Chapter 158 Snow Leopard (XVI)
The temperature in mountainous areas drops rapidly in winter. Everything turns white and most small animals hide.
Early in the morning, the pig crawled out of the cave where he slept, poked his head around, and used his paws to leave plum blossom-shaped footprints on the snow slope at the door.
The snow leopard's paws are broad and thick, and the printed plum blossoms are all plus versions.
He stretched his limbs and then dug out the food reserves he had hidden in advance from the deep snow nearby.
After crunching down the fresh frozen meat, he wandered around the small territory boredly for a few rounds, and considered his routine patrol complete.
The territory is so small that even marking it seems unnecessary.
There was too much food stored at home, and Yu Yiyun felt that his body was starting to feel lazy after not having to hunt for several days.
"Meow!" I want to exercise!
Even if you become a beast, you must be self-disciplined!
The most self-disciplined little snow leopard in the entire Himalayas did not return to its den to continue sleeping, but thought about using local materials to entertain itself.
Unfortunately, the recreational facilities on the snow mountain are limited, and looking around, most of the hillside is covered with snow.
Over the years, I have become tired of seeing snow leopards and no longer want to play with them.
Yu Yiyun is different.
He knows so well all the ways to play with snow~!
Unfortunately, he was the only cat in the area, so he couldn't have a snowball fight.
The pigs rolled around everywhere, using the standard doggy paddle to make the snow soft and fluffy, then used their thick paw pads to dig a few times and roll the floating snow into crooked snowballs.
After making the snowball, he used his clumsy paws to randomly tap it twice to shape it into the shape of "ears".
"Meow!" It's so real, I'm a genius!
Yu Yiyun examined the inverted triangle·abstract·frosted snowball with satisfaction.
"Meow~" The snow leopard's head is ready!
The entire snow leopard clan: Tell me clearly, whose head is this?
After finishing the head, the next step is the body.
The pig used his intelligence to roll a twisted polyhedron, and used his forehead to arch next to the triangular snowball and force it to connect.
Since I want to be a snow leopard, how can I not have a big furry tail if I have a head and a body?
Unfortunately, the snow leopard's claws are far less dexterous than human fingers, so it is difficult to make a long tail.
The pig made a plum blossom paw print, found a long branch, held it in its mouth and took it home.
As a rigorous designer, Zhumi also covered the surface of the branches with snow, which was covered with a lot of hair that he shed during the change of seasons.
As a cat, snow leopards are much more aggressive when they shed their fur than domestic cats. You can make another snow leopard by making wool felt with the shed fur.
After completing the amazing 'Snow Leopard' sculpture, a certain pig's creative desire reached its peak and he decided to continue challenging himself to complete an even more magnificent masterpiece!
——Build a mountain goat!
The temperature in the mountains is low and the snow will not melt until next spring.
Yu Yiyun raised a group of mountain goats, so that when food became scarce and no one could catch them a few days later, he could still look to the goats to satisfy his hunger.
Impressed by his own genius idea, he began collecting snow again.
The process of making blue sheep is obviously a little more complicated than that of making snow leopard.
The blue sheep has two curved horns, which are more difficult to make than the ears.
This did not pose a problem for Zhumi. He imitated the snowman and made an inverted triangle ibex head. Then he picked up two strange-shaped stones and forced them into the snowball.
"Meow~" Yeah, so similar!
"Meow!" I am destined to become the greatest artist in the snow leopard world!
"call."
Yu Yiyun was feeling good about herself and was still admiring herself when a muffled groan came from above.
Leopard Dad braved the snow to catch the blue sheep. Fearing that his son would have no food to eat, he came around to take a look.
The Snow Mountain Art Exhibition welcomed its first customer. The great artist was extremely happy and ran over to warmly invite Leopard Dad to appreciate his great work.
"Meow~" Daddy, come and look!
"Huh?" What?
Leopard Dad looked at one abstract pile of snow and another more abstract pile of snow.
"Huh?" Son, did you hide your poop in there?
"Meow!" Daddy, this piece is you.
"……call?"
Fortunately, Leopard Dad didn’t understand, otherwise he would definitely have applied for legal aid.
Although he had never looked in the mirror, he refused to admit that he looked ugly.
[ugly rejection.jpg]
Seeing that Leopard Dad could not appreciate his art, Yu Yiyun was particularly upset and decided to find a creature with the ability to appreciate art, such as the little man who went into the mountains to pick saffron.
