Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 397 - 394 Nanny: My Treacherous and Trepidatious First Days on the Job

"Dog milk is fine, but if you have sheep milk, that's even better, or else you can feed them with puppy formula."

Little Sen's side went from noisy to quiet; he must have changed locations. Then, the camera revealed Little Sen's face, beads of sweat visible on his forehead.

"What are you doing?"

"A small binturong gave birth to her babies in that old cat nest from before. Mengmeng only discovered it this morning, and after watching for half the day, she still hasn't seen the mother come back, so I brought them down the mountain to get checked out."

It's quite abnormal for a mother cat to abandon her newborn kittens, and since Little Sen could not understand the animals' language, he had no idea where the mother had gone. He couldn't simply neglect the baby kittens, nor dare to take them out to raise right away; what if they had some illness after all?

For safety's sake, it was best to bring them to the center for a check-up first.

After chatting for a bit more, Chen Ying hung up the phone.

Little Sen used to be the weakest among their group, but he had now become stronger, especially in raising young animals. He was recognized as a top expert throughout the Southwest.

If he were willing to take a position in another unit, he would definitely be offered a mid-level management role, but he wasn't tempted at all. His determination to stay in Jiamu Gully was even firmer than Chen Ying's.

Chen Ying turned around and called Ci Ren to inquire whether there was a good-natured mother dog with puppies in the village.

After asking around, aside from Renbo's family's Tibetan Mastiff expecting to give birth, there were no other dogs with puppies. There were a few sheep, though, and if Chen Ying needed, he could help purchase a lactating ewe.

Chen Ying politely declined for now.

Milk-feeding wasn't the main goal; he wanted the fox cubs to learn from the mother dog, to retain their animal instincts.

If Ci Ren's village didn't have one, Chen Ying simply called Uncle Tashi to see if there was a mother dog with puppies in their pastoral village.

"There is one, but that mother dog is pretty old, this might be her last litter, and she doesn't produce much milk. If you want, I can ask around for you."

Let's forget it then, let the mother dog live out her days in comfort at home, no need to make her suffer bringing up pups in her old age.

If it really came down to it, they'd have to resort to using canine milk powder.

There wasn't much puppy formula left in stock, and just as Chen Ying was about to place an order, his phone rang. It was Ci Ren calling.

"Dr. Chen, a stray dog at our county post office has given birth to puppies. She's said to have a gentle nature. What do you think? If you want her, I can ask a colleague to bring her along when they deliver mail and packages."

He also sent a video clip, showing a mixed Labrador, not very clean, but with kind-looking eyes.

She lay in a nest the post office workers had arranged for her, nursing her small puppies.

The three little puppies were round and chubby, eating and sleeping at the same time, looking incredibly cute.

"Okay, I'll come and pick her up myself, but I've got to have her checked first."

Stray dogs are different from domestic dogs; they can't be vaccinated during the nursing period, so they need to be checked to ensure they're disease-free before they can begin caring for fox cubs.

And don't even mention something like the wild fox cubs infecting the mother dog with diseases.

If humans can't ensure equality, there's even less to say about animals.

Of course, Chen Ying wouldn't truly just leave things be; when he went to the county town, he planned first to send the two young cubs to the River Source Center for a check, and only after confirming they were disease-free would he allow them to meet the dog wet nurse.

With all the back-and-forth, three and a half days had passed.

By the time Chen Ying brought back the fox cubs along with the dog wet nurse and her own puppies, Ci Ren's brother had already arranged for someone to install the windproof paneling in the animal shed.

They also brought over several models of "Dark Fortress-style Artificial Cave for Wild Animals."

"My brother said these are for pilot use in the neighboring county, mainly to eradicate rodent pests and protect the grasslands. I took a few back to try them out here."

Chen Ying examined it and realized the concept was incredibly simple, but to think of creating something to attract natural rodent predators like the Tibetan Fox and Red Fox to live in them was quite a clever idea.

Basically, all that was needed was to use locally sourced materials, construct the overall structure with stones and a little insulation material, and leave a passage for the animals to expand on their own later.

The situation at Budong River and River Source Protection Station seemed a bit better. Near the buffer zones and experimental areas of the reserve, the degradation of the grasslands was severe, largely due to the rampant rodent population.

Eradicating rodents had become the most important task in maintaining the ecological balance of the grasslands.

