Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 368 - 366: How about giving it a cub?

Jiamu Gully and two neighboring protection zones are home to a significant number of falcons, particularly the Falco peregrinus and the falcon.

From April to June is the egg-hatching season for these raptors, and during this period, both male and female falcons become more ferocious than usual and seize every opportunity to stockpile food.

Although crows are not their favorite dish, the falcons are not picky about the taste when food is scarce.

There are also golden eagles, one of the crows' natural enemies.

In the video that Professor Song showed him, in addition to raptors pecking at crows, there were many felines coordinating attacks, clearly indicative of organized behavior.

That flock of crows was ultimately driven away by the members of the feline family and the eagles.

Some flew to lower altitudes, closer to human habitation, while others settled in the sparse forest area on the other side of the river.

"I didn't come here to take you to task," Professor Song said with a gentle smile.

"These crows reproduce too quickly, and we were also troubled about how to control their population from expanding rapidly. With your cats causing such a stir, the crows' reproduction this year is definitely going to be affected. As a result, the number of crows in the second half of the year will decrease significantly, indirectly helping us achieve our goal."

Another thing was that the Bird Research Institute had discovered that the bird population in Jiamu Gully was notably more concentrated than in other areas. She had come here intending to have a good discussion with Chen Ying to see if there was a viable method to disperse these animals.

"There should be no problem. Actually, even if you didn't come, these guys would leave on their own after some time."

Chen Ying opened the videos he had taken with the drone during the mornings and evenings over the past few days.

"This was shot in March this year; you can clearly see that the birds were more clustered."

Chen Ying pointed at the time marked on the video and jotted down the date in her notebook.

"This was a week later, taken by Old Gao and his juniors, and you can clearly see a decrease in the number of birds in this area."

Over the following four weeks, up to mid-April, the distribution of the birds was no longer as concentrated as before. However, concurrently, the flocks of crows became more prominent.

"One possibility is that the large congregation of crows has affected the distribution of the surrounding bird populations. And the abundant number of crows required a corresponding increase in food resources. I suspect that they clashed with the monkeys in Huaqiu Valley over food."

Both crows and monkeys are not the type to easily admit defeat and both possess a strong sense of retribution, which is why there had been minor conflicts before.

If it weren't for Leopard Sister getting injured, the heavy-duty task of driving away the crows would likely fall upon the monkeys.

However, those monkeys typically only crowded around Huaqiu Valley. To achieve Professor Song and her team's goals, they really needed to think of another solution.

Now things had worked out, with the cats taking action and a joint land and air campaign, the Corvidae suffered a complete defeat, and the majority of their population withdrew from the forest.

The cats had their revenge, and human demands were satisfied.

Realizing this, Chen Ying grew even more curious about Professor Song's intentions.

Professor Song smiled and lightly tapped Chen Ying's forehead with her bent finger.

"This time I came here is to collaborate with a research institute in the Middle East on the study of falcons."

She slightly lifted her eyebrows, "You should be familiar with the big boss behind that research institute; your equipment here was even sponsored by them. What do you think, want to ditch your teacher and work with me for a while?"

Chen Ying suddenly understood, "Better not, I haven't finished any of my current projects. Teacher has spoken; I have to complete one by the end of this year no matter what. Time is tight and the tasks are heavy, so I won't be holding you back."

Professor Song Halu laughed heartily and stood up to leave.

"Alright then, I'll take Little Gao with me first. If you need more manpower here, I'll send a couple of graduate students over."

"No need, no need, we don't really need him here. But the bird nests he's been managing behind the dormitories seem to all have tenants now. I don't have much experience in this area, I might need him to arrange for someone to stay and observe."

Professor Song nodded unconcernedly, such a trivial matter was not for her to worry about.

After a brief stay, Professor Song and her entourage, taking Old Gao and his boisterous junior, went to the bird watching station.

The little junior sister stayed to take care of the soon-to-be mothers nesting behind the dormitories.

Once Professor Song and her people left, the little junior sister visibly breathed a sigh of relief, her cheeks flushed with color.

"Are you that scared of Professor Song?" Ruan Mengmeng teased her in a low voice.

The little junior sister stuck out her tongue and fanned herself with her hand, "Professor Song is like this in our field."

She gave a thumbs-up, "Not just me, but even my mentor would probably not dare to breathe loudly in front of her."

"But working with Professor Song's team would look good on your CV, wouldn't it?"

"I'm clearly aware of my own abilities. If I went there, I'd just be running errands; it's better to stay here and properly observe the birds behind. If nothing else, my thesis is certainly secure."

Ruan Mengmeng wasn't pursuing a master's degree and wasn't clear about the ins and outs of this.

She was actually glad the little junior sister could stay; after all, living alone at night, even with the doors and windows shut tight, felt a little frightening.

The two of them lived upstairs and downstairs from each other, not disturbing each other yet relying on each other all the same.

As Chen Ying saw off Professor Song, she turned to see the two of them huddled together whispering.

"Old Xia, Ruan Mengmeng has been here for quite some time and hasn't taken any days off yet. Look for a chance to ask her if she wants to go back for the May Day holiday. She can leave a bit early and come back later; consider it a makeup break."

