Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl-Chapter 74 A Rare Hunting Scene
The response from the Police Dog Base hadn't come through, and he also had to wait for the teacher's message regarding the Clouded Leopard.
Having nothing to do, Chen Ying planned to chat with Miss Bear for a bit and along the way, check on her pregnancy.
Black Bear Sister's appetite grew larger by the day, and her whole body filled out into a rounded shape. The thick layer of fat beneath her skin was enough to sustain her through the winter and the energy expenditure during the birthing period.
"It looks good, based on your condition, giving birth successfully shouldn't be a problem. When the time comes, you can decide if you want to come to my place to give birth. If you want that, should I set up a delivery room for you in the warehouse?"
Miss Bear felt confident about managing on her own and also disliked having other fierce animals around when she was giving birth to babies.
Two days ago, it had found a perfect spot, a cave under the rocks, dry and warm, and also spacious enough. If nothing unexpected happened, this would become home for her and her babies for the foreseeable future.
Bringing Chen Ying to visit her new home, Miss Bear sat down by the cave entrance, fixing her eager eyes on him.
Of course, Chen Ying came prepared.
He had cut up apples mixed with honey and served them in a stainless steel bowl, handing it to Miss Bear.
Watching her blissfully enjoy her treat, chuckling with satisfaction as she ate, Chen Ying's mood brightened too.
"You eat up, but don't throw the bowl around; I'll take it back to wash. Cleaned, I'll use it again to bring you more fruit next time."
Black Bear Sister nodded and hugged the fruit bowl a little tighter.
After visiting Miss Bear, Chen Ying planned to look for the Yellow-throated Marten.
This critter, like Brother Pingtou the Honey Badger, was notorious for being active both day and night.
Only smaller than the Weasel Bear and the Fish Mink, it was an esteemed third-in-command within the Weasel Clan.
The biggest headache was that the Yellow-throated Marten was one of the few social marten species, its ferocity posing a threat even to the Giant Panda.
They were tactical, too. If they couldn't defeat an opponent alone, they'd simply call their friends for a group assault.
This morning, Yin Li had called him, reporting a sighting of a group of fifteen or sixteen Yellow-throated Martens in a mountain gully, advising him to be cautious and not to let the martens raid his place.
Today, he intended to check out the situation and also examine whether any rare animals nearby had fallen victim to the martens.
The mountain gully to the north of the emergency station had a gradient of about five meters. Crossing it would take him to the path that Mama Panda had led them over the mountain.
The Yellow-throated Martens were extremely alert, and Chen Ying didn't dare provoke them alone.
Close to the location, he found a safe place and released a drone.
It hadn't flown out 500 meters before an intense stare-down with a little fellow on a tree ensued.
(Delivery right to my doorstep; I'll just taste a bit first)
Startled, Chen Ying's hand shook, and the drone shot up instantly.
After a brief pause, the drone swiftly circled around the fierce Guard mink and flew towards its back.
Sure enough, a short distance away on the tree branches, several slightly smaller Yellow-throated Martens were frolicking about, with seven or eight adult martens scattered around sitting guard.
"Isn't this density a bit too high?"
Muttering to himself, Chen Ying continued to control the drone in its search.
After circling around two large trees, the partially eaten carcass of a Forest Deer came into view.
He fell silent for three seconds, mourning the deer briefly before the drone skimmed past the carcass and carried on ahead.
All the way down to the foot of the mountain, no other injured or deceased animals were discovered.
As he maneuvered the drone back, Chen Ying spotted three sneaky figures upon passing a large tree.
He gained altitude, took a closer look, and saw three half-grown Yellow-throated Martens ready to hunt a Squirrel.
The Martens scurried swiftly on the branches as if on flat ground, their movements as swift as assassins.
The poor Squirrel frantically tried to escape, but cornered by the three Martens, it finally had its neck bitten through.
One has to say, the Martens are indeed very skilled at killing their prey, and what's more terrifying is that they even understand cooperative predation.
After circling the surroundings, Chen Ying retracted the drone.
He thought to himself that he must send this footage of the Martens back to headquarters for archiving.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard a commotion ahead.
Utterly confused, he released the drone again, and the entire scene unfolded before him.
Jinya and Little Jin, who had been nowhere in sight before, now appeared near the Martens within just two or three minutes.
Normally, if the Yellow-throated Martens faced the Lynx or the Golden Cat alone, they'd be like delivering food to their doorsteps.
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But the situation was different now; there were more than a dozen Yellow-throated Martens, and there were only two Lynxes. Could they defeat this gang of forest ruffians?
Chen Ying's heart was in his throat; he was even prepared to save Jinya and Little Jin, even if it meant facing a penalty, should they be overwhelmed.
Yet to his surprise, the Martens did not gang up on Jinya and Little Jin when they appeared, instead they scattered in all directions.
Jinya and Little Jin each targeted a prey and pursued separately, both successfully catching their quarry.
The escaping Martens stopped at a farther place, warily watching Jinya's direction.
Just when Chen Ying thought the battle was about to end, two Yellow-throated Martens fleeing at nine o'clock suddenly ran again, one even performed an aerial acrobatics feat.
Unexpectedly, the fierce beast ambushing them did not attack the escaping Martin on the tree; instead, it leaped through the air and caught the Martin's nape in midair and smoothly landed on another tree.
Upon closer look, it was the lone Clouded Leopard.
A scene where three Big Cats hunted Yellow-throated Martin at the same time had never been witnessed by anyone.
Perhaps it was because the number of martens was too high and posed a great threat to the locality's herbivores that nature had chosen to cleanse the food chain?
Chen Ying also breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the large group of Yellow-throated Martens scatter in different directions.
According to the Mother Panda, other pandas might migrate along this mountain base to the lower altitude areas in winter, as the food is more abundant down the mountainside.
One or two Yellow-throated Martens are not much of a threat, but in large numbers, they would dare to fight with Giant Pandas and other large predators.
Chen Ying took out his phone, logged into the backend of a dedicated app, uploaded the video and the location, then packed up and started walking back.
Just a few steps out, he was almost frightened into falling by a "Mouse Bar" that dropped from the sky.
Jinya, having successfully pranked him, lay snickering on the tree, out of breath, apparently laughing too hard to catch his breath.
Chen Ying gave it an exasperated glance, picking up the Martin's carcass that had fallen at his feet.
It wasn't light, weighing about four or five catties.
Seeing that Jinya had no intention of eating it, Chen Ying took the Martin's carcass, planning to have Yin Li and the others take it out to the center for processing and turn it into a specimen for display at the Science Museum.
Meanwhile, the leisurely Clouded Leopard ripping the Mouse Bar paused its ears, then suddenly stood up and listened intently in the direction of the mountain base.
At Chen Ying's location, Little Jin, also perched high up, tensed up instantly, focusing sharply in the direction of the mountain base with its ears still slightly twitching.
Jinya, more impatient, disappeared into the forest in a few bounds, with Little Jin immediately following suit.
Chen Ying followed quickly for a few steps, then stopped, returned to his previous spot, and after making sure there was no danger around, released the drone for the third time to chase after Jinya.