My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 460 Air Combat
"No way, Baldy's only been gone for half a day..."

Chen Ling dismounted and pointed to the hawk and two pigeons standing on the horse: "I found out this guy followed me out halfway through the journey, and he brought two little pigeons with him."

But I've never seen eagles stealing chickens before.

"Don't even mention that there were no eagles stealing chickens before. In fact, I've never seen a group of eagles go to steal chickens from anyone's house."

There have been quite a few eagles flying in the sky at dawn and dusk lately. I've counted them several times while herding sheep, and at most there have been more than a dozen eagles circling in the sky.

This morning, not long after you left home, seven or eight eagles swooped down on the chickens on the hill behind our house.

Isn't this strange?

At this point, Wang Cunye angrily cursed, "Damn it! I was herding sheep on the hillside, and I just watched those eagles land right before my eyes!"

Eagles, to put it more poetically, are born to belong to the sky. Having seen the vastness of the world, they are extremely proud and aloof.

They always hunt alone.

Even after the autumn harvest, when you can often see a few eagles circling in the azure sky, it's not a group hunt.

This simply proves that there is enough prey, and they each have their own targets, rarely landing in the same place.

Especially in small, clearly defined locations like the back hill of Chen Ling's farm.

"Yes, at that time, Erhei was at home by himself, while Heiwa and the other two were herding sheep with your dad and playing with Ruirui. The rest of the dogs were out looking for food in the morning and didn't come back, nor were they on the mountain with the chickens."

Who knew those eagles would come at our chickens?

When Erhei ran out and cried out, Susu and I noticed that something had happened to the chickens on the back hill. We counted them and found that four chickens were missing.

They were all old hens that were still laying eggs.

As Erhei chased after them, an eagle was tearing chicken feathers off a tree on a distant cliff, preparing to eat them.

Two more came just now, but the dogs chased them away this time.

"If it doesn't leave and dares to land again, I'll beat it to death."

Gao Xiulan gripped the long bamboo pole, gritting her teeth in anger.

It's not really the puppies' fault for not being properly supervised.

The dogs in my house have such huge appetites, their bellies are like bottomless pits, and their food intake is terrifying.

The leftovers weren't even enough to fill their teeth.

It's the season for wheat harvest, and there are plenty of wild animals in the fields.

Field mice, rabbits, pheasants, and the like.

The most abundant species are birds, including wild birds and waterfowl...

Every morning, let them out to find food on their own.

Take it once in the morning and once in the evening.

This not only trains their hunting skills, but also saves the family from worrying about feeding them every day.

Otherwise, we would have to prepare a huge pot of food for the dogs every day.

Ten dogs can eat more than ten people.

Actually, Chen Ling didn't care how much he spent on the dog.

The key issue is that it's very troublesome.

Every day it's like hiring workers to do the work, with a communal meal every morning and evening.

A day or two is fine, but every day like this, who can stand it?

"Maybe it's because our dog has been catching too many wild animals in the nearby fields that those eagles have set their sights on our area..."

Chen Ling thought for a moment and then said.

"Hey, if you put it that way, it's actually quite possible."

Wang Cunye frowned. "After all, there are too many birds flying over to our orchard every day, and chickens, ducks and geese are also let out to run around every day. When the eagles see this, they must think: 'Why would I bother to look for food in the wild when there is something readily available to eat?'"

Hey, I didn't expect that when one came, they all followed.

Luckily, someone was always home, so we discovered it early; otherwise, we might not have even known how many had been stolen.

The chickens and ducks raised by people in the mountains are always free-range.

Free-range chickens and ducks are difficult to manage, and they are most afraid of two things: foxes and eagles.

In recent years, foxes have become less common, and weasels and wild leopards have become the second most common natural enemies of foxes.

But these are all on the ground.

Eagles have always been present in the sky. Besides the common hawk, the most common eagle in their area is the goshawk, also known as the old eagle.

