Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl-Chapter 249 - Er Sha’s Family

“By the way, Brother Li, I found online some people used to come here to illegally harvest brine shrimp. Are those still around?”

“Of course, there are fewer in the lakes here, but you’ll see them once we get to Salt Lake.”

Brine shrimp, known as soft gold, are the premium bait for fish, shrimp, and shellfish.

People who used to illegally harvest adult brine shrimp and eggs almost ruined Salt Lake and the surrounding land.

After over a decade of management, that detrimental trend was finally curbed.

“Brother Li, slow down a bit, I want to take a photo.”

Ji Xin saw a vulture not far away spreading its wings in the sun, disregarding its ugly head, its robust body and majestic wingspan were quite impressive.

He took three or four shots before reluctantly putting the camera away.

“I think it’s great here, Brother Li. Could I come to work here after I graduate?”

“I personally would welcome it very much, but you have to ask your brother. He’s more connected than I am. Besides, even if you can’t work here, you could come as a volunteer, stay for six months to a year and then go back.”

The highland area is not for everyone.

Typically, after the age of forty, it becomes difficult for the body to sustain long hikes for mountain patrols.

The region is vast, with four or five major mountain patrols a year involving the entire Protection Bureau, each lasting about a month.

Additionally, there are random smaller patrols, each lasting seven to eight days.

“In summer, you might run into heavy rain and storms, making it easy for vehicles to get stuck in mud pits. You see, we even have a tow rope and a shovel on our car, all in preparation for vehicle recovery.”

Winter, with its blizzards, rapid temperature drops, and hungry, wandering wild animals, goes without saying.

Basically, every mountain patrol is a gamble on our lives.

“This time the road we’re taking is alright, mostly not too dangerous. If you’re planning to stay, join us for a patrol one day, and then we can discuss if you should stay, okay?”

Ji Xin nodded, becoming much quieter.

He was introverted but not dumb; he could still feel whether people were truly kind to him or not.

Frankly, Brother Li was okay, but Brother Ying, Ji Xin sensed a similar disposition from him. Seeing he always preferred to look out of the window in silence, was he also someone who enjoyed solitude?

By noon, they casually found a place to rest.

Chen Ying started to scout the surroundings with a drone.

Three kilometers away behind a mound, a Tibetan Fox was surreptitiously peeking at a steppe rabbit digging a hole.

They dare not stay long in this spot, as it’s easy to be targeted by birds of prey overhead.

Continuing to circle around, they observed a group of about a dozen Tibetan antelopes drinking water, with two male antelopes trailing for protection.

The pregnant antelopes rested briefly before resuming their running.

Across the river, a Brown Bear Mother with her cub quietly watched the running antelope; her child relentlessly nudged her, wanting to eat.

Moving away from the path of the moving antelope, there were significantly fewer traces of life.

Perhaps there were still small animals hidden beneath the grass, but from above, there were only vast meadows and quietly flowing rivers.

“How’s it looking, Brother Ying, spot anything?”

“Nothing much, just a group of Tibetan antelopes moving at three o’clock, and a mother and cub brown bear, didn’t see much else.”

This reserve is vast and hosts a large number of animals, but mostly it’s groups of hoofed animals wandering the grasslands. The density of other wildlife is not as high as one might expect.

Chen Ying was particularly keen to see the Three Highland Fools, but so far there was only one Tibetan Fox whose features were unclear.

They say a fox’s smile is enchanting, but perhaps it’s better that the fox’s face wasn’t clear.

Before leaving, Chen Ying looked back at where the Tibetan Fox had been.

A slightly sleazy little face peeked out.

Had that Tibetan Fox actually followed them here?

There was no time to interact, Chen Ying got into the car, then turned to see the Tibetan Fox standing in the wind, watching them leave.

With that bafflingly stupid expression, it truly deserved the name “Big Fool”.

Near the Zhuonai Lake campsite, they saw a newborn Tibetan antelope on the road.

By the time they spotted it, the little Tibetan antelope had been born. It had struggled for a long time without being able to stand up.

If it couldn’t stand within half an hour and learn to run, it would essentially be abandoned.

The Tibetan Antelope Mother was anxiously licking her baby’s head, trying to help it stand.

But the Tibetan antelope’s forelimb seemed to have a problem, stumbling as it tried to stand, then collapsing again.

The mother antelope tried to help her child stabilize itself using her own body, but after a long effort, it was still futile.