The bitter cold has arrived, and local residents brave the biting winter wind and enter the mountains carrying bamboo baskets.
As we walked, the wind blowing down from the top of the mountain suddenly weakened.
They looked up in surprise, only to see a little snow leopard returning to its hometown before winter, holding an...alien in its mouth?
Everyone was shocked and suspected that some strange new creatures had appeared in the mountains.
A strong man plucked up the courage to come closer and take a closer look, then turned around and told his companions.
"Oh, you're overthinking it. It's just a piece of snow."
"Uh, what is the little leopard doing with the snow in its mouth?"
"Just hold it in your mouth. Maybe he likes ugly things."
Hearing the word "ugly thing", Yu Yiyun's defense was instantly broken, and she gritted her teeth in anger.
"Meow!" Snow leopards are not ugly creatures!
The upper and lower teeth bit together, and the "greatest work in the snow leopard world" in the mouth was instantly shattered into debris.
"Meow!" Bad guy!
"Meow!" I'm not going to pay attention to you!
The piglet was so angry that he swung his tail and disappeared into the mountains.
Before the appearance of Little Man Mi, Yu Yiyun naively imagined that if people found out that snow leopards could make snowmen, they would definitely give up the Louvre to display their works.
What's the result?
What's the result!
Oh.
He actually said that his own work was ugly. What a fool with no taste.
Baobao walked along the mountain road for a while, holding his broken heart, and felt a little hungry.
In late winter, most animals in the mountains like to hide in warm dens, making it increasingly difficult to catch prey.
Smart Pig looked down into the distance and had a bad idea.
It's time to do something big!
Yu Yiyun made up his mind, touched his paws, started hunting, and ran without hesitation to the grazing area where he had grazed many times last year.
As soon as he approached the grazing area, the Tibetan Mastiff, which had been inexplicably scolded a lot because of him last year, immediately rushed over and barked loudly.
Last year, Zhumi was pitiful, weak and helpless, and could only find ways to lure the Tibetan Mastiff away.
After a whole year of growth, Yu Yiyun has entered a mature stage, with sharp and powerful claws.
“Meow!”
He rushed straight at the Tibetan Mastiff, raised his claws and hammered down, hitting it on the head.
Tibetan Mastiff No. 1 was stunned by the blow. He rolled over on the ground holding his head, howling loudly.
Tibetan Mastiff No. 2 rushed over and stepped on No. 1's body.
No. 1 was hit hard and was full of anger. Then No. 2 stepped hard on his stomach four times, and all his anger overflowed.
"Woof woof!" Bad dog, why are you stepping on me!
"Woof woof woof!" Why are you yelling so loudly? Vicious dog!
"Woof?" You scolded me!
"Woof!" What's wrong with me scolding you?
Tibetan Mastiff is a fierce dog that is difficult to control and will not even recognize its owner once it gets angry.
Tibetan Mastiffs, used as working dogs in pastoral areas, retain a certain degree of wildness and are particularly easily angered.
The two simple-minded mastiffs suddenly started fighting each other, making Yu Yiyun's claws useless.
Okay.
Yu Yiyun retracted his claws.
Save your energy, we'll be doing something big later!
He walked slowly towards the pasture area, close to where cattle and sheep were raised.
The Border Collie obviously remembered the pleasant cooperation with Leopard last year, and immediately started the stealing mode, wagging its tail to welcome Leopard into the pasture for inspection.
The German Shepherds remained on either side of the livestock, recognizing the snow leopard, torn between duty and instinct.
Duty told the Border Collie that he should drive away the snow leopard, but the mutton and bones he had eaten before bewitched the German Shepherd, making it impossible for him to act impartially.
The local herders are aware of the sheepdogs' minor ailments and usually only feed them until they are 70% full to prevent them from eating too much and affecting their work enthusiasm.
Moreover, herders do not feed sheepdogs with livestock meat. Most of them feed them grain and cheap frozen chicken.
The herders in this pastoral area treat their sheepdogs very well, feeding them dog food and chicken legs every day.
But no matter how delicious dog food is, it can never compare to fresh lamb.
The German Shepherd struggled in his mind, and finally raised his head high, pretending not to have seen the snow leopard.
As a people's shepherd dog, he has fallen completely.
"Meow." Good dog, don't wag your tail.