This thing is different from other omnivorous mountain birds.

They not only like to eat birds, mice, and rabbits smaller than themselves, but also like to eat the carcasses of animals larger than themselves, making them extremely ferocious.

Catching a chicken is a piece of cake for them.

"The sun is very strong now, and you can't see any eagles flying in the sky. I guess they won't be coming over anytime soon."

Chen Ling looked up at the sky around him.

As noon approaches, the sun is at its most intense. Standing in a place without shade for a while will make you feel dizzy and nauseous.

Even eagles in the sky can't stand the heat.

"Yes, there were two of them wandering around in this woods just now, trying to land, but Mom chased them away with a bamboo pole."

Wang Susu sighed, looked at Er Tu Zi who was preening his feathers on horseback, and asked, "If those eagles come again, can Er Tu Zi keep them at bay?"

“I’m worried too. Maybe I should go up the mountain to keep watch after we’ve eaten.”

It's very cool up in the mountains. I could even bring a deck chair to sleep in. With someone watching over me, they wouldn't dare come.

Wang Cunye felt a pang of heartache when he thought about the old hen that had been eaten by the eagle, fearing that the eagle would come again.

The chickens are quite large now, running around and searching for food all over the mountain. They're too scattered, and the dogs are just there to deter small wild animals that might steal chickens in the forest.

Even eagles in the sky are somewhat difficult to defend against.

When eagles want to catch chickens on the ground, they will definitely wait for the perfect moment to launch a sudden attack, and they might come down at any time.

If people are always on guard against them, then they won't need to do anything else.

"Keep an eye on it all day." "No need, I can handle this."

Chen Ling shook his head. These wild creatures, whether birds or beasts, once they know there is food in a place, they will definitely come back, regardless of whether they have been driven away by humans.

So we have to beat them hard once so they won't come back to attack again.

"Er Tuzi is a master bird hunter, he's never missed a bird before."

Chen Ling stroked Er Tu Zi's hard, smooth wings. "Don't go out for the next few days. Do your best, and I'll reward you if you do."

Those eagles that stole chickens have long since flown away.

Er Tu Zi was still unaware of what was going on, but he was enjoying Chen Ling's caresses, spreading his wings on the horse and moving closer to him.

"You haven't been going out for the past couple of days?"

Wang Susu knew that Chen Ling was going to send clothes and fabric to her second brother, and no matter how large the quantity, she would definitely go.

"Go out, but it's no problem. There are plenty of eagles in the morning and at dusk."

We specifically choose the times of morning and dusk, so it won't interfere with anything. We wait until they come out looking for food, and then we see which eagles dare to fly towards us. We send Er Tuzi up there, and if too many come, I'll shoot them from below...

Let's see if they dare come here again.

Chen Ling chuckled. Even without Er Tuzi, there were still guns at home.

When dealing with eagles in the sky, a gun is more effective than a bow or crossbow. Once you hit one, the eagle will be as easily frightened as a bird startled by the twang of a bow when it hears another shot.

When Chen Ling came up with a solution in just a few words, the father-in-law and his wife breathed a sigh of relief. They had actually been so angry and flustered that they didn't know what to do.

So in the afternoon, Chen Ling drove his tractor to Huangni Town to pick up the defective clothes and fabrics and brought them home. Then he took out his hunting rifle and went to the back mountain with Er Tuzi to weave fishing nets while waiting.

As darkness fell, only a handful of eagles circled above the mountain lake, and there were also some near the old river bend in the distance, but none flew in this direction.

The next morning, shortly after the chickens, ducks, and geese were released, while the family was having breakfast, they suddenly heard the urgent and sharp whistling of a flock of pigeons in the sky, and a dark shadow suddenly swept across overhead.

Pigeons fluttered their wings and fled in the sky, dogs barked wildly from the back hill, and chickens and ducks stirred in a panic...

"An eagle is here! It's catching our pigeons!"