"I've asked her already. She refuses to go back, says as soon as she gets home her mom drags her to matchmaking sessions, sometimes three in one day."

Two grown men shivered at the thought.

Thankfully, their mothers weren't the kind to pester them about marriage; otherwise, they'd have had three weddings in a day to deal with.

By evening, after nearly a month of wandering, Jinya finally deigned to return.

Chen Ying glanced at her, silent.

In the video Teacher Song had shown him before, it was clear that Jinya had been injured. Her prolonged absence suggested she'd found a hiding spot to secretly recover.

Fortunately, the video indicated that Jinya had only minor injuries, or else Chen Ying simply wouldn't have been able to sit still.

Besides Jinya, the Tiger mother had also come along.

She had been persuaded by Jinya to come and see the Little Tiger Cub.

Perhaps the scent of her own kind was too enticing, or maybe it was because the Tiger mother still hadn't weaned her own cubs and carried the thick scent of motherhood.

The two Little Tiger Cubs, who had been happily playing, scurried and stumbled behind Elder Tiger upon catching the unfamiliar scent of another tiger, yet they couldn't help but peek out curiously, one on either side, eyeing the slowly approaching Tiger mother.

Dong Sheng was exercising his hind leg strength on the first-floor platform.

He still only had one functioning leg, but the other had begun to show signs of reflexive response.

Chen Ying told him to lie on the balcony railing when he had nothing else to do, propping himself up with his hind legs to practice standing.

Thus, as the Tiger mother slowly entered the emergency station and tentatively approached the two Little Tiger Cubs, Dong Sheng let out a warning call before Elder Tiger.

The Tiger mother halted, lifting her head to glance at Dong Sheng with a hint of confusion.

She had never seen a tiger like Dong Sheng—three parts familiar, seven parts strange—prompting her to scrutinize him carefully for a while.

At that moment, Big Tiger, who had been out practicing hunting, also returned.

He sensed the unfamiliar scent of another tiger from afar and heard Dong Sheng's alarm call; dropping his hard-earned quarry, he leaped forward and dashed into the emergency station.

The Tiger mother quickly spun around, issuing a warning roar toward Big Tiger.

Chen Ying arrived just in time to halt Big Tiger's imminent attack on the Tiger mother.

Although one was male and the other female, the Tiger mother seemed quite disdainful of Big Tiger.

She leaped onto the storage shed roof and looked down with an air of superiority at Big Tiger, whose body was a full third longer than hers.

Big Tiger was not yet wise to the situation; realizing that an enemy had not invaded, he bounded back to retrieve the abandoned prey.

Chen Ying fitted Dong Sheng with a small wheelchair and let him down, allowing him to join the two Little Tiger Cubs in tearing at the prey.

It was this sight that softened the Tiger mother's critical gaze slightly.

Tiger mother: "Not bad for this big, silly tiger. As a male, he still has the patience to teach the Little Tiger Cubs how to hunt. Okay, I'll give him a point." (–999 → –998)

The arrival of the Tiger mother surprised Chen Ying, but it also pleased him.

To be honest, he was now doubting whether his own plan was the correct one.

Could the two Little Tiger Cubs grow up in this manner and really adapt to life in the wilderness?

The arrival of the Tiger mother created the possibility of revising his plans.

The two Little Tiger Cubs were naturally in excellent physical condition and had already been weaned. Even if they followed the Tiger mother, they wouldn't starve.

The only question was, with several cubs of her own, did the Tiger mother have the energy to take care of two more?

And that very evening, the Tiger mother answered his question.

"I've come to ask if I could take one of the cubs. If you're willing, I could take both of them away."

The Tiger mother flicked her tail, hesitating before providing Chen Ying an explanation.

"It's about the Tiger mother on the other side of the territory, adjacent to mine, who lost her cubs."

Chen Ying's brows furrowed. "How did she lose them?"

The death of the Tiger Cub was an accident, but it was also linked to that young Tiger mother's first experience with motherhood.

The cold made searching for food much more difficult, necessitating longer hunting times.

The den she chose failed to protect her curious cubs from their explorations outside. By the time the Tiger mother returned with food, the Tiger Cub had already been frozen stiff outside the den and died of sickness within a few days.

Ever since the loss, the Tiger mother had been very emotionally unstable.

Normally, after the loss of a cub, the Tiger mother would enter her mating season early, but this mother seemed unable to move past her grief, assaulting suitors and getting injured herself.

The Tiger mother encountered her while patrolling her territory; the look of longing in the other's eyes as she gazed at her cubs made the Tiger mother fear she might charge out to snatch one any second.

For the next few days, the bereaved Tiger mother shadowed the Tiger mother and her cubs, even hunting and bringing prey to her territory.

Nearly driven to a breakdown by this Golden Tiger, the Tiger mother finally lost her patience, fought with her, and learned that she wanted to trade her hunt for a chance to raise a cub.

"I was worried she might actually take one of my cubs if I didn't give her one," the Tiger mother said cautiously, glancing at Chen Ying. "Jinya mentioned you had some cubs here without a mother. How about gifting her one?"