Yu Yiyun stroked the Border Collie with her paw, signaling it to wait nearby, and she walked lightly towards the pasture area.
This pastoral area is large and mainly raises white-wool goats and yaks.
Cows and sheep are both herbivores, but there are certain differences in their feeding habits.
Cows prefer to eat the green grass of the flat grasslands, while sheep prefer shrubs and leaves.
Therefore, when the two types of livestock are grazed together, cattle have their herds and sheep have their flocks.
This grazing area has a high slope, and the area near the mountains has shrubs and leaves that the sheep like, so the sheep are always on the periphery.
The previous times Yu Yiyun came, his target was mainly the sheep flocks on the edge of the grazing area.
Today is different.
He walked around the flock without looking back, without disturbing the sheep as they grazed.
Free-range farmed sheep still remain vigilant.
The huge flock of sheep noticed the snow leopard and huddled together in fear, bleating to alert their companions to the danger.
Not far away, the yaks grazing heard the sheep calling, lowered their heads and continued chewing, not taking the foreign snow leopard seriously.
They come here to graze all year round and encounter many snow leopards.
Most snow leopards will be driven away by sheepdogs.
Even if it breaks through the sheepdog's cordon, the snow leopard is small in size and fights alone.
When cattle and sheep are grazing together, they will definitely choose sheep that are easier to deal with.
Farmed yaks weigh several hundred kilograms, and many individuals weigh over 1,000 kilograms, almost ten times that of snow leopards.
Moreover, yaks have thick fur and sharp horns, and are more powerful than sheep.
If the snow leopard rashly challenges them, it is likely to be killed.
The yak took it for granted that this crisis had nothing to do with him.
When they noticed that the snow leopard was bypassing the herd and walking towards them, a few lone yaks moved and approached the herd, but did not seem particularly panicked.
The snow leopard was an adult, but not yet in its prime.
Even for a snow leopard in its prime, it is not easy to deal with yaks.
The strongest male yak in the herd stood out, lowered his head, and pointed his sharp horns at the snow leopard.
At this moment, it did not know how familiar the hunter in front of it was with this action.
Yu Yiyun did not attack the bull yak immediately.
It is too big, and with its limited ability, even if it successfully kills the yak, it will not be able to bring it back to its territory.
“Meow.”
Yu Yiyun deliberately made calls that sounded bluffing, using painless attacks to anger the bull yak.
The tactic was successful.
As the leader of the herd, the male yak must prove his dominance through force.
It kicked its legs wildly and chased the snow leopard fiercely, driving the enemy animal far away.
Just as the male yak thought he had won and was about to return to the herd.
The snow leopard came back and bit the yak's tail.
"Moo!"
The male yak became even angrier and turned to the place where he was attacked, and saw large patches of brightly colored jumping objects.
In ancient bullrings, bullfighters would swing a large piece of red cloth to stimulate the bull's blood.
Since then, many people have mistakenly believed that cows will go crazy when they see red.
In fact, there are only two types of cones in the eyes of cattle, which cannot distinguish red.
It would pounce on the red cloth, simply reacting to movement and color.
Yu Yiyun took advantage of this and scattered meat scraps and bone residues on the hillside in advance to attract birds that could not find food in the winter to fly over and peck at the food.
When people think of colorful feathers, they often think of peacocks.
When the brown-tailed pheasant living in the Himalayas spreads its wings, its rich colors are just as colorful as those of a peacock.
Yu Yiyun had dealt with cows too many times and knew that cows were animals that were easily angered.
The repeated harassment from the snow leopards and the birds flying around dazzled my eyes.
The yak was so excited that it actually followed Yu Yiyun and left the grazing area.
After running a few hundred meters out of the grazing area, the yaks found themselves far away from the herd and even out of the protection of the sheepdogs.
It realized the danger belatedly and prepared to return to the pasture.
Yu Yijun seized the opportunity, pounced on the yak from behind and bit its neck.
The canine teeth of a snow leopard are about 4 centimeters long, so they cannot bite through the spine of a yak in one bite like the teeth of lions and tigers, which are 7 or 8 centimeters long.
However, a length of 4 cm is enough to pierce cowhide.
"Moo!"
The yak cried out in pain and used all its strength to throw the snow leopard off.
Snow leopards weigh only one-third to one-quarter of a tiger and have limited grip, making it difficult for them to hang on to their prey.
The yak turned around, lowered its head again, and attacked the snow leopard with its hard horns.