Being unable to stand meant it couldn’t walk, nor could it access its mother’s milk.

For the young antelope, death was the inevitable conclusion.

Chen Ying closely monitored the mother and child through high-powered binoculars, noticing an abnormal swelling in the joint of the right forelimb of the young antelope; it was unclear whether it was injured during birth or if it was a congenital issue.

The mother antelope moaned sorrowfully toward the sky, lingered around her child for a long while, and then finally turned and left.

The young antelope also knew it was being abandoned by its mother; it bleated weakly and lay down on its side, accepting the approach of death.

Chen Ying dropped his binoculars and rushed over, taking off his jacket as he ran.

Upon arrival, he quickly wrapped his jacket around the young antelope’s body and picked it up.

When they reached the vehicle, Chen Ying checked and, indeed, the young fawn’s leg bone had been slightly misplaced due to the impact with the ground as it slipped out of the birth canal.

“Ali, the milk powder is in my bag, hurry and mix it up. I’ll fix its leg bone.”

With gentle movements and quick realignment, he fixed it slightly with a makeshift splint and stuck the bottle of mixed calf milk into the young antelope’s mouth.

The young antelope was starving and drank the milk eagerly.

It finished a bottle in one go and was unwilling to let go, needing to be forcefully pulled out.

“What do we do now?”

Ji Xin anxiously followed, still keeping an eye on the whereabouts of the mother antelope.

“Her mother is over there, should we send it back to her?”

From a distance, the mother antelope watched for a while and then decisively turned and ran far away.

“Why, why is this? Why would she abandon her own child?”

Ji Xin couldn’t understand, clenching his teeth tightly.

“It’s the natural selection of the animal world. This calf needs to be nurtured for a few more days until its joints are healthy enough to be returned.”

The mother antelope also knew that by itself, it couldn’t raise the child. Leaving was a helpless choice.

The campsite was made up of two large military tents set up side by side.

There was also an enclosure built next to them for feeding motherless young antelopes.

When they arrived, the previous patrol officers had just finished feeding the young ones.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

“Yo, you’ve come, and what’s this, a gift? Quick, put it inside.”

Chen Ying carried the young antelope and placed it on a bed of grass.

“What’s wrong with this little guy?”

“It hit its forelimb knee joint during birth, nothing serious, can’t stand temporarily, it has already been treated, should recover in three to five days.”

Chen Ying put his things down and didn’t rest, immediately started checking on the condition of each young one.

The oldest one had been born four days ago, its mother had drawn a pack of wolves away after giving birth to it.

The mother led the wolves away, and the child was saved, but lost its mother forever.

Chen Ying checked each calf, none of them had major issues.

“Do these calves need to follow the antelope herd back when the time comes?”

“Not for now, the plan is to first transport them by vehicle back to their habitat, and then release them there, so as to maximize their chances of survival.”

Each year, tens of thousands of antelopes come to give birth, but not many can successfully return to the habitat with their mothers.

After handing over, the previous team left with a few calves.

Chen Ying and his team then began packing up, working together.

The job wasn’t difficult, mainly involving observation and protection.

They didn’t intervene in the natural struggles of the wild.

Chen Ying and Ji Xin, fully equipped, went to shoot a promotional video about the antelopes.

Just as they found a good spot and lay down, Ji Xin gently touched Chen Ying’s arm.

“Brother Ying, look over there, is that a snow leopard?”

Ji Xin had never seen a wild snow leopard before and spoke so softly as if he feared his voice might scare the animal away.

The snow leopard was with her three cubs, likely giving them hunting training before leaving home.

The snow leopard mother glanced coldly at them, gracefully yawning.

The afternoon sun was a bit intense, and the snow leopard mother was only taking her cubs out to observe their surroundings, not intending to hunt just yet.

The three cubs were nearly as big as their mother but still playfully pounced on each other like children.

One little snow leopard stealthily approached from behind its mother, then suddenly bounced, trying to scare the adult leopard.

But the mother leopard turned around just in time, yelped lowly, and bounced herself because of the cub jumping at her from mid-air.

The little snow leopard that had just landed and missed its mark was startled by its mother and bounced again.

Ji Xin’s expression shattered upon seeing this scene.

“See? That’s why they’re called the Three Highland Fools.”

Chen Ying chuckled quietly, controlling the drone to record the entire sequence perfectly.

(A distant view of Zhuonai Lake’s birthing grounds)