My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 626 The Children Encounter Strange Things
The bloody thing looked like a rat at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a small squirrel.

Perhaps calling it a squirrel cub would be more appropriate.

The fluffy tail on the back of an adult squirrel has not yet grown.

Both children mistook it for a mouse.

"Uncle, uncle, this crow actually eats mice."

The chubby boy's first reaction upon seeing this was to pick up a dry twig from the ground and poke at the bloodied and mangled squirrel.

Moreover, the little squirrel had been gutted by the crow.

I don't know why this child would touch it again.

When Xiao Lizi saw this, she immediately screamed in despair, covering her eyes and hiding next to Chen Ling: "Uncle, look at him, look, he's stabbing that intestine."

"Alright, Xiaoming, don't touch that. It's very dirty. Look how scared Xiaolizi is."

Chen Ling patted the little girl's head.

Little Chestnut has improved a lot now, but it's normal that she can't stand seeing such a scene of intestines churning.

Moreover, the chubby boy is lively and active. These past few days, the three children have been playing together, and whatever he does, Rui Rui often imitates him and plays along.

Now, seeing the chubby boy using a stick to poke at the squirrel, Rui Rui opened his eyes wide, looking somewhat eager to join in.

This bloody thing, its belly turned inside out, Chen Ling wasn't about to let them play with it.

He snatched the branch from the chubby boy's hand and flicked it away.

Then he patted the little fat boy's head, put Rui Rui down from his arms, and told them that it wasn't a mouse, but a little squirrel.

"A squirrel? It looks more like a mouse to me!"

"Is it really a squirrel? A baby squirrel is so small, why would a crow eat a baby squirrel? Crows are bad guys!"

Chen Ling didn't know what to say in response to the two children's innocent words.

Seeing that the fat crow on the treetop showed no sign of flying away, its fluffy feathers ruffled and its eyes fixed on them below, they wondered what the bird was thinking, that it had actually dropped the unfinished squirrel down.

Are you trying to scare them?

The chubby boy, being a boy, had a different focus than Little Chestnut. Seeing Chen Ling look up, he looked up too, and then his eyes suddenly lit up: "Since the squirrel was eaten by the crow, then the hole in the tree must be the squirrel's burrow..."

Uncle, am I right?

"Do squirrels live in burrows? Those are for woodpeckers. Woodpeckers live in trees; they're forest guardians. They eat insects when they see them," Little Chestnut immediately retorted.

The little girl only knew that woodpeckers peck many holes in trees, so she thought they lived in the holes and believed that woodpeckers were always on standby and very dutiful.

Regardless of whether the tree was a squirrel's burrow or some kind of bird's nest, Rui Rui went straight to Chen Ling's side, stood on tiptoe, and tried to stick her foot into Chen Ling's pocket, calling out "Huang Huang" repeatedly.

This is meant to get the weasel to go up and catch the crow, or to climb the tree and go into the hole.

"Where is Huanghuang? Huanghuang didn't come out with us."

Chen Ling reached into his pocket and said helplessly, "Do you think Dad can hide anything in such a small pocket? I can fit one yellow one in, but I can't fit five."

As soon as the weasels returned to the village, they immediately avoided Rui Rui and the others.

But I'm scared of what they've done to me.

“This is indeed a squirrel hole. I’ll go up and dig it out for you to see if there are any baby squirrels living inside. If there are, I’ll catch one for you to play with.”

As Chen Ling spoke, he clapped his hands, jumped up, grabbed a thick horizontal branch, and climbed up in a few quick movements.

"Uncle, is it really a squirrel burrow? Why would squirrels live in burrows? Don't they dig burrows in the ground like mice?"

Little Chestnut couldn't understand it.

The chubby boy was very pleased with himself for guessing correctly. He immediately assigned a task to Little Chestnut, asking her to keep an eye on Rui Rui, while he volunteered to pull weeds.

Then I put it in a small basket, saying it was for the little squirrel to sit on.

After a flurry of activity, Chen Ling above them said, "We didn't manage to catch the squirrel. It was probably chased away by the crows."

The chubby boy let out an incredulous "Ah!" and immediately stopped laughing.

"But there are still many good things inside, let me take them out and show you."

As Chen Ling spoke, he grabbed the edge of the tree hole and pulled it downwards. The contents inside immediately fell down like a small granary.

It's full of various nuts such as pecans, pine nuts, and peanuts.

"Quick, quick, pick this up! This is food that squirrels have stored up for the winter. It's said to be especially good for children."

Chen Ling was making things up.

To coax a child, you just need to use a combination of trickery and coaxing, and make them happy.

Sure enough, the two adults and one child under the tree excitedly scrambled to pick up the nuts from the ground.

"Hey, you stinky Rui Rui, stop scratching around on the ground! You're getting dirt on your hands, then we won't be able to eat it later."

"Come on, Rui Rui, put it in my little basket."

"Uncle, squirrels are so small, how can they store so many things in a tree hole?"

Chen Ling had already peeled off the bark, and there was still a lot inside. Hearing this, he said, "There's even more than this. If we find any more, I'll peel it open for you to see."