The horns of yaks are more than 30 centimeters long, and the leader-level male yaks are even more terrifying.
If you use the horns to prop up the snow leopard, you can almost pierce his body.
If it were an ordinary snow leopard, it would most likely give up hunting if it discovered that the yaks were so powerful.
However, the moment Yu Yiyun lowered his head, she knew she had won.
Having been a beast for many years, Yu Yiyun knew that no matter how powerful a bison was, it still had weak parts with zero defense.
In a flash, the yak let out a painful cry, and everything in front of me turned into a bloody mess.
Yu Yiyun took advantage of the yak's rampage and led it into the terrain he had designed, causing the yak to get stuck in the cracks of the rocks and become unable to move.
Then it opened its mouth, revealing its sharp teeth, and bit the yak's throat effortlessly.
Blood gushed out in large streams and the fragrance wafted far away.
The Tibetan fox family was attracted out of the cave, bringing their whole family with them, and tried to steal the snow leopard's food.
When the Tibetan fox saw the snow leopard raising its head after biting the yak to death, it immediately turned around and ran away.
I can't afford to offend you. Goodbye.
A Tibetan mastiff that was biting each other was frightened when it saw a snow leopard bite a yak to death and immediately became well behaved.
You know, they can't even stand being stepped on by yaks.
Yu Yiyun took a deep breath and looked at his prey with satisfaction.
With this yak, it doesn’t matter if we can’t catch blue sheep next winter.
So here comes the question.
Piglet raised his head and looked towards the top of the mountain.
How to bring the prey home?
Unlike yaks and blue sheep, yaks are fat, strong and make a lot of noise.
The herders who were grazing in other areas soon noticed the commotion among the cattle in this area and rode over on their mules.
Following the messy footprints and bloodstains, he chased to the edge of the pasture and saw the culprit cleaning the blood off his body.
"Little Leopard, it's you again?"
The herdsman looked left and right and asked in disbelief:
"You killed my yak by yourself?"
"Meow, meow."
Yu Yiyun explained guiltily: I am not a person, I am a cat.
The herdsmen stared in amazement for a long time before finally coming to a conclusion.
"It seems that this pasture is no longer usable."
Before this, his sheepdog was strong enough to fight against the snow leopards in the mountains, and everything had been going peacefully.
In recent years, due to the large-scale grazing by herders, the number of blue sheep in the mountains has dropped sharply, and conflicts between snow leopards and herders have increased.
Even though the local government will compensate for the losses, the herders still don't want their livestock to be taken away by snow leopards, so they raise more sheepdogs.
In the spring of the year before last, a herder’s Tibetan mastiff brought back the body of a snow leopard cub.
The herders realized that something was not right and quickly taught all their sheepdogs a lesson, telling them to drive away the snow leopards if they saw one.
Even so, conflict cannot be avoided.
The little leopard appeared.
Seeing him risking his life to enter the pastoral area and kill yaks, the herders finally realized that they could not go on like this.
The snow leopard needs the blue sheep and he cannot afford to lose the yaks.
If we don't want both sides to suffer losses, we must return the grassland to the wild animals here so that top hunters don't have to obtain food by attacking livestock.
The little leopard can catch the yak.
If there is enough prey, what can't he catch?
The herders seemed to have received a wake-up call and made a decision secretly.
At the beginning of the new year, fireworks were lit on the slopes below the mountain.
Last year, Yu Yiyun did not see the New Year’s fireworks.
Because all the grasslands need to be grazed, the sound of firecrackers will scare the livestock.
Zhumi's yak had not finished eating yet, so it stayed at the foot of the mountain chewing on its bones.
When the fireworks lit up, the surrounding birds were scared and flew away. Only Leopard raised his head happily to appreciate the colorful lights blooming in the night sky.
When the fireworks are over, spring will be here!
Yu Yiyun finished the last two bites of meat while the fireworks show played, then dragged her plump body back to the territory.
As soon as he entered the territory, he smelled a much stronger scent than when he left, wafting from far away.
The pig looked carefully and found that the leopard father living above had reached the breeding period and was releasing mature male hormones to attract the opposite sex.
Yu Yiyun had grown tired of watching the scenes of snow leopards courting each other last year. He yawned with a lack of interest and prepared to take a nap. When he woke up, he would go to the lonely mountain to look for his brothers and sisters.
