Chapter 143 Snow Leopard (I)
The whistling cold wind echoed in the valley. Looking ahead, steep and majestic mountains were covered with snow that never melted year after year, making the entire sky and earth look desolate and solemn.
As far as the eye can see, there are only three colors: black, white and gray. It looks lifeless.
This is the Himalayas, home to the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, and is known as the 'Roof of the World'. It stretches from Kashmir in the west to the Yarlung Zangbo River in the east, with a total length of about 2,500 kilometers.
There are more than 100 super high mountains in the Himalayas with an altitude of more than 7,000 meters and more than 10 mountains with an altitude of more than 8,000 meters. They are still in a state of continuous uplift, forming the magnificent landscape of the 'Third Pole of the Earth'.
Atop the rugged mountains, the air is thin, food is scarce, and there are few signs of life.
However, it is in this harsh environment that there live top predators that can parkour between cliffs.
The camera lens zoomed in, closer, and closer again, and finally a light, dancing figure could be distinguished from the gray and vast mountain.
He has long, dense silver-grey fur dotted with round dark spots.
In order to combat the extreme low temperatures at high altitudes and maintain body temperature, this big cat has short and thick limbs and a large furry tail that is almost as long as its body.
snow leopard.
A big cat of the genus Panthera that never plays a low-end game.
The furry little snow leopard jumped down lightly from a height and stepped on the tip of its tail again.
It was obvious that Yu Yiyun, whose Leopard Experience Card had only been activated for the third day, had not yet learned to control her long tail.
As it crawls, its big tail, which is about 80% of its body length, always rubs against rocks or snow, or trips over its own claws.
"Meow!" It's so annoying!!!
The eighth time he stepped on the tail, Yu Yiyun uttered the sound of bird clips in anger.
It sounds non-deterrent, as if the kitten deserves a rub.
The snow leopard's vocal cords lack thick walls of elastic fiber tissue, so they cannot roar like lions and tigers. Even if they are provoked, they can only meow or purr.
Especially young snow leopards have clear and melodious voices, sounding like singing birds.
"Meow!" Tail!
"Meow!" This cat wants to duel with you!
The little snow leopard was so annoyed by its tail that it stopped between the rocks, chased its tail around twice, and finally bit the tip of its tail hard.
Having successfully caught the tail in his mouth, the leopard puffed out his chest with pride.
snort!
The mouth is defeated!
It turns out that cats and their tails are indeed two different creatures.
Yu Yijun held his tail in his mouth, stepped over the rock in front of him with his paws, and his figure disappeared among the mountains again.
"Oh my God, what a lively little snow leopard. I waited for three days to take a picture of this baby. It was really worth it!" The photographer, who was lying on the opposite mountain fully armed, exclaimed sincerely.
The assistant next to him quickly reminded, "Quickly check the photo, is that snow leopard Ram?"
The two mountains are too far apart. Although the photographer captured the snow leopard through the camera, he was unable to judge its appearance with the naked eye.
"I hope it's her, God bless."
The photographer's hands were shaking, whether because of the cold or because he was too worried. He flipped through the preview photos tremblingly, zoomed in the center of the picture, and confirmed the stripes on the snow leopard.
Each snow leopard has unique stripes, and humans can distinguish them based on the shape of the stripes.
After looking through every photo, they did not find any familiar features. The two people who had been waiting for three days had dim eyes at the same time.
"Ram, as expected... we should have saved her last time."
"Don't blame yourself, we have tried our best." The photographer patted the assistant's shoulder and comforted him, "Ram herself refused to accept help. After all, she still has to raise the cubs hidden in the mountains."
"Lhamo" means fairy in Tibetan and is often used as a female name.
Three years ago, a local infrared camera captured a beautiful snow leopard that looked like a fairy, leaping carefree among the rocks.
The locals named her 'Ram' and watched through the camera as she grew stronger, welcomed her own breeding season, and became the mother of three cubs.
However, the good times did not last long. As the snow leopard cubs grew older, the burden on Ram became heavier and heavier.
Later, the camera captured Ram, and each time he looked thinner than the last.
The number of cubs following behind her gradually decreased from three to two, and then to only one.
