Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl-Chapter 222 - Unlucky Xiang Bao and Its Not So Reliable Mom

Chapter 222 -222 Unlucky Xiang Bao and Its Not So Reliable Mom

Chen Ying couldn’t understand what the teenager was saying, but Dao Meihua’s expression changed abruptly.

“He said a calf is trapped in their village’s water tank.”

Such incidents were not rare; in recent years, the Asian elephant herd had been growing and, due to the expansion of the rainforest, their range had extended to the outskirts of the forest.

Moreover, elephants loved to play in the water and would stop in their tracks at the sight of a water tank, leading to frequent accidents where they inadvertently stepped into the villagers’ water tanks.

Normally, villagers would find a way to break one side of the tank’s wall to allow the trapped elephant to climb out on its own.

But the youth said the fallen calf was very small, so small that after falling, its head couldn’t even emerge from the water.

The elephant herd was screaming and charging nearby, and one of the older elephants had already jumped in, trying to lift the calf, but had been unable to do anything after a long struggle.

What are they waiting for? They need to rush over and help immediately.

About five hundred meters from the village, there were two water tanks in succession.

In the larger one, an elephant was frantically spraying water, while in the nearby farmland, a few more elephants were pacing restlessly.

Because they were too agitated, the villagers couldn’t get close to the water tank to attempt a rescue.

Chen Ying tried to approach the elephants, but a villager grabbed him.

Unable to speak the local language, he could only pull at a teammate, asking him to explain that he was a veterinarian.

But his teammate also struggled to understand and his face turned red with the effort.

It was the dark-skinned youth who came over to clear the way; his Mandarin wasn’t perfect, but at least understandable.

Chen Ying patted the teenager’s shoulder, asking his teammate and the youth to follow him with shovels in hand.

First, he observed and identified an older elephant, which seemed larger and was presumably the leader of the herd. By calming that elephant, it would lead the other elephants back, giving them space to rescue the baby.

The old elephant curled its trunk and watched Chen Ying for at least half a minute, ascertaining that he was there to save the calf, then bellowed, and the others retreated about ten meters.

Only then did Chen Ying jump down and approach the calf.

The baby was probably only a week old, very small, standing at the bottom of the tank, only its forehead visible above water.

Chen Ying swam over and patted the elephant mother, signaling to the people on the bank to throw down a rope. He tied it around the calf, planning to have it pulled up.

As for how the elephant mother would get out, they would have to wait until the calf was rescued.

Seeing that Chen Ying alone had difficulties operating, two villagers also jumped into the water and, following Chen Ying’s directions, looped the rope around the calf’s head and front legs, then the three of them supported its rear as people above pulled, allowing its head to emerge from the water to breathe.

Two other villagers brought rolls of straw to lay on the edge of the tank wall, fearing the cement might scratch the calf’s skin.

After much effort, they were unable to lift it out, so several more people climbed down and, shouldering the calf, gradually moved it to the surface.

Despite its small size, the calf was quite heavy.

It struggled, making it much harder than moving an inanimate object.

The calf was a heavyweight baby; the villagers commented it must weigh at least 120 kilograms.

After the calf was rescued, it showed signs of nearly drowning, so Chen Ying climbed out and started giving it CPR, forcing it to expel the water it had aspirated.

While reviving the calf, he instructed the villagers to start breaking the tank wall from the previous position, carving out a slope so that the elephant mother could climb up on her own.

Thankfully, years of conservation efforts had paid off, and with the involvement of the government and insurance agencies, the affected villagers could claim insurance compensation with a report.

After about fifteen minutes of rescue efforts, a farm vehicle approached with a sputter, and two people jumped off with a first aid kit in hand.

“What’s the situation now? Is the calf still alive?”

Nearly exhausted, Chen Ying was relieved to see the newcomers take over the rescue competently. He sat back, gasping for breath, “It’s okay, it should not be in danger of dying.”

After a pause, he continued, “However, I suspect it may have inhaled water; we need to be on guard for the possibility of aspiration pneumonia.”

Upon examining the calf, they found its condition was much better than expected.

The baby elephant had inhaled some water but not much.

If Chen Ying had arrived even a bit later and the calf remained submerged without aid, the outcome would have been dire.

Helped to stand, Chen Ying felt as if both his arms were about to break.

It was his first time performing CPR on a baby elephant, and even that, he did blindly.

After cleaning the calf, sticking on electrode pads, and starting the heart monitor, the elephant veterinarians who had arrived later confirmed the baby was fine and could be returned to its herd, prompting the surrounding villagers to burst into applause.

For Chen Ying and the brave teammates, as well as for themselves.

With human excavation and the assistance of a water pump, one end of the water tank was smashed, and a dozen villagers swung hoes and shovels to create a slope. Finally, under Chen Ying’s guidance, the elephant mother, soaked for over an hour, managed to rescue herself.

Once on land, the elephant mother ran straight to her child, touching it with her trunk and giving it a gentle nudge with her left forelimb, encouraging it to stand up.

Seeing the elephant mother approach, the two rescuers stepped aside.

The calf, sensing its mother’s presence, struggled to stand, opened its mouth, and spat out two mouthfuls of water.

As the child staggered about, the elephant mother, anxious, nudged it with her trunk, causing the calf to stumble and roll on the ground, then start bawling loudly.

