Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 370 - 368: Holding a Tiger in the Left Hand, Raising the Azure Sky in the Right, and a Marten on Top

Chen Ying counted on his fingers and figured, the tiger mother's cubs were roughly about a year and a half old now.

Normally, they would separate from their mother between eighteen months to two years old and begin living independently.

According to the tiger mother's plan, she would drive her cubs away before the fall and then breed again the next spring.

The male tiger, seizing the opportunity while the tiger mother was away, drove the cubs off, probably because their presence was already affecting the food supply in his territory.

After all, "the young ones exhausting their father's resources" wasn't an adage exclusive to humans.

Chen Ying saw the tiger mother pause for a moment, then rush across the bridge, and, in a blink, she disappeared from view.

Big Tiger looked once at the direction where the tiger mother had vanished and then glanced at Chen Ying, tightening his embrace on the cub, as if worried Chen Ying might take the cub away from him.

After all these stirrings for more than an hour, the sky slightly brightened; the sun was about to emerge from the mountain peak.

It seemed that Big Tiger had no intention of taking the two little tiger cubs back to his territory, perhaps because of the presence of the male tiger, that made this mother tiger somewhat wary, preferring to stay in this unfamiliar area.

Staying here wasn't bad either; they could closely observe how Big Tiger took care of the cubs.

By the time it was fully light, Big Tiger prepared to find a place to live.

He picked up the disobedient big tiger cub, glanced at the well-behaved little tiger cub, and slowly walked towards the ridge.

A thought struck Chen Ying; the direction that Big Tiger was heading towards was likely the cave where Black Bear once found victims.

That place wasn't bad – warm in winter and cool in summer, close to a water source, surrounded by plentiful food, an excellent place to raise cubs.

Most importantly, the few Asian black bears that had lived there before were gone. There weren't any large wild animals nearby that could threaten the little tiger cubs.

He hadn't let the two doctors follow him.

Chen Ying briefly described the surroundings, "I remember there's an infrared camera installed outside that cave. There used to be an Asian black bear living here two years ago, and there were Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys nearby, so the camera was never removed."

Last year Black Bear Sister left, and the Tibetan Chief Monkey took over the territory of the Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys, and someone wanted to remove that camera.

It was the head of the protection station who decided to keep it, saying that this cave would attract new animals to reside here, and it's close to the water source, attracting many animals for drinking; perhaps it could capture other rare animals.

Now, it turned out to be fortuitous. The footage of the Huanan Tiger mother training her cubs could shock many people in the field.

Chen Ying even thought about installing a live broadcast camera for them, setting up a 24-hour slow broadcast to draw public attention.

Mentioning this casually, the two doctors took it seriously.

Especially Dr. Lin Fang, who had been studying the activity of Huanan Tigers in the wild, having a camera to observe continuously would be blissful for him.

However, the two weren't very familiar with Chen Ying, so they felt embarrassed to make requests, planning to find the head of the observation station later and ask for his help to negotiate with Chen Ying, sharing all costs between their research institutes.

He believed that many institutions would be willing to fund this initiative once the news spread.

They didn't take down the tent. Dr. Lin Fang and his colleague planned to stay here to observe for a couple of days.

Chen Ying didn't mind; it was very close to the emergency station and certainly safe.

By noon, he went back to the emergency station to bring boxed lunches for the two doctors, and saw them installing a solar panel near a crack beside the bridge.

The solar panels they carried were 400W with a 20% efficiency rating and an IP67 waterproof rating, usable even on rainy days.

Installing the solar panel in the crack was to avoid affecting animal activities and, although it was rainproof, it's better to avoid getting wet if possible.

Seeing this setup, Chen Ying felt as though they were preparing for a prolonged observation.

"Dr. Chen," the doctors had contacted the observation station a short while ago, "probably two more colleagues will come, and the four of us will take turns monitoring for about half a month, until we are sure the mother tiger fully accepts the cubs. We might be bothering you during this period."

Chen Ying was momentarily startled and quickly mentioned it was no hassle.

After lunch, the two doctors ran to the opposite hillside, covered themselves.ibatis a.simps.camo cloth, and lay on a rock with a binoculars to observe the mother tiger and the two cubs by the cave.

Chen Ying shook his head helplessly, packed up his stuff, and headed back to the emergency station.

He informed the protection station of Dr. Lin Fang and his colleague's situation. The forest patrol officer would check on them daily, bringing some supplies as well.

Their tents were not suitable for long-term camping, so the protection station provided a camouflaged military tent specially prepared for researchers who tend to forget everything else once they are in the field.

This tent was much larger than their own, windproof, waterproof, and more durable.

That afternoon, several forest patrol team members came over to help set up the temporary camp.

With this camp in place, their own small tents could be moved to the opposite side, letting them continue observing even if it drizzled.