The infrared camera captured Ram for the last time, as she tried and failed to snatch a bit of meat from the Tibetan fox's mouth.
When he left, Ram's paw was limping and it was unknown how long he had been injured.
For snow leopards, injuring their paws means losing access to their staple food: the Himalayan blue sheep, also known as the blue sheep.
The blue sheep has extremely fast speed and jumping ability. Even a young blue sheep that is born not long ago can walk on the top of the mountain as if it were flat ground and escape the pursuit of natural enemies.
A healthy and strong snow leopard would have to try its best to catch a blue sheep, not to mention a snow leopard with injured claws that affects its mobility.
When the news came out, people who had been concerned about Ram became anxious and wanted to provide her with treatment.
However, the Himalayas, with an average altitude of 6,000 meters, are too difficult for humans to conquer, and no one is even sure where Ram is hiding.
The experienced animal photographer climbed the most accessible mountain around Ram's habitat and waited there for three full days before finally capturing a photo of a snow leopard.
Unfortunately, he is not Ram.
The photographer judged from the body shape and claw size that he should be a male snow leopard that just turned one year old...
etc!
A male leopard cub that just turned one year old? !
The photographer was so excited that his blood was boiling and he looked at the photos he had taken again.
"Oh my god, he is definitely Ram's child! The only remaining snow leopard cub!"
Speaking of Ram's child, the assistant was even more sad. "Ram is so pitiful. She had a hard time raising one of her three children. Now she is dead. How can such a small cub survive?"
The environment here is harsh, and ordinary snow leopard cubs must stay with their mothers until they are about two years old before they can survive independently.
The one-year-old snow leopard had no chance of survival when facing the cruel and ruthless nature alone.
Thinking of this, the photographer and assistant became sad again.
Maybe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, the little snow leopard will -
Bah! Bah! Bah!
Curse who?!
Yu Yijun was tired of holding the tail, so he let go of it for the time being, lowered his head and sniffed around, looking for any traces of prey.
At this moment, the urgency of the hunt has reached its peak.
It wasn't because Piglet Leopard was hungry, but mainly because the injured mother needed nutrition. She meowed all day long to beg for food...
Okay, I can’t continue making up stories.
I'm just hungry!
Before he took over, this body had been hungry for who knows how long. Yu Yiyun was so hungry that she dreamed of "listing dishes", such as steamed lamb, steamed bear paws, steamed deer tails...
Hiss.
The time goes back to three days ago.
In the spring when flowers bloom, sesame dumplings lie among the bright and sweet flowers and fall asleep again.
Experiencing the same scene for the sixth time, he was already very familiar with the process and directly interrupted the opening remarks of Voice of the World.
"I'm in a hurry, just tell me the conclusion."
[……]
The Voice of the World choked violently, took two breaths, and then spoke:
[As a reward for completing the mission well, you will receive preferential treatment before the next mission begins.]
After experiencing the beatings several times before, Yu Yiyun had learned her lesson. She didn't dare to make any demands rashly and just kept smiling politely.
Unexpectedly, Voice of the World had no intention of letting him go.
[Please choose between two rewards. 1. Time. 2. Distance.]
“…”
Professor Yu has done countless multiple-choice questions in his life, but he was stumped this time.
Faced with two unknown options, he thought for two minutes before cautiously asking, "Dear, do you have any hints?"
[Do you need to transfer to a human operator?]
The voice of the world spoke in a calm tone, but Yu Yiyun could clearly hear some ridicule in it.
"The transfer to manual labor is a thing of the past life. How can you, a system, still hold a grudge?"
[First, I am not a system. Second, please make your choice as soon as possible.]
"Oh, only children make choices..." Yu Yiyun, who had already lost all her face, tried to get away with it, but found that the Voice of the World was unmoved.
He thought about the two options again and decided to choose 'time' according to his instinct.
[Okay, the next mission will start 90 seconds earlier for you.]
"90 seconds, only one and a half minutes?" Yu Yiyun felt a little regretful and asked unwillingly, "What about the distance advantage?"
[Five meters.]
Okay, they are all pretty stingy.
Yu Yiyun was balanced.
[The seventh task is to adapt to the habitat.]