Chen Ying rushed over, hugged the elephant mother’s trunk, and patted it to soothe her, then helped the baby elephant up to check its condition.

The elephant doctor quickly handed over a stethoscope and listened, feeling that the lungs were still fine.

Visit frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓ for the b𝘦st novel reading experience.

Seems like the little one was just scared out of its wits, not having recovered yet when its mother accidentally kicked it. The baby elephant felt wronged.

It was clear this was a rather unreliable first-time mother. Chen Ying led the baby elephant towards the elephant herd leader. Sure enough, the old elephant’s movements were gentle and skilled, calming the baby elephant down properly.

The other elephants also gathered around, each touching the baby elephant.

Within the herd were two other young elephants, probably around a year old; they also came over and used their trunks to touch the baby elephant’s trunk.

The young mother elephant wandered about the spot for a while before slowly approaching the herd.

Just as Chen Ying predicted, this unreliable mother was lightly reprimanded by the old elephant with a snout whack and a kick.

It seemed that the two were also mother and daughter.

Once sure the baby elephant was fine, the old elephant raised its trunk towards everyone, trumpeted, and then turned to lead the herd slowly away from the village.

Chen Ying returned to the water reservoir, ready to pick up his things and head back with his companions, when he saw the elephant doctor who had arrived later extending his hand.

After an introduction, he learned that this was Teacher Bao, whom he had only heard of but never met.

Teacher Bao was involved in the release of another elephant and had rushed over in a hurry upon receiving the call for help.

“Thank you, Dr. Chen. I’ll buy you a drink when we get back to base.”

Aware that Chen Ying and his team still had a mission, Teacher Bao didn’t hold them up for too long and handed over a bottle of local medicine wine, saying it was remarkably effective for repelling mosquitoes and insects in the jungle, its only drawback being a bit pungent.

The village would report the loss at the water pond; they didn’t need to worry about that.

Chen Ying and his team returned to the station, borrowed the showers to wash up, and got the mud off their clothes before packing them in a bag to wash later at the campsite.

By the time they got back to the campsite, it was much later than planned.

Dao Meihua and a fellow team member explained the situation to the group, providing phone video evidence. The others didn’t make a fuss, only feeling that this trip seemed to encounter more incidents than usual.

Next to the campsite was a small river used for washing clothes and cooking.

The water had to be filtered first, then boiled before it could be safe to drink.

Modern technology had come so far that portable filtering devices were now common in households.

All they needed to do was collect surface water that looked clean enough, filter it, boil it, then cool and fill it into cups for drinking.

If a forest patrol only lasted a day, they would just bring enough drinking water.

Chen Ying was quite interested in the team’s filtering equipment; after learning about it, he planned to get a couple of sets for himself after returning.

Water in the rainforest might contain more pathogens compared to the water from Snow Mountain, so everyone was very cautious about drinking and dining.

In the wilderness lacking medical supplies, a bout of diarrhea could claim a life.

Chen Ying and a teammate who had been on the elephant rescue mission carried their dirty clothes to the river. Just as they squatted down at the bank, they saw a group of large rodents scurry across the opposite side of the river gorge.

“No way, are the rodents here that terrifying? They’re huge!”

Chen Ying was startled but after watching for a while, realized that those weren’t rodents.

“Look over there, be careful with your movements.”

Softly, he nudged his companion’s arm and tilted his chin to signal him to look in the 10 o’clock direction opposite them.

They strained their eyes for a good while before realizing that these were not large rodents but small Mouse Deer, which resembled rodents and were members of the deer family within the order of even-toed ungulates.

(These magical little elves can be pregnant and nurse at the same time. Maybe their survival is related to this.)

This was a very tiny breed of deer, with a body length of less than 60 centimeters, a shoulder height of less than 30 centimeters, and a light body weight of only 1.3-2.4 kilograms.

Not only are they the smallest member of the Mouse Deer family, but they’re also the smallest extant hoofed mammals. Some fat rabbits weigh much more than these creatures.

Because of their tiny size, they’re also called Mouse Deer.

This group of Mouse Deer only had four or five individuals, probably because it was breeding season as they normally live alone.

Chen Ying quietly approached the group of Mouse Deer with his phone.

The largest buck with tiny tusks, followed by a fawn, was very alert and tried to evade upon noticing Chen Ying, but confused by his scent, it stayed on the stone ground at the edge of the river valley, watching him intently.

Seeing that the Mouse Deer weren’t running away, Chen Ying boldly approached while still keeping a comforting distance and crouched down to take a picture.

After he finished, the buck realized what was going on and quickly led the fawn into the bushes.

Back on the bank, Chen Ying posted the Mouse Deer picture in the Jiamu Gully veterinarians’ group to show off.

These creatures were only in this conservation area, and they wouldn’t be able to see such cute creatures back at their place.

Once he posted the photo, the group exploded in excitement, with several girls who loved animals asking Chen Ying where he got the shot, saying they too wanted to see.

Chen Ying mentioned he had taken the photo while with a joint team in the rainforest, and if they wanted to see Mouse Deer, they’d have to visit a specialized rescue center in Dian Province.

As soon as he finished, Chen Ying looked up inadvertently and was almost stupefied.