Chapter 179： otter

Chapter 179 Otter

After eating Lantern Festival and seeing ice lanterns, even if this Lantern Festival is over, the New Year is over.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Xu Shiyan borrowed a horse sled from the commune.

Packed a sledge for food and various cages, took the dog and the sable, and went up the mountain.

As soon as I arrived on the mountain, I found that there were many fox footprints around the house, which must have been left by rascals who came back from time to time.

Opened the barn, and found several dead hares and pheasants.

Needless to say, this must be the ration that the rascal got back and stored.

This guy probably used the barn as a den, and even slept with a broken sack on the floor.

Knowing that Laipi Gui is safe, Xu Shiyan is also relieved, so he quickly lit the fire.

The kang has not been lit for a long time, and the chimney and the kang hole are full of cool breeze.

Okay, light a fire, all the smoke poured out from the stove, and Xu Shiyan coughed so hard that tears came out.

No choice but to keep the door open and continue to burn the fire. Xu Shiyan sat at the door, holding a cardboard box, and kept fanning.

It burned for about an hour, and the cold air was smoked out, and the smoke was slowly flowing. The chimney outside started to smoke, and the smoke in the house stopped.

The kang is ready, and there is still a stove. Fortunately, the stove is easier than the kang, and it will be fine if it smokes for a while.

After all the smoke in the room cleared, Xu Shiyan quickly closed the door, and the heat in the room slowly rose, and he felt warmer.

The house was warmed up, Xu Shiyan started to pack up and clean up, and then cook.

Going back this time, I brought a lot of sticky spoons, pancakes, pickles, miso, etc. from home. Su Anying also specially stewed a pot of sauerkraut for Xu Shiyan to bring.

It is much more convenient to cook in this way, just stick the hot spoon to the fire, then put the sauerkraut in the pot and stew it again.

At night, I suddenly heard the movement of a dog, not barking, but another kind of choking sound.

Xu Shiyan went out to check, and it turned out that the rascal was back, so let him enter the house quickly.

Lai Pigui seemed very happy to see Xu Shiyan, walked around Xu Shiyan several times, and made a buzzing sound again.

Xu Shiyan couldn't laugh or cry, so he could only pat it on the head, and spread a sack on the ground again, so that the rascal could sleep in the house.

Back to the mountain on the second day, Xu Shiyan led Lai Pigui up the mountain, and set traps in the pine forest. Xu Shiyan was still thinking about catching another sable for his family companion.

In addition to trapping under the pine forest, Xu Shiyan and Lai Pigui went to the edge of the Xiaohei River to look for otters.

With the skinny ghosts around, it is not difficult to find otters, but how to catch them alive is difficult.

In the past, when Xu Shiyan found the otter, he just shot him and killed it.

But if you want to catch a job now, you have to use your brains to find a way.

In the upper reaches of the Xiaohei River, there is a warm spring where otters can be found.

Xu Shiyan built a ground fence near Nuanquanzi during the day. The ground fence was covered with pine bark and birch bark to keep out the wind and snow.

A thick layer of dried burdock grass and ulagrass are used to spread the floor inside, and a roe deer skin mattress is spread on top of it.

Why do you use roe deer skin when you go into the mountains? The main reason is that the roe deer skin has no smell, even if it is damp, it will not emit a special smell.

Going into the mountains in summer to catch the rain will not attract snakes. If you use other skins, it will smell when it rains and get wet, and it will easily attract snakes.

Of course, there are no snakes in winter, but otters have a very keen sense of smell. The skins of other animals have a smell, so the otters might not go ashore if they smell it.

Otters are very interesting. They play in the water during the day, pull in the water, and play games in the water. They are very courageous.

No matter what wild beasts on the shore stare at it, or even scare it, it doesn't care. If it plunges into the water, no one can do anything to it.

But at night, the otter becomes a coward.

There is only one way to go ashore and go into the water, stepping on your own footprints exactly, stop every step, listen for any movement, and then check if there are any traces of other animals around your footprints.

Once the situation is found to be wrong, immediately turn around and jump into the water and never come out again.

Xu Shiyan took advantage of the daytime to open an ice hole in the distance and caught a lot of fish.

Waiting for it to get dark, Xu Shiyan got into the box that had been set up in advance.

There was a special hole left in the box facing Nuanquanzi, and Xu Shiyan just stared at it with good eyes.

Suddenly, there was a crash, and two otters emerged from the water, rolled their small eyes, looked around, and then climbed out of the water to the shore.

The otter is a strange animal. Even though it just came out of the water, its fur seems to have a special layer of material, which does not stick to water after it comes out of the water.

Two otters went ashore carefully, walking and stopping, listening around for any unusual movements.

It wasn't until they confirmed that the surrounding area was safe that they took short legs, walked and sniffed, and went to rest in the bushes on the bank.

Xu Shiyan waited until there was no sound in the bushes, then crept out of the box, and set a few traps with fish on the road where the two otters had just passed.

This kind of clip is similar to a mouse trap, without serrations, so it won't hurt the otter.

But this kind of clip is very heavy, and the otter can't drag it, it can only spin around in place, so it is also called a mushroom clip.

Placing the clips, Xu Shiyan walked backwards, covering his footprints with a layer of snow.

In case the clever otter finds something unusual, or smells something and runs away.

Xu Shiyan retreated back to the box, just squatting inside and staring.

Fortunately, he was wearing thick clothes, and the zipper was still a wind block, so he wouldn't be damaged by the cold.

When the eastern sky was slightly white, the two landed otters felt hungry, so they came out of the grass.

After looking around for a while, he felt that there was no danger, so he walked to Nuanquanzi with peace of mind following the footprints left last night.

As a result, not long after walking, I smelled the smell of fish. Following the smell of fish, I saw delicious fish on the clip.

Otter, who was already hungry, immediately became happy when he saw the fish.

But these two guys were very vigilant, and they didn't rush over immediately. Instead, they squeaked and returned to the grass again.

Then poked his head out and looked around until he confirmed that there was no danger around him, then he came out boldly and went straight to the fish.

Xu Shiyan put several traps, and the two otters went to each other.

As a result, they just bit the fish, and before they could run away with their mouths, they touched the clips and caught them all at once.

Xu Shiyan has been staring at the two otters, seeing this situation, come out of the closet immediately.

Walked closer, caught the two otters, and put them into the cages prepared in advance.

These two otters happen to be a male and a female, and they are about three years old, which is a good time.

"Let's go, go back with me, I will take care of eating and drinking in the future."

Xu Shiyan looked at the two round, cylindrical bodies, short legs, brown and black shiny fur little guys in the cage, and was overjoyed.

With these two live otters, if they are kept well, after a few years, they will be much better.

(end of this chapter)