Snow leopards had little interest in rodents and wouldn't bother to hunt them unless they were extremely hungry.

Compared to rodents, foxes, slightly larger in size, were the snow leopards' second choice.

Chen Ying left a model behind and promised to help with recommendations.

Knowing that he was going to bring back the dog wet nurse, Ci Ren had already made a wind and frost-proof dog house, placing it in the storeroom next to the room where Sun Qihai lived.

The two of them didn't have many belongings and didn't need that many rooms. Besides the two they lived in, one was turned into a mixing room which now housed a large freezer. The former kitchen had been modified, replacing the stove with an induction cooker and an electric pressure cooker to cook meals, which was more environmentally friendly.

An old fur blanket had been laid down in the dog den in advance, courtesy of Ci Ren's family. He refused to take any money, and even brought some of his family's dried meat to thank Chen Ying for helping his brother with a project.

After Ci Ren left, the snow leopards from the animal shed behind slowly made their way over and crowded at the doorway to watch the mother dog nurse.

Chen Ying, carrying a basin of meat, saw three snow leopards lying side by side at the entrance. The dog wet nurse inside the dog house was quite frightened, but bravely protected her puppies.

Chen Ying was so angry that he slapped each on the head.

"Go away, go play, don't scare the babies. I'll deal with you if you don't listen," he scolded.

Er Niu was still by the fire in the living room. Hearing Chen Ying's voice, the lazy dog stood up, shook its fur, and came out, nimbly jumping over the snow leopard enclosure to poke its head directly into the dog den.

Chen Ying looked away for a moment and turned back to see what Er Niu did. He almost choked with shock, nearly collapsing from a potential heart attack.

After all, she was his own daughter; he couldn't bear to hit or scold her. All he could do was gently persuade her to leave some space for the mother dog and her family to live.

Whether it was the stray life that had built up the dog wet nurse's resilience, after the initial shock, she even calmed down a lot and even lay on her side to nurse her children.

However, she was still cunning enough to change her position, using her back to block the view of those damned snow leopards.

These nosy spirits, had they never seen a mother dog nursing? Each one of them was staring unblinkingly!

After setting up a food bowl and water for the dog wet nurse and adding two boiled eggs to help her recover, Chen Ying forcibly took the four snow leopards out and closed the door behind them.

After being driven away, Er Niu and Little Snow Leopard went back to cuddle and sleep on the wooden rack inside the animal shed, while the other two male leopards took turns entering the wilderness without anyone knowing what they were up to.

After sorting out the dog wet nurse's problem, Chen Ying could finally sit down and rest.

Opening the outdoor camera of Dong Sheng Animal House, he saw Dong Sheng struggling to stand up on three legs to practice walking. Chen Ying felt sorry for him but had to harden his heart and watch silently.

Dong Sheng's animal shed was spacious, arranged by merging two sheds into one.

The yard outside for its activities was not small either, roughly one hundred and fifty to sixty square meters.

There weren't too many luxury facilities, just a few specially designed wooden ramps, frames, and its favorite tire swing.

Dong Sheng's presence made the staff who had never seen a tiger extremely curious, especially those assigned to care for Dong Sheng, all of whom wished they could just move their beds into the shed to live and eat with him.

Besides the outdoor rehabilitation facilities, there were also wooden ramps, platforms, and wide steps inside.

Although Northeast tigers could climb trees, they seldom did, so there was no need to force Dong Sheng, who already had difficulty moving, to learn such a difficult skill as climbing trees with three legs.

Being able to jump up and down smoothly and run efficiently had already greatly pleased the veterinarians and keepers at the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Park.

Furthermore, Dong Sheng's adaptability to high-altitude, cold, and hypoxic environments had caused a stir in the national tiger community.

Although the elevation of River Source Center was only around 4000 meters, the latest record showed that the highest altitude at which tigers had been sighted was in the Himalayan region of Bhutan, which was around 4100 meters, three to four hundred meters lower than the Protection Station's altitude of over 4400 meters.

The elevation of the rest stop where Chen Ying was located exceeded 4200 meters. Therefore, River Source Rescue Center was already the highest altitude area where Dong Sheng could live.

Once he completed the third phase of treatment, Xiao Shen would personally take him to the Qing Province Wildlife Park to stay temporarily. The elevation there was just over two thousand meters, which was more suitable for Dong Sheng's recovery and rehabilitation.