkou Village, and similar to what Wang Cunye said, except that I haven’t seen this thing very often recently.
The herbicide farmer who picked up the grass leopard also said that he only encountered it this time in three or four years, and it was still dead.
“It seems that the clouded leopards here may have migrated to Changgu County, so it is worth a visit.”
After Han Ninggui came back, he made a decision after discussing with the four Shanmao people.
Changgu and Zhuguo counties also belong to Lutoushan.
Lutou Mountain is a boundary mountain between three provinces. It is relatively large and located to the south of the Qinling Mountains, so the clouded leopard population here is valuable for research.
Then he looked at Wang Qingzhong and Chen Ling and said: "I said before that I was afraid of delaying your own affairs. If you can't find the clouded leopard, you have to go back early."
"It's just right now. The clouded leopard’s base camp is in Changgu County, and we can return this afternoon.”
"Ah? You can't find the one here?"
Wang Qingzhong was a little confused.
“I’m not looking anymore. It’s probably because there have been more and more caravans passing by here in the past few years, and the clouded leopards have gone over there.”
Han Ninggui guessed.
"If there are any more in the mountains on your side, there are probably no more than ten."
Wang Qingzhong didn't quite understand.
Chen Ling knew that Han Ninggui's guess was probably correct.
In the next ten years or so, after all highways and railways are built, there will be no wolves, let alone local leopards. It’s because human activities have such a huge impact.
... After deciding not to continue searching, they no longer stayed in Tianshui Village. At noon, they followed Wang Qingzhong and went to an acquaintance's house to exchange wolf meat for a few steamed buns and corn pancakes, and then went to the mountain spring. After getting some water, we lit a fire outside the village, roasted wolf meat and cooked wild vegetable soup.
The roasted wolf meat is eaten with steamed buns and corn tortillas, and the hot soup warms the whole body.
The two young kite customers were rare real people among the kite customers. After selling two more leather hats, they squatted down and ate together. They were given some hard dried meat in exchange for two skewers of wolf meat.
Then he asked the kite to catch a few birds and grill them on skewers.
Seeing this, Chen Ling asked about their method of training kites.
They did not hide their secrets, and the steps were roughly the same as training falcons.
After hearing the end, Chen Ling shook his head. It was too torture for both birds and people. He couldn't do it.
"It can be raised since childhood, look at my hands."
The tall kite guest stretched out his hand, and saw dense white dots on the back of his dark-red hand, as if they were white. If you look closely, they are not small blisters, but small scars.
“Were they all pecked by kites?”
Chen Ling was surprised.
“Well, birds bite, big and small are difficult to raise. In the end, they have to be trained. Birds that eat raw meat are aggressive and difficult to raise to maturity.”
he laughed.
Chen Ling nodded silently.
This is also reasonable. If the dog is not trained, eating raw meat and not eating raw meat are completely different.
It is very common for dogs to change their temperament after seeing blood once.
After lunch, we set off with two kite travelers.
It's just that the two of them couldn't stop when they arrived at Liangkou Village. They continued to fly kites to attract people and set up stalls to sell things as before.
"There is an eagle cave on the cliff to the north of Qingzhu Village. If the kite is not easy to train, next spring, I will take you to pick out the eagle cubs."
Wang Qingzhong saw that his brother-in-law was still staring at the kite when he left. When the guest saw it, he smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"There is also the Eagle Cave, okay, I will definitely come."
Chen Ling also laughed.
It was not that he wanted to train the kite, but the more he looked at the kite, the more he felt that he looked like a monkey tricker.
However, the monkey dancers are just performing arts for a reward, while they are selling goods, which looks slightly better than the monkey dancers.
"Count me in, call me when wealth comes."
Shanmao also said quickly.
"Okay, when I come over, I will go to the county seat and call you."
If Chen Ling is a little interested.
Bobcats really love these things.
Hound dogs, eagles, wolves, fish and turtles, they can play with everything, they are willing to work hard, spend money and endure hardships.
In order for a dog to run so far, and to have good hunting dog seedlings, I braved poisonous insects and mosquitoes to go to the mountains to catch wolves and breed them in the summer.
Chen Ling didn’t understand it before.
Now that I'm familiar with them, I feel that such people are easier to get along with than others.
It is also easier to become good friends.
It was around four o'clock in the afternoon when the group returned to Yaowang Village.
After sitting at home for a while, Han Ninggui and others went down the mountain before dark.
Chen Ling and his wife did not stay any longer. Wang Susu had been staying at her parents' house for almost a week and was planning to go home early tomorrow morning.
Wang Zhenzhen wants to continue going back to school, and there are many things to take care of at home. For example, he and Zhao Dahai have agreed that in the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, they must prepare in advance for the construction of the farm.
(End of this chapter)