As he was speaking, the fat crow in the crow's nest at the top of the tree suddenly cawed loudly, flew out of the nest, and hopped back and forth among the branches and leaves at the top of the tree.

It was also flapping its wings slightly, looking like an angry little black chicken about to pounce on Chen Ling.

"Go away, I was raiding the squirrel's nest, not yours, why are you so upset?"

Chen Ling grabbed a walnut and threw it at the fat crow that was jumping up and down in anger. But the crow was quite stubborn. After dodging it, it simply flew to another tree next to it and did not leave.

It kept squawking there, as if it were condemning Chen Ling.

Chen Ling knew, of course, that the crows, or rather all the crows in this crow's nest, had taken the stored food in the squirrel hole as their own.

It's likely that this nest of squirrels was unlucky enough to become food for the crows.

But Chen Ling didn't care.

There are far too many cases like this in the mountains.

Besides, he didn't take everything out of the house.

"You stinky crow, you bad guy who bullies the little squirrel, I'll beat you up."

The little chestnut on the ground found the black bird disgusting and immediately labeled it the villain, picking up a stone from the ground and throwing it at the crow.

Although the little girl was spoiled and had a bit of a princess complex, she always cherished the things Chen Ling gave her.

She couldn't bear to touch any of the nuts. Chen Ling even used pecans to hit the crow, but she specifically picked up a few small stones.

Seeing this, Rui Rui also started smashing things.

That brat just doesn't understand. His hands are too small to hold much, so he grabs a few pine nuts and peanuts and throws them around, then shouts excitedly.

Little Chestnut was extremely anxious because he didn't manage to catch the crow.

"Rui Rui, don't throw things around. Those are the food Uncle gave us. He said that if children eat this, they will become smart and lively like little squirrels."

The chubby boy didn't cause as much trouble; he just kept chasing after the crow and hitting it.

Seeing Chen Ling jump down from the tree, he shouted, "Uncle, how dare this crow be so bold? Quickly, let Er Tu Zi come over and teach it a lesson."

Crows and magpies are a little different.

Crows that live close to villages and towns, and are not far from human habitation in the deep mountains, are not very afraid of people.

They often see people, and as long as you don't deliberately disturb or drive them away, they won't rush to leave when they see people.

And near the nest...

They have a strong sense of territory.

The fat crow's behavior was neither unusual nor surprising.

Sometimes their hooliganism is even comparable to that of a certain seabird.

"Let's go, let's go. We still need to see Little Crane and catch bamboo rats. Let's not bother with this crow."

Chen Ling helped Xiao Lizi pick up all the nuts on the ground and shouted to the chubby boy.

"Hmph, you stinky crow, I, Xiaoming, will let you off the hook today."

The chubby boy, panting, stood with his hands on his hips and shouted at the fat crow in the tree, "My uncle is a forest ranger. He's the boss in the mountains. If you dare to do that again, he'll have Baldy pull your head off."

"Hurry up, hurry up, if we go back late at noon, your aunt will scold us again." Chen Ling picked up Rui Rui and urged the two little ones on. The mountain lake was right in front of them.

Although the water level has been dropping since autumn, the drop in the water level of the mountain lake is not too significant as it is a deep lake. In fact, compared to reservoirs, it is far away from large areas of human habitation for migratory birds.

It's a great place to settle down.

So on this sunny, cloudless autumn morning, a large number of migratory birds still gathered on the distant water.

As soon as you leave the woods, you can hear all sorts of cawing sounds.

Wow, so many birds, so many birds!

The two little ones' eyes widened instantly. "Uncle, look! The lake water is still sparkling! It's so beautiful here!"

After saying that, he put his hands to his mouth and shouted loudly.

Rui Rui also joined in with a bunch of random shouts.

Then Chen Ling put him down, and the three of them ran around the lake happily.

"Uncle, we saw red-crowned cranes! They're so tall and so big!"

"Wow, they're actually walking towards us."

There are currently four red-crowned cranes lingering near the nest.

Two of them saw them and strode out of the reeds with their long legs.

Not shy at all.

Several strange birds followed closely behind them.

"Come here, come here! You come to my house to steal fish every few days. Don't think I don't know. Come here and let the kids touch it."

Chen Lingchong waved to the two large birds, then introduced them to the two children: "These are the two red-crowned cranes you saw in the photo. They are the largest of the six red-crowned cranes, and they are almost 1.7 meters tall now."

As they spoke, two large birds arrived in front of them.

The two children were somewhat shocked as they looked at the beautiful and tall bird.

Red-crowned cranes are usually only 1.5 to 1.6 meters tall, and those exceeding 1.6 meters are extremely rare.

These two huge guys standing in front of a child are incredibly intimidating.

Rui Rui saw it often and didn't think much of it.

The chubby boy and the little chestnut were completely stunned, looking up at the two big birds.

Chen Ling found this scene extremely amusing, so he secretly took out his camera from the cave and snapped a picture.

"Come on, touch them. Look at these big wings. When they flap, it's like the wind is blowing."

Chen Ling grabbed the two sly-looking big birds by the neck, ignoring their squawking and resistance, and forced them to lie face down with their butts sticking up, letting the three children play with them to their heart's content.

