I have a wildlife zoo-Chapter 618 - 617: Giving Back to Nature

After a while, the children had almost finished harvesting.

Fang Ye glanced at the rice field, blew a whistle, and clapped his hands, "Alright, let's tidy up the rice we've cut down here and take a break! Those who want to try threshing can go ahead, and later I'll take you out to sun-dry the grains."

Some children eagerly raised their hands and said, "I haven't finished cutting mine!"

Fang Ye smiled and said, "There's not much left; let's leave some for the birds!

Although we planted the field, it's also with the help of various creatures living in the farmland that the rice can grow healthily.

We take from nature, so we should also give a little back to nature."

Some children were reluctant, "Eh~~ isn't that wasting food?"

After all, they had worked hard to plant these rice plants, with sore waists and aching backs after transplanting the seedlings, and even their calf muscles hurt for days!

Fang Ye thought for a moment and said, "Let me tell you a story about the Oriental stork.

There are about 6,500 Oriental storks in our country, and last winter, as many as 5,000 migrated to Tianjin to overwinter.

There have never been that many before; it's because they couldn't find enough food in several wetlands they passed through on their migration route.

Gathering together, these Oriental storks easily became targets for poachers, and their frequent take-offs and landings could also lead to electrocution from hitting high voltage wires.

Without enough food, they had to eat the fish in the villagers' ponds, chased away by firecrackers, and in the end, it was volunteers who raised money to buy fish and set up canteens for them, temporarily solving the crisis.

Due to human activity, many wetlands have either disappeared or are being destroyed.

Among the threats to wetlands, besides enclosing lakes to create farmland, there's also the dredging of river sand from riverbeds and lake shores.

In the past few decades, our country's rapid urbanization had a great demand for sand, needed for glass, concrete, and building materials, and the most ideal industrial sand comes from rivers and lakes, not the sea.

Rice fields are like small wetlands, providing a place for birds to stop and rest when they're tired from flying, and to replenish their energy.

While our human communities develop, we shouldn't forget to leave some living space for our wild animal neighbors.

Of course, what's most important is the protection of their habitats."

"Oh!"

After listening to Fang Ye's story, the child blinked twice, eyes watery as though about to cry, "Then, can we leave a bit more for them?"

Fang Ye squatted down and gently touched the child's head, saying softly, "Sure, the birds that come here for a rest will definitely thank you~"

A parent exclaimed, "Back in our hometown, when harvesting, we used to intentionally leave some wheat, corn, and sweet potatoes unharvested, just to leave some food for the animals overwintering."

"This kind of eco-friendly farming that gives back to nature is really great!"

"Hey, back in the day, our hometown really hated migrating geese because they would eat the wheat, and down feathers could be exchanged for foreign currency, so many were killed. Afterwards, they dared not stop in our area... If there's a chance now, we'd definitely treat them better."

"The idea that our human communities should develop without forgetting to leave some living space for our wild animal neighbors is excellent!"

It wasn't just the children; the listening parents also felt like they learned a lot standing on the ridges of the fields!

The impression of zoos had always been a place for entertainment and relaxation; watching elephants, looking at pandas, feeding tigers a couple of chunks of meat.

But after visiting Linhai Zoo, they gradually came to appreciate the natural behaviors of animals and understand their needs for survival.

The zoo set up a few fields, thinking of giving the kids some physical exercise, breaking them of any pampered habits, and teaching them to value rare grains.

Unexpectedly, although there weren't any rare animals in the rice fields, they served as a window, displaying ways humans and nature can coexist harmoniously.

The harvest was far beyond expectations.

After the children had finished experiencing threshing, Fang Ye called over an animal keeper from the little farm, and they packed the threshed grains into bags.

The unthreshed remaining grains were also taken away for processing by machinery.

"Come on, everyone, let's tidy up the rice straw! The straw left after threshing the rice is very useful, not only can it be fed to alpacas, but when it's dry, it can be used as a mat for the animals to sleep on and can also be fermented with manure to become fertilizer!"

Fang Ye put the unthreshed rice grains into a small cart, waved his hand, and said breezily, "gogogo! Let's take care of these first."

There was a small brick house behind the tiny farm.

It covered an area of 300 square meters, but the walls were never whitewashed, so it looked quite crude.

This was the rice processing room that housed various machines; it also served as a storage room for farm tools.

Fang Ye called out to the kids, "Everyone, follow me in an orderly manner, keep your distance, and don't touch anything recklessly! Parents, please help keep an eye on them!"

After the children entered, they looked around with fresh curiosity!

Fang Ye patted a wooden frame next to him and introduced with a smile, "This is a winnowing machine!

Once the rice grains are dried, the winnowing machine is used to blow through the grains. This way, the lighter impurities, husks, and broken shells will be blown away, and the plump rice grains will be left behind and stored in the warehouse.

You all should have covered the principle in your junior high physics class, f=ma.

It's a very ancient and traditional tool; it was already in use during the Western Han period, and it's mentioned in 'The Exploitation of the Works of Nature'.

Many rural areas still use it today—you have to admire the intelligence of the ancients."

Qian Keke said, "It kind of looks like a barbecue grill!"

Both were rectangular and had a crank handle for a blower.

Tang Xiaoxin had a different opinion, "I think it looks like a steam locomotive's engine!"

Fang Ye demonstrated, pouring some rice grains into the funnel at the top, catching them with a bamboo basket below, and then he started cranking the windmill handle.

The winnowing machine hummed into action!

Plump grains poured out from the bottom outlet and were caught in the bamboo basket, while the impurities flew out from the other side.

After a few turns, he let the children take turns experiencing it, and they all had a blast!

Fang Ye walked away, but Qian Keke kept eagerly cranking, while Tang Xiaoxin stuck her face near the air outlet, closed her eyes, and opened her mouth, "Ah..."

Seeing a fan, few can resist playing like this.

Qian Keke was quickly reprimanded by Mother Qian with a smack on the head, "Let's go, enough playing!"

Qian Keke held her head and complained, "I was really smart, but you've been knocking me silly."

Tang Xiaoxin, taking advantage of Mother Qian's distraction, sneakily stuck her tongue out at Qian Keke, who also made a face in return.

Moving forward, they saw Fang Ye pointing to a machine that looked a lot like the winnowing machine and explaining, "Nowadays, a hulling machine is generally used to de-husk the rice!"

The staff poured a half sack of rice that had already been dried into the funnel of the hulling machine.

With the press of a button, the belt spun non-stop, and the yellow-tinted rice poured out from the outlet.

A child asked in confusion, "Eh, why does it look like that?"

The staff explained, "It's only been milled once; it needs to go through three times!"

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After the second milling, the rice looked much whiter and resembled the rice we usually eat, although it still had a slightly dark hue.

After the third milling, what came out was white, shiny, crystal-clear rice!

"Oh~"

The children watched in amazement and began applauding with a 'clack clack' sound.