After hearing his mission clearly, Yu Yiyun had a bad feeling.
With so many previous experiences, he has realized a truth:
The easier a task sounds, the more difficult it is.
"Just tell me the mission is difficult!"
[Good luck. ]
The Voice of the World has issued seven tasks in total, and this is the first time that it has 'kindly' wished him good luck.
Oops.
Yu Yiyun’s ominous premonition became stronger and stronger!
Realizing that the situation was extremely unfavorable to him, Yu Yiyun knew very well: In this situation, it was absolutely important for World Voice to give him 90 seconds of preferential treatment!
Yu Yiyun had just regained consciousness, so how could he be careless? He immediately opened his eyes and got up, and found himself in a nest.
The nest is located deep in the cave. Judging from the interior decoration and smell, it looks a bit like the tiger nest prepared by Kang Kang.
"call!"
"call!"
Outside the cave, there was a low snoring sound, as if someone was going through a battle.
Before Yu Yiyun had time to confirm what he was, his body was faster than his brain and he immediately rushed out of the cave.
The light in the cave was dim. Yu Yiyun, who had just rushed out, was exposed to the sunlight. His eyes dazed for a few seconds and he stepped on empty air.
Wild animals have thick skin and flesh, so it is normal for them to stumble occasionally.
Yu Yiyun didn't take it seriously and quickly steadied himself.
He blinked and looked down at his feet, and instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
Outside the cave, there was an almost vertical steep rock, with no bottom in sight.
Yu Yiyun, who was about to start a sacrifice to the gods, was so scared that he retracted his claws and looked around vigilantly.
Not far away, there was a group of furry creatures, with their backs facing the cave, making snoring sounds to drive away enemies.
After experiencing so many lives, Yu Yiyun knows clearly that wild beasts will not easily turn their backs to the enemy. Such a gesture often represents protection.
Well, the answer is obvious.
This furry animal with a long tail, which still sounds cute even when trying to sound fierce, is his own relative.
So, I should be——
A little snow leopard?
I couldn’t get a leopard in my previous life, but it’s not bad to become a leopard in this life!
Yu Yiyun happily accepted the reality after becoming a leopard for the first minute. She ran towards her animal and tried to act coquettishly with her mother skillfully.
When getting closer to the female beast, Yu Yiyun realized that something was wrong.
A female snow leopard protecting herself, with the smell of blood on her body.
The snowy ground where she walked left traces of plum blossom-like footprints.
Judging from the position, it seems that the important front paw was injured.
In front of the leopard, there was a male blue sheep with curved horns.
As the main prey of snow leopards, blue sheep are agile and good at climbing high places and taking risks. Lambs can stand up within half an hour of birth and are naturally capable of avoiding snow leopards.
The blue sheep lives in the Himalayas and has large horns on its head.
Every year that a mountain goat grows, its horns gain an extra ridge.
Judging from the horizontal edges of its horns, it should be 6-7 years old, at the peak of its life, and has very strong attack power.
In most cases, blue sheep will choose to run away when they encounter snow leopards.
But there are always exceptions.
When a strong and mighty blue sheep encounters a weak, injured female snow leopard that needs to protect its nest, the offensive and defensive situation is instantly reversed.
The male ibex approached step by step, trying to use its horns to knock the female snow leopard off the cliff.
The female leopard let out a bluffing roar and refused to give in even a little bit in the face of the enemy beast that was so close to her.
Because she has her child behind her.
She only has one child left!
Last year, in late summer and early fall, first-time mother Ram gave birth to three adorable cubs.
Newly born cat cubs completely rely on their mother's milk to survive. In order to feed her children, Ram increased her hunting frequency from once every ten days to once every three to five days.
But Ram didn't know that due to human activities, the number of wild blue sheep in the Himalayas is decreasing.
According to a survey, it takes an average of 300 blue sheep to feed one snow leopard.
But there weren't so many prey in her territory.
In order to provide enough milk for her cubs, Ram was driven by her instinct and wild tendencies to move with her cubs to an area with more prey.
Where prey gathers, it will naturally attract more hunters.
The new hunting ground chosen by Ram was the territory of a male snow leopard.
