Chapter 186 Male Muskrat

Sang Yu, whose attention was not on him at all, did not care about these things. She studied it carefully for a while and finally confirmed that this was indeed a muskrat's nest.

Judging from the tiny claw marks on both sides of the hole, it should still be a nest in use.

After finding the nest, the next thing to do is much easier.

Sang Yu asked Sang Yongjing to go and call back Sang Xingjia, who had run away downstream, and she began to dig up plant roots around.

If you want to catch muskrats with a trap, you naturally need bait.

Muskrats like to store plant roots, fish, shrimp and other foods in autumn and winter. It is a bit difficult to catch fish and shrimp, but plant roots are everywhere in the forest.

When Sang Yongjing brought Sang Xingjia back, Sang Yu was already holding several freshly dug plant roots in his hands.

Seeing Sang Xingjia coming back, she hurriedly asked him to take out the splints, and then opened the splint mechanism according to the method taught by the hunter.

There were six small splints in total, and she only used three.

One was placed not far from the entrance to the nest, and the other two were placed at the edge of the wetland at a certain distance.

Several plant roots were placed around each splint and trigger point, and a layer of weeds was covered on top to provide concealment.

After everything was arranged, Sang Yu signaled the other two to leave.

Sang Yongjing looked at the three remaining splints in the basket and couldn't help asking, "Aren't these three going to be used?"

Of course, the more traps you set, the better. Why leave a few unused?

Sang Yu shook his head slightly: "Keep them for now, three are enough. If you can't catch three, there's no point in releasing all six."

The main purpose of the trap is to catch the enemy by surprise, so three is considered too many. If one is triggered, the other two will not be able to be fooled.

Never underestimate the sharpness and observation ability of animals. Once a trick is used, animals that have seen it will not be fooled again. This is one of their instincts that allows them to survive in the dangerous forest.

"Oh well."

Sang Xingjia said nothing and looked quietly at the forest on the other side of the stream.

Noticing his gaze, Sang Yu suddenly asked, "Brother, what are you thinking about?"

"Are those... still there? Do you want to go and confirm them?" Sang Xingjia did not hide anything and directly expressed his thoughts.

"If you're worried, just go and take a look. I won't go and will wait for you here."

Sang Yu didn't want to see the remains of corpses that had been eaten by animals, as it would give her nightmares at night.

Unexpectedly, she agreed so readily. Sang Xingjia was slightly startled, but finally shook his head and refused: "...I still won't go."

Last time was the first time he saw someone die in front of him, but it was not the first time he saw a corpse.

The capital city was prosperous, with a large population and many criminals. Most of them were convicted of serious crimes, and entire families would be executed at any time.

Once, a classmate heard that the execution ground was bustling and wanted to go and take a look.

As a result, as soon as they arrived there, they saw the corpses hung up for public display and began to vomit uncontrollably. Some even developed a high fever that night.

Since then, he never dared to go near the execution ground again, thinking that the bodies of the four people would not look good.

Now the problem was completely solved. The three of them returned the same way and went to the bamboo forest to dig yam.

Learning from previous lessons, this time the handles of the two shovels and hoe were wrapped with linen, which made it easier to use force and less likely to hurt the hands.

It was Sang Yu who chose the location again, and the two of them started digging. When they got tired, they took turns digging. They dug out a lot of yams by stopping and starting.

At the beginning, Sang Yu was patient. He dug a hole to completely expose the side of the yam and took out the whole yam.

After digging too much, I got a little impatient and just relied on brute force to pull out and break them apart.

It doesn't matter if you accidentally break it, you can eat it directly in the near future. If you want to preserve it for a long time, you can slice it and dry it in the sun, and then cook it into porridge.

As for the remaining half buried in the ground, of course, we should bury it properly and wait for new growth next year to continue digging. No matter how we dig, we will not waste it.

It’s true, since they started doing this, the speed at which the three of them obtained yams increased a lot, and the bamboo baskets and bags they brought were soon filled up.

Sang Yu looked at the sky through the gaps between the leaves and felt that it was getting late, so he stopped the father and son who were about to continue digging the hole.

"That's enough, let's go back."

On the way back, Sang Yu paused when he reached the fork leading to the stream.

Although I knew that the muskrat would not step into the trap in such a short time, I always wanted to confirm it.

Apparently, she was not the only one who had this idea. Sang Yongjing's pace slowed down unconsciously and finally stopped.

"Yu'er, should we go take a look?"

"Okay!" Sang Yu, who was already hesitant, immediately agreed after he spoke.

She originally wanted Sang Xingjia to stay where he was and guard the very heavy yams, but she didn't expect him to say he wanted to go, so in the end the three of them went together.

Sang Yu didn't have much hope for this trip, thinking that he would just take a look and go home.

But I didn't expect that before I got close, I heard a series of sharp whistles in the distance, similar to bird calls but more piercing.

"What's that sound?"

Sang Yongjing shrank his neck, feeling a chill on his back from the sound, as if he was being entangled by something unclean.

"I'm not sure, but I think he caught something. Let's go see if we can get some extra food tonight."

Sang Yu had never heard of this sound before, and thought that it might be some small bird trying to peck at the grass roots on the splint and was accidentally caught.

The further you go, the closer you get to the splint, and the more obvious the short, high-pitched sound becomes, occasionally mixed with one or two "squeaks" or "whooshes".

When they got closer, without waiting for Sang Yu to say anything, the father and son next to them saw the creature on the splint and burst into laughter.

Even Sang Yu couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth. It was really like planting flowers with care but they didn't bloom, planting willows by accident but they grew into a shade. He just wanted to come and take a look and leave, but he didn't expect to hit the mark with one stroke.

The thing with half of its body trapped in the splint, unable to move at all and only able to scream, was actually a muskrat.

Seeing them approaching, the muskrat felt threatened and struggled subconsciously.

The right leg that was not clamped by the splint kicked on the ground a few times, but only moved a little and was unable to break free.

Seeing that it could not escape, it could only make sounds similar to "hissing" and "clicking" sounds of teeth chattering, trying to intimidate its opponent.

Unfortunately, the animal it encountered today was not a natural enemy. Sang Yu not only did not feel afraid, but also found the sound very pleasant.

He reached out and lifted its long tail upside down, looking at its reproductive opening.

She finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the anus and genital opening were arranged in a 'colon' shape, and that there were obvious bulges on both sides of the tail base where the scent glands were located.

This trip was definitely worth it. Not only did we dig up a lot of yams, but we also caught this male muskrat with scent glands.