Over the past few months, thanks to Zhumi's unremitting efforts, Ram finally became numb and turned a blind eye to his approach, allowing Yu Yijun to get the chance to rub the little leopard several times.
I don't know why, but recently, at the end of winter, Ram started to be aggressive towards me again. She would breathe heavily as soon as they met and would not let her adult son get close to her.
Why?
Leopard is so cute!
Yu Yiyun couldn't figure it out, so he rested his head on his arms and closed his eyes.
Before he could fall into a sound sleep, he smelled the scent of a strange leopard crossing the border of his territory.
The pig has no sense of boundaries and doesn't mind other animals invading its territory. It just turns over and continues snoring.
Unexpectedly, the leopard that invaded the territory seemed to be more than just passing by, but was running towards Piglet with a clear goal.
"Meow?" What are you doing?
Piglet turned over impatiently and took the initiative to come to the strange leopard, and found that she exuded the same strong fragrance.
If my judgment is correct, this is a beautiful female leopard in her prime, without cubs, and just entering the estrus period.
"Meow~"
The female leopard was particularly enthusiastic and took the initiative to imitate Yu Yiyun's calls.
"Meow!" I understand!
A light bulb suddenly lit up in Yu Yiyun's head, and he called for the female leopard to follow him.
"Meow~" Miss, are you here to be my stepmother?
"Meow!" I'll take you to find daddy!
Piglet led the little sister, jumped up the mountain with familiarity, and broke into Daddy's territory.
The female leopard, who came from afar, seemed a little confused.
Some snow leopards are particular about rituals and must choose the location for mating, which female leopards can understand.
Going to another male leopard's house to have sex seems a bit...
What?
Do you really need an audience?
"Meow!" Daddy is right in front, go quickly!
Yu Yiyun enthusiastically led the "stepmother" to Bao's father. In order not to disturb their good times, Baobao was very attentive and prepared to leave.
“Ouch!”
Seeing him running so fast, the female leopard didn't even bother to make any sound and hurriedly followed him.
When Leopard Dad heard the noise, he poked his head out in confusion.
"Huh?" Beauty, are you looking for me?
"Ah!" Get out, you old leopard!
"...Woo." Leopard Dad whimpered aggrievedly.
You came to my house smelling like you were in heat to seduce me, and I got scolded as soon as I made a sound.
Am I some kind of mean leopard?
When the female leopard saw that the young, handsome, strong and well-built younger leopard that she had chosen was about to run away, she immediately chased after him at hunting speed and pounced in front of the younger leopard.
"Meow~"
The female leopard flirtatiously wagged her tail, inviting the younger leopard to exchange scents with her so that they could get to know each other first.
“…”
Yu Yiyun was confused.
“…”
Yu Yiyun was dumbfounded.
He never dreamed that the beautiful female leopard's target was not her father, but himself.
"Meow, meow...meow?" No, no, I'm still a little...I'm no longer a little leopard!
After being a cub for a long time, Yu Yiyun realized with sadness that the two-year-old snow leopard had become an adult and had to enter the leopard society.
Even though her body had reached maturity, Yu Yiyun was unable to overcome the hurdle in her heart.
He knew that for wild animals, reproduction was an instinct engraved in their genes.
As a male leopard, he only needs to provide the female with genes to sustain life, and he does not need to be responsible for subsequent reproduction and raising.
However, the humanity that still remains after so many lifetimes makes Yu Yiyun unable to accept the current situation on various levels.
It was already difficult for Yu Yiyun to give up an animal that was not related to him by blood, let alone a cub that had his own bloodline?
not to mention--
"Meow?" Sister, can I take you to find other male leopards?
"Meow!" I've never even been in love!!!
We pigs have witnessed so much love between other animals, but we ourselves have never found a partner, and we don’t even have a secret crush. We can’t accept such an exciting, efficient and fast-paced pairing method.
"Ah!" Haha, useless male leopard!
The female leopard went around to the back and found that the pig was so timid that it even tucked its tail in and blocked its legs between its legs to prevent her from smelling it. She was so angry that she cursed.
"Awooo!" There are plenty of male leopards in the mountains, so say goodbye.
Yu Yiyun watched the female leopard leave, and before she could breathe a sigh of relief, she smelled the scent of a strange female leopard from afar.
Again?!
The pig was so frightened that he shuddered and lost all sleepiness. He rolled out of his territory and decided to find a place to avoid the spring.
Help, I'm too popular!
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