With the exception of lions, all big cats prefer to live alone.
Except during the breeding season, male snow leopards do not welcome female snow leopards to enter their territory, let alone female snow leopards with cubs.
Ram hid with his cub from place to place, but was still discovered by the snow leopard lord.
The two leopards met on a narrow road, and even though she tried her best, the weakest little snow leopard was still bitten to death.
Ram was injured and did not dare to stay in the male snow leopard's territory.
The injured snow leopard was unable to move freely among the cliffs.
Ram was forced to move down the mountain to target livestock, which were easier to catch.
There are grasslands all over Tibet, and many herders make a living by raising cattle and sheep. In the early years, snow leopards were shot in retaliation because they often preyed on herders' livestock.
After the concept of "protecting snow leopards" became popular, relevant organizations promised to compensate the herders for their losses in exchange for the herders and farmers putting down their hunting rifles.
Even so, this does not mean that snow leopards can easily obtain livestock.
There are often sheepdogs around livestock, responsible for guarding cattle and sheep.
The healthy and strong snow leopard doesn't take the sheepdog seriously at all.
But Ram had been hungry for a long time, was weak and injured.
She was very smart. She adopted ambush and guerrilla tactics, successfully captured sheep several times, and managed to raise the cubs to half a year old.
Six-month-old snow leopard cubs can run and jump, and have learned to avoid enemy animals.
Ram's burden was not alleviated by this.
The six-month-old cub has been weaned and can never go back to the stage where "as long as Ram is alive, she can feed the cub."
Even though she consumes fat, flesh and blood and secretes nutrient-rich milk, the cubs want to eat meat more.
As a mother, Ram had to provide enough meat for her children.
As the children's appetites grew, Ram was forced to increase the frequency of hunting.
After dealing with Ram many times, the shepherd dog completely understood Ram's behavior pattern.
During one sneak attack, several sheepdogs surrounded Ram from the front and back, chased her back to the den, and bit the second cub to death.
During the fight, Ram was injured again.
She had no time to recuperate; the collie had already found her lair.
In order to protect the only remaining cub, the strong Ram took him to a safe area where there were no male leopards or sheepdogs.
Although the new home is far away from natural enemies, there are too few prey. Ram goes out hunting every day, consuming a lot of energy, but rarely brings back prey.
The long struggle for food made Ram increasingly weak.
During a hunting trip, she accidentally injured her important right front paw and was unable to jump and run normally.
Experience taught Ram that she should rest quietly.
Otherwise, her paw wounds would worsen, and when the cold weather came, the heavy snow might bury her forever.
But the cub had been hungry for a long time and he needed food.
Eventually, her maternal instincts overcame her injured instincts and she went out again to look for food.
The rocks in the mountains were sharp and rough. Ram was like a mermaid dancing on the edge of a knife. Every time she ran, she caused more damage to her wounds.
There are no idle animals on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. When wild animals passing by smell the scent, they know there is a dying snow leopard here.
The vultures circled over Ram's head, ringing a low, muffled death knell.
The bearded vulture folded its wings and perched on the cliff, coveting the bones of the snow leopard.
Ram searched for several days with his injured leg and finally found a blue sheep.
The male ibex, which was originally planning to escape, noticed Ram's weakness and suddenly stopped and faced the dying snow leopard.
Ram knew that he couldn't catch up with the mountain goat now.
She slowly backed away, deliberately showing weakness, and attracted the mountain goats to her nest.
Having lost the ability to hunt, I will definitely not survive this winter.
But her baby still had a chance.
The slope of this mountain is almost vertical, and if you fall off the cliff, there is almost no chance of survival.
As a mother, Ram has one last gift to give to her cubs.
As long as she falls down with the ibex, the one-year-old cub should be able to survive for another month or two relying on itself and the remains of the ibex.
If the cub learns to hunt within two months, it will survive.
Ram used his injured front paws to grab the ground and lower his center of gravity.
Her claws hurt badly, but she only had one chance and she had to roll down the cliff with the mountain goat.
The female snow leopard made a decision and was about to take action.
Suddenly, accompanied by the whistling sound of wind, a silver-gray figure passed by.
