Chapter 43: The Tree Hole
He climbed down from the tree, slung a wooden bucket over his back and started tracking small animals.
Tracking is a profound and subtle subject. The simplest one is that a footprint appears on the ground, and you have to judge who it is most likely to be.
This requires systematic learning, of course, the most important thing is still experience, nothing can be more important than experience.
Wang Yang hadn't studied it before, but having been with adults for so long, he had some judgment after all.
But the current situation is not optimistic, and the white snow covers all the traces.
The disadvantage of the ape-man in this respect is very obvious, with underdeveloped senses of smell and hearing, and no other functions such as the snake's heat-sensing or the bat's ultrasonic device.
The only way is to spend more time searching, this inefficient method is helpless.
Wang Yang was not in a hurry and patiently searched around.
He followed his past experience and mainly observed if there were any fallen fruits on the ground.
If not, it means they were eaten by small animals or hidden away.
The fewer fruits there are in a place, the more likely it is to have small animals living there. Food is always eaten first from what's closest to home. The principle that rabbits don't eat grass near their burrows doesn't apply to most animals.
Of course, many animals also migrate with food.
Wang Yang made two preparations, planning to bury one wooden bucket in an area without food and another wooden bucket in an area with food.
He came to the right side of the fruit tree "one", this area is the territory of the dog bear, basically has not been seriously explored, and does not know whether the food is rich or not.
He is not afraid of the big dog bear appearing, everywhere is white ground, it is easy to be discovered, and there is enough time to escape.
At this time, the sky finally stopped snowing, and it felt much more comfortable.
Wang Yang walked and walked, and found a pine tree in front of him, with two pine cones on the ground that had not been buried.
"This should be considered a place with food."
He ran under the tree and set up traps on the snowy ground, then put one pine cone and a fruit into the wooden bucket.
Another pinecone is placed outside the wooden barrel so that small animals can see it.
After he had finished, he looked around at the surrounding trees and suddenly felt a bit hesitant.
Many small animals like to hide in tree holes, or dig burrows under trees to live, or hide in some hidden places.
If you dig around nearby now, you might be able to find some small animals.
But it's also possible that they didn't find them and instead startled them, affecting the trap.
After careful consideration, he decided not to go looking for them. If they were nearby, they would eventually get caught without him having to look.
If they're not there, looking for them is futile.
He turned around and quickly left.
He came to the left side of the fruit tree "one", this area is rich in food, no need to say more, there are many snakes, many are eaten by snakes, and many eat snakes.
Apart from fruit, everything else is abundant here.
Wang Yang set up one and then left, walking forward.
He came near the orchard and looked around for signs of small animals everywhere.
Or he was looking for signs of those raccoons.
He found a spot next to the big tree and started digging down, after 30-40 centimeters, he didn't find any movement, so he looked for another place to dig.
He dug more than a dozen places but didn't get anything, however he found another edible plant.
This kind of plant is the one that was seen last time with a smooth exterior and sap inside the trunk, its roots will produce a fruit the size of an apple.
The fruit is white in color, with a very rough skin. When peeled, it reveals a white pulp similar to that of a white radish.
It's crunchy like biting into a watermelon, but it doesn't have much flavor. After swallowing, the mouth is left with a slightly astringent feeling, which isn't pleasant.
Wang Yang dug more than a dozen in a row and left after filling his bag.
He didn't like eating fruit in modern times. I don't know if this kind of fruit is still sold nowadays, probably nobody eats it even if it's available, the taste is really bad.
Or is this fruit poisonous?
It shouldn't be, I'm not that bad myself.
Wang Yang observed with a skeptical attitude for more than half an hour, didn't find any adverse reactions, and gradually put his mind at ease.
He wandered around nearby, digging here and there, hoping to dig up more surprises. Unfortunately, his luck wasn't too good, and he didn't find anything.
This area has found some places again, and there is still no discovery. He doesn't plan to find it anymore, and he returns to the original road to see if the two traps have gained anything.
The trap on the left side didn't yield much, and the small animals didn't come out that often either. It's possible they've already gotten tired of this trap and won't fall for it easily again.
He came to the area on the right with a wooden bucket on his back and saw from afar that the bucket had been overturned and was lying on its side.
"I'm going, and I'll definitely be trampled by that big black bear!"
Wang Yang's face was covered with black lines, and he was heartbroken. He didn't expect that after finally catching a small animal in the trap, it would be snatched away by other animals before he could even react.
He walked over and let out a soft "hmm".
"How did this hole get here on the snowy ground..."
Next to the wooden bucket was a hole that wasn't too big or too small, about the size of a palm. There were no large animal footprints nearby either.
However, it can be clearly seen that there is a row of small paw prints.
Its hind paws are very small, with five toes in the back row and only four toes in the front row. The impressions of the back row are obviously deeper than those of the front row, suggesting that the animal used its hind paws as feet and its forepaws like hands.
On the ground, there were no pine cones left, it can almost be confirmed that it was a squirrel.
Wang Yang put the wooden bucket back on the pit and immediately understood what was going on.
The squirrel was trapped in the wooden bucket, but it managed to flip out the soft snow at the edge of the bucket, quickly dug a small hole, stretched its head and with one push, the bucket was overturned.
Wang Yang scratched his head awkwardly, his face slightly red, because he had set a trap in the snow, which gave the little squirrel an opportunity.
Failure is progress, eating a lesson and gaining wisdom, in the future, set traps before sweeping the snow away.
Wang Yang was still happy, and the little squirrel left footprints that could be tracked.
The footprint is walking upwards, at the position of the fruit tree "one", on the upper right.
There is also a cliff of a mountain over there, which is slightly different from the left side.
The mountain on the left is a gentle slope when facing this forest, and it's a cliff when facing the primeval forest.
And on the right side, facing this forest is a cliff, and facing the left side should be downhill.
Wang Yang had never seen the cliffs on this side, and the footprints of squirrels were not getting closer to the cliffs. Otherwise, it would be great to take advantage of the winter time to have a good look.
He walked and walked, about sixty meters away, the squirrel's footprints suddenly stopped in front of a tree.
That tree is different from other trees, although it has shed all its leaves, the trunk and branches are still very clean.
But this tree is obviously a dead tree, withered and dry, grayish bark, and cracks.
There is a hole as big as a basketball three meters up on the trunk of the tree, and inside it's pitch black.
Wang Yang was somewhat surprised, it turned out that this was the tree hole where the animals lived, not looking for a living tree, but specifically choosing a dead tree, which made him search everywhere and couldn't find it.
Chapter 2 will be late, everyone can look again tomorrow morning.