After touching them, Chen Ling slapped them twice: "You've eaten so many of my fish, and you won't even let me touch you? You're acting like you don't want to."

It made the three children laugh heartily.

Then they noticed several strange birds behind the two red-crowned cranes. They were also very large, like great egrets, but their plumage was duller than that of great egrets, not as white as snow. They also had many brownish-gray spots on their bodies and were a little over a meter tall.

They paced back and forth a few meters away, cautiously peering in but hesitant to approach.

"Uncle, what kind of crane is this? It looks so strange."

"Yes, it's so ugly."

"Haha, this is the little crane you wanted to see."

Chen Ling burst into laughter.

Seeing the two children freeze in disbelief, he laughed even harder.

"Uncle, you're lying, are you just teasing us? How can a crane be that big?"

"That's right, these are all big cranes, and they're not red-crowned cranes. They're ugly, while red-crowned cranes are beautiful."

Chen Ling had no choice but to patiently explain, "This really is a red-crowned crane chick..."

Then I explained to them that red-crowned cranes are precocial birds and grow very quickly after hatching, reaching this size in just two months. Otherwise, if they grow too slowly, they would be eaten in the wild.

They were also told that the baby muntjac was the same.

Don't let its current kitten-like appearance fool you; it will grow to almost the size of its mother in just over two months.

Although its mother wasn't very big, it definitely meant that they had grown to adulthood and had the ability to protect themselves.

"So this is ah."

"So, if we want to see the real baby crane, do we have to wait until next year?"

"Yes, next spring is fine. Come over during the May Day holiday, and you'll definitely see it then."

"Okay, we can't see the real baby crane now, but we can play with the muntjac. According to Uncle, the muntjac will be able to run around in a few days, right?"

Chen Ling nodded repeatedly. The baby deer wouldn't run too far before it was weaned, but that didn't matter. Its mother was only the size of a lamb. The livestock pen was so big that the babies could play and be fed freely inside.

After playing with the red-crowned cranes for a while, although they didn't see the cranes at their cutest, with Chen Ling's help, the two little ones not only touched the cranes but also tried riding on them, which was quite satisfying.

Then, led by Chen Ling, they went to the bamboo forest to dig for bamboo rats.

Digging for bamboo rats is much easier than digging for mice in the wild, mainly because there have been so many bamboo rats in the last two years that they are extremely easy to dig up.

As long as you find the place where the bamboo is growing abnormally, you will find multiple holes, and you can almost always find the right spot every time you dig.

Once the chubby little creature was dug out, it was just as adorable as a squirrel.

The more we catch the two adults and the child, the happier we become.

This year, the mountains have indeed seen an abundance of wild animals and birds.

How much has it become?

Pheasants running around and rabbits darting about are nothing to worry about.

When Chen Ling led the children to dig for bamboo rats and then through the bamboo forest to find Wang Zhenzhen and the others on the West Mountain, they even saw deer and badgers swaggering along the animal trail.

Of course, they will run very fast when they see people.

But this is daytime. Usually, these wild animals would run far away long ago if they heard footsteps or human voices. They wouldn't easily show themselves.

No wonder those who go into the mountains to pick wild fruits all carry guns.

Besides self-defense, they also hunted some prey on the side.

It would be such a waste not to catch them.

Wang Zhenzhen and her gang of mischievous rascals followed some villagers into the mountains.

Moreover, the villagers on West Mountain don't stay on the mountain for most of the day while picking wild fruits; instead, they come and go, constantly transporting them down the mountain.

So they weren't afraid of wild animals, and the adults didn't say anything to them.

They just let the wild monkeys cause trouble.

When you play and walk at the same time, you walk very slowly.

Chen Ling soon heard their voices in the woods. By this time, the little fat boy and the little chestnut were almost too tired to walk anymore, so Chen Ling put Rui Rui into the basket on his back, carried them on his shoulders, one on each side, and went to find them.

"Brother-in-law, you're just in time. We've encountered something strange while hunting monkeys in the jungle."

When they went to look for her, Wang Zhenzhen had a slingshot around her neck, looking like a female bandit leader, and was wandering around a rocky ditch with a 'huge' group of children.

"What, did you run into a yellow-throated marten while hunting monkeys? Normally, those things stay deep inside during the day and don't come out much."

As Chen Ling spoke, she put the children down and walked over.

"No, brother-in-law, all you've been thinking about lately is the yellow-throated marten. There are plenty of strange things in the mountains."

“Uncle Fugui, look at these pheasants. We’ve picked up several of them, but they’ve all been sucked blood. After they’re done, we just leave them in the grass and don’t care. They just suck blood and don’t eat the meat.”

"What? Just sucks blood and doesn't eat meat?"

Chen Ling's first thought was that it was the weasel, but... these kids aren't stupid. Who hasn't seen a weasel? Who hasn't had a chicken get choked by a weasel?

Everyone knows them, everyone has seen them, and everyone is very familiar with them.

The children even knew that the weasel bites the chicken's neck and head, while the wild cat and raccoon bite the chicken's rear end.

(End of this chapter)