Impressed by their work ethic, Chen Ying offered to install a camera at the entrance of the cave where the tigers temporarily resided, along with a solar panel for power. This setup would connect to a monitor, enabling 24-hour surveillance.

He had to personally attend to the installation, as not many could act freely under the gaze of a tiger, and the two doctors were no exception.

Just as Chen Ying was arranging for equipment delivery, Ji Xin, who hadn't contacted him for a long while, suddenly called. He wanted to come to Chen Ying's place for a small photography project.

After hearing Chen Ying ask him for recommendations on suitable equipment, he immediately agreed. He said he would bring the equipment himself when he came over.

He had already installed two sets over at River Source and had ample experience.

"Did you install it at River Source? Where exactly?"

"Behind the River Source Protection Station in that wasteland, where we previously rescued the Tibetan antelope calves. Another one is at the entrance to the River Source Reserve, with cameras installed to prevent unauthorized access to the unmanned areas."

"That's fine, bring it over when you come, someone will handle the expenses. If we're installing, it will just be the two of us going, without me, I guess the tiger mother won't let anyone near the den."

Ji Xin was thrilled to hear that there were Huanan tigers with cubs to photograph, so he chartered a car overnight to rush to the protection station, arriving before dawn the next day with all his gear and the equipment Chen Ying needed.

Chen Ying was stunned to see him show up in front of him.

"You can't be serious, did you fight with your family again?"

"Not really, it's just that my parents are worried about me being depressed at home alone, they're too suffocating with their constant caring."

Ji Xin's mood had improved a lot, especially after seeing Jinya. He took out his telephoto lens and started snapping away fiercely.

Jinya recognized his scent, hesitated for a moment, then approached him and curiously peered into the other end of the lens.

Moved, Ji Xin pressed his finger lightly, and a charming photo of Jinya looking into the lens was captured.

Better sooner than later.

After confirming that Ji Xin didn't need more rest, Chen Ying took him to set up the equipment at the cave near the river valley.

When they arrived, Big Tiger was resting on the grass outside the cave with two little cubs. The cubs were lively and their bellies round, obviously having just had a good meal.

(The cubs are a bit small, use your imagination.)

As Ji Xin was with him, Chen Ying didn't get too close.

They found a suitable spot nearby to install the stand, set up the solar panels, and then installed the camera beneath them.

In a series of photovoltaic components, one solar panel being blocked limited the current flow. No matter how much the rest of the solar panels generated, they couldn't output fully.

Therefore, when installing solar panels, it's crucial to ensure there are no obstructions around the installation site, even a few branches could significantly affect power generation efficiency and reduce output.

So the spot they chose was quite open to ensure branches and other objects didn't obstruct the solar panels.

Setting up the stand took a long time, almost four hours to get the equipment installed.

Then came the calibration.

By the time they were done, it was dinner time.

The tiger mother herded the two little cubs into the cave to hide, checked the surroundings to ensure there was no danger, and then leapt away into the woods.

The two cubs weren't obedient at all, appearing at the cave entrance momentarily. Not seeing Chen Ying, they ventured a few steps out. The more well-behaved cub bit its companion's tail and dragged it back in.

The researchers watching through the camera simultaneously picked up their notebooks to start recording.

Indeed, wild tigers teach their cubs to protect themselves. In a captive environment, such small cubs have no sense of alertness.

Especially when they see the keeper, they are so clingy, much more than many pet cats.

But such personality traits won't survive in the wild.

Since they are already eating meat, the tiger mother brought back half-eaten prey and placed it not far from the den entrance, then called out softly.

The cubs then sprang out cheerfully from the cave and headed straight for the meat.

Wild tigers with their cubs eat prey with both skin and bones, only in human captivity do cubs get lean meat. Many captive tiger cubs don't even know how to tear open prey like live chickens or small wild boars when they first encounter them.

Once the cubs were full, the tiger mother disposed of the remaining prey and returned with her cubs to the grassland near the cave entrance to let them play while she lay down to nap.

Chen Ying glanced at the sky and pulled Ji Xin to head back to the rescue station.

Ji Xin looked up about to speak, saw a falcon perched on a branch across from him, and instinctively raised his camera to snap a photo.

The captured image showed the falcon raising a claw, seemingly either greeting them or prepping to scratch its head.

Seeing the falcon, Chen Ying quickly picked up binoculars to scan the surroundings.

Sure enough, he discovered a man-made nest on the rocks above the opposite waterfall, likely the nesting site that the falcon had chosen.

Chen Ying hurriedly recorded a video, planning to send it to Old Gao's younger sister from grade school.

Monitoring the artificial nests near the rescue station is part of her daily job scope.

Even Chen Ying was seeing a falcon nesting and raising chicks in Jiamu Gully for the first time—it was so novel, worth sharing on his social media to show off.