Chapter 205: Jackal
As the distance got closer, she found that those black things were actually snails. There were so many of them that she could easily catch a handful with just one scoop.
A strong stench of decay also wafted in the air. It turned out that what were eating the corpse were not only snails, but also various microorganisms that were invisible to the naked eye.
It seems that it has been dead for quite a long time. Fortunately, the temperature is not as hot as before, otherwise it would be a paradise for flies.
When Sang Yu removed the snails covering the surface of the deer carcass, he discovered that its entire body was soaked in water. No wonder there were no flies.
The deer corpse's original shape is almost unrecognizable, with bones even exposed in some places. Only a pair of antlers are particularly obvious, proving its original species.
Sang Yu wanted to take a closer look, but the excessive number of snails floating in the water blocked her view.
After she pushed them away, new ones would fill the gaps, making her very annoyed.
"Tsk, how annoying." After pushing through the blockage once again, Sang Yu finally couldn't bear it any longer and shouted to the two people on the shore: "Dad, big brother, come and help me!"
The Sang family father and son may not be able to do other things well, but they must carry out Sang Yu's orders immediately.
After they took off their shoes and socks and entered the water, they realized that they still didn't know what Sang Yu wanted them to help with, and looked at her in confusion.
"Dad, you and big brother, each on either side, help me carry this deer carcass ashore."
As soon as these words were spoken, the father and son were stunned for a moment. They looked at each other, and there was only one message in their eyes - is he talking to us?
There are many kinds of deer in the wild. The dead deer in front of them is considered to be of medium size, but it must weigh more than 300 pounds. Can the two of them really lift it?
It’s not that they look down on themselves, but they really don’t have the strength.
Both father and son were weak scholars who could not carry anything on their shoulders or lift anything with their hands. Although they had received some exercise and their physical strength had improved a lot after coming to Lingnan, it was still too difficult for them to lift something weighing more than 300 kilograms.
"Don't worry, a lot of the deer's meat has been eaten, and its internal organs have been completely gutted. There aren't many pounds left, so it's still something you can carry."
Sang Yu was certainly not shooting in the dark. Seeing through the exposed deer skeleton that the deer had no internal organs, she already had a guess in her mind, but she needed more evidence to support her guess.
The father and son tried to lift the deer tentatively, one lifting his head and the other lifting his body. With Sang Yu also putting in some effort, they actually lifted the deer up.
Sang Xingjia moved the deer carcass to the shore bit by bit. He wanted to continue moving it up, but Sang Yu stopped him: "That's enough, big brother. No need to move anymore."
This position was enough for her to see the marks on the deer.
Deer meat that has been soaked for a long time is not as bright red as fresh deer meat, and is a bit white and wrinkled.
Coupled with the corruption and the gnawing of the snails, the scars that Sang Xingjia could still see yesterday were now gone.
"Yu'er, how did this deer die?" Seeing that she had been staring at the deer corpse without saying anything, Sang Yongjing couldn't help but ask.
Sang Yu finally came to the conclusion: "His internal organs were hollowed out, bleeding profusely, and he ran to the water source in terror and died of exhaustion."
"How did you figure that out?"
Sang Yu pulled away the remaining rotten flesh on the deer's sternum, revealing the inside, and pointed to a broken throat.
"Look, the deer's internal organs show signs of being pulled, and there are messy footprints along the shore. Even if the blood spilled along the way has been absorbed by the ground, we can still use other clues to reconstruct the course of events."
This hunting method reminded her of an animal - the jackal.
Many people may feel unfamiliar with the word "豺" when they just look at it, but when it is combined with other characters such as jackal, wolf, tiger, and leopard, they can be recognized instantly.
Jackals belong to the Canidae family and the genus Jackal. They are similar in size to dogs but smaller than wolves. They like to live in groups and are good at chasing and hunting. They prey on larger ungulates such as deer, goats, and wild boars.
They also have a more well-known attack characteristic - they like to dig out the anus of their prey, and later netizens jokingly called them "anorectal doctors."
When a pack of jackals hunts, once they lock onto a prey, they will start a relay-style chase.
Once caught up, one jackal will bite the prey's nose or attack its eyes, while the other jackals will bare their sharp teeth and bite the prey's sides, abdomen, and use their claws to dig out its anus.
This deer was difficult to attack because of the horns on its head, so the damage was mostly concentrated on its sides and buttocks, which are also the first places to rot, which just happened to correspond.
Sang Yu's heart finally settled down: "This was done by a jackal. It seems that our alarm was false."
"Jackal? The jackal with bee eyes and jackal voice?" Sang Xingjia immediately thought of this word.
"Yes, they generally don't attack humans actively, and they will show their presence by growling, baring their teeth, and so on. If you leave their territory in time, there will be no danger."
Sang Yu nodded slightly and gave the two of them some basic knowledge about the living habits of jackals.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, jackals are called hyenas not only because of their similar body shape and appearance, but also because their attacking behaviors and territorial awareness are also very similar.
After listening to her talk, Sang Yongjing suddenly said, "Does that mean we can still come here to catch snails in the future?"
Sang Yu hadn't expected his focus to be on this. She choked a little and nodded silently: "...Yes, but you still have to pay more attention to safety. After all, this is in the mountains."
After getting her approval, Sang Yongjing immediately took the bamboo basket he had brought with him and used it to catch the snails gathered in the water.
How does the saying go - since you're here, how can you leave empty-handed?
In fact, at the beginning of yesterday, Sang Yongjing even tried to take part of the deer back, after all, venison is a precious and delicious thing.
Although most of the meat has begun to rot, there is always some good meat underneath that has not been bitten.
However, after some attempts, the two men who did not bring knives were unable to do it and gave up.
Sang Xingjia happened to think of this, and knowing that Sang Yu had a kitchen knife with her, he asked her to cut some venison to take back.
"Little sister, let's cut some venison to eat. I think there's still some good ones that haven't been destroyed."
Hearing this, Sang Yu widened her eyes in surprise: "You want to eat rotten meat?"
You know, even though she was used to seeing the flesh and blood of all kinds of animals, she was still suppressing the urge to vomit as she examined the rotten deer corpse.
And now, her frail and frail elder brother actually wants to cut some carrion to eat? Even Hannibal couldn't do that.
"No, I see there's still some intact meat underneath. Can't we eat it?"
Sang Xingjia pointed to the meat inside the deer's belly, which looked much better than the meat outside.
It turned out that it was not that he liked to eat it but that he didn't know that he couldn't eat it. Sang Yu breathed a sigh of relief.
"...You can't eat it. Rotting animal carcasses will breed bacteria, uh, germs. Even if they appear intact, you'll get sick if you eat them."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