"...meow?"
Ram was stunned, and when he looked carefully, his pupils trembled with fear.
——Isn’t that my precious baby who I hold in my mouth for fear of dropping it, and in my paws for fear of breaking it, and who is so weak and unable to take care of himself?
My cub has just turned one year old. Although its size is almost the same as its mother, it does not yet have the ability to hunt.
Snow leopards’ prey are too difficult to catch. Ram himself finds it very strenuous and cannot bear to let his cub take risks.
The mountain goats on the opposite side, ready to attack, did not expect a third party to suddenly appear.
Before it could see clearly who the beast was that was rushing towards it, it was bitten hard on the neck.
If faced head-on, male blue sheep have many ways to shake off sub-adult snow leopards.
However, the ibex thought it had the upper hand and was completely still, which resulted in its biggest advantage - speed - being unable to be utilized.
With a snow leopard hanging on its body, the blue sheep couldn't even start running.
Although the snow leopard was young, its angle was tricky.
Riding on the back of the ibex to prevent it from fighting back with its hooves and horns, aiming its teeth precisely at the trachea in its throat.
The blue sheep, which had once escaped countless snow leopards, suffered a tragic defeat and was tortured to death by the kittens that fell from the sky.
After confirming that the mountain goat was no longer moving, Yu Yiyun raised his cat-like face, which was dyed the color of dragon fruit, and licked his sharp canine teeth.
The next second, the kitten was so tired that it spread out its paws and fell to the side, gasping for breath.
I haven't been a cat in several lifetimes, and I almost forgot how poor the endurance of cats is.
Fortunately, I have a good starting point in this life, and I feel like I am over one year old.
If he turned into a four-month-old little nose like Yunxiao, he would have no chance of catching the sheep even if he died of exhaustion today.
After panting for a long time, the little snow leopard licked the blood at the corner of its mouth, slowly climbed up, and found that Ram was still standing there stiffly.
She opened her blue animal eyes wide, and couldn't figure out why the little piece of trash who was nestling in her arms and crying for food yesterday had become so brave?
Yu Yiyun recovered and finally had time to observe the animals carefully.
The snow leopard's fur was very thick, but you could still tell she was just a bag of bones.
In addition to the paws with the plum blossom mark, the female leopard had injuries on her shoulders and hind legs, which seemed to have been caused in recent months.
Although Yu Yiyun was unable to read the memory, looking at the scarred appearance of the female leopard, she knew that she must have risked her life more than once in order to raise her cubs.
No wonder you have to give yourself 90 seconds before starting this task.
If it weren't for those 90 seconds, Yu Yiyun would be an orphan again now.
"Meow~"
The snow leopard, with its fur dyed the color of dragon fruit, becomes the only color in the entire mountain.
He tilted the cat's head, making a cheerful clipping sound, inviting the animal to quietly look at him.
'Mommy, come and eat the lamb together!'
Seeing the female leopard standing there unmoved, Yu Yiyun put herself in her shoes and thought that maybe her claws were hurting too much and she didn't want to come over.
The sensible and filial little snow leopard picked it up, picked it up, picked it up...
After the third time, Yu Yiyun gave up.
After so many generations, pigs are still not good at catching prey.
There are cliffs everywhere here. If you fall down, even if you have nine lives, it will not be enough.
"Meow!" Mommy, come here quickly!
The little snow leopard urged Ram many times, but Ram remained unmoved and squatted there quietly cleaning his paws.
The big cat has a small brain and can't imagine such a complicated technique as "soul swapping".
The main reason why Ram didn't go was the shortage of food in autumn and winter.
Since they had lost their hunting ability, this sheep was probably the last prey for them.
It can't feed two leopards for too long, so it's better to let the cubs hold on a little longer...
"Meow!"
Yu Yiyun urged her several times, but to no avail, so she simply tore off a piece of meat and forced it into her mother's mouth.
The last prey?
What a joke!
Your baby is here, just wait to be fed into a gas tank!
——Back to the present moment.
Leopard searched the mountains for three days with his tail in his mouth, but he didn't find a single strand of wool. He looked at the distant mountains and thought about his life:
Is the mountain goat so difficult to catch?
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