Wang Zhenzhen put down her chopsticks and looked up at the sky.

Suddenly, in the early morning sky, a flock of pigeons was attacked by a black eagle and scattered in panic.

Chen Ling, meanwhile, had already hurriedly grabbed his gun and run out.

Upon going outside, I discovered that several hens foraging at the foot of the mountain were clucking alarm bells and leading their chicks hurriedly into the thick bushes.

To Chen Ling's surprise, his flock of chickens, having survived yesterday's crisis, were not frightened and showed no signs of stress.

Instead, they calmly and methodically evacuated their offspring and found places to hide.

Then there were some bolder ones who hid in the chicken coop on the hillside, turning their flushed cheeks to the side, blinking their little golden eyes, watching warily as the eagle caught the pigeon in a fierce battle.

These pigeons are not the two small breeding pigeons from the farm; they are the ones raised in the village.

There are already six small families, twelve pigeons, forming a pigeon flock that is neither too big nor too small.

They fly to the farm almost every day to beg for food, or they walk around on the bamboo tiles on the roof.

Yesterday afternoon, Chen Ling didn't see the eagle. Out of boredom, he took out two of the smaller pigeon whistles that Chen Sangui had given him and tied them to the legs of the strongest pigeon.

We released a few pigeons for fun.

But what I didn't expect was.

On the very first morning after tying the pigeon whistle to them, they were attacked by an eagle.

"Could it be that the whistle attracted the eagle's attention, causing it to change its target from its original intention of stealing chickens?"

Chen Ling muttered to himself as he aimed at the eagle that had attacked the pigeons in the southwest direction.

At the same time, he kept an eye on several eagles circling in the sky above the fields to the south.

If anyone dares to fly this way, we'll immediately turn around and fire at them.

At that moment, the black eagle was chasing one of the lone pigeons; in the sky, one was black and the other gray, and it seemed that only these two figures remained...

Seeing an opening, Chen Ling raised his gun and fired.

"boom--"

The instant the shot was fired.

At the same time, the whistles of pigeons in the sky sounded urgently again, seemingly with a hint of mournfulness.

The eagle that had been relentlessly pursuing the pigeon suddenly turned around, made a sharp turn, and flew towards the mountain lake.

They actually gave up the prey that was about to be theirs.

The birds in the woods also began to chirp and chatter restlessly.

Then another dark shadow appeared in the sky, flying in from who-knows-where. It was much larger and faster than the eagle.

Its appearance terrified the black eagle, causing it to flee in panic.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling immediately felt relieved: "Not bad, Er Tu Zi didn't let us down."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the dark shadow that had been fleeing toward the mountain lake suddenly lurched downwards, then abruptly tilted its head back, flapped its wings with all its might, and soared upwards, drawing a beautiful arc in the sky...

The second bald man was several times faster than when he was following behind Chen Ling's horse; he was practically invisible.

All that could be seen was a black arc that undulated like waves, flashing by like skipping stones.

In the blink of an eye, Er Tuzi's figure flew past Black Eagle in a strange and unpredictable arc, and when you looked again, he was already ten meters away from Black Eagle.

The black eagle, like an enemy plane that had been bombed down, crashed headlong into the sky and fell helplessly.

"Holy crap, really? Even an eagle gets one-shotted?"

Chen Ling was immediately shocked. He had thought they were all birds of prey and that they would have to maneuver and fight each other in the sky.

After all, eagles aren't just ordinary birds with tufts of feathers.

He quickly whistled at Er Tuzi, who then turned back, swooped down, grabbed the black eagle's carcass that was about to fall from the sky, and glided back with ease.

"Clap."

Black Hawk's corpse fell at Chen Ling's feet. He picked it up and saw that its head was already smashed.

It turned out that when Er Tuzi swiftly passed by Black Hawk, his sharp claws delivered a fatal blow to Black Hawk's head.

(End of this chapter)