Chapter 145: Startled Wild Ducks
It is a fantasy to want to catch a flying wild duck in the wild without the help of any tools, but there is a large swamp here.
Wild ducks prefer to forage in shallow water areas with deep silt or quicksand at the bottom, as well as in mudflats.
In this case, sneak up behind the ducks, startle them, and force them to take off from the muddy area.
When a frightened wild duck takes off and pushes off the mud, it may sink into the mud for a short time.
Although the success rate is not high, there will always be one or two unlucky ones when there are so many wild ducks in front of you.
If there really isn't one, they won't lose anything.
However, in order to increase the success rate, it is best to find some food that wild ducks like to eat to attract them.
The diet of wild ducks is similar to that of domestic ducks, and they can find food in water or on land.
Aquatic plants such as water plants, duckweed, small fish and shrimps in the water, aquatic insects, grain seeds on the ground, and snails and snails are all on their diet.
Other things may be hard to find, but water plants and duckweed are everywhere in this wetland.
While directing Sang Yongjing to pick some fresh water plants, Sang Yu also reminded Sang Xingjia: "Brother, don't touch the water. You will be busy later."
It would be best for the wound on his hand to avoid contact with such wild water sources. No one can say whether it will become infected due to a brief contact.
"Okay." Sang Xingjia agreed obediently and stood aside watching them busy.
The water plants at the bottom of the shallow water are very green, with leaves stretched out in the water, absorbing the sunlight to their heart's content.
Sang Yu and Sang Yongjing had no intention of appreciating the water plants at all. They just plucked a handful at random, and the pulled water plants gradually piled up into a small hill beside them.
While pulling out the water weeds, Sang Yu discovered that there were a few snails lying at the bottom of the water.
They are not very big, only the size of the first joint of the thumb, but the spiral shell of each snail is quite full and looks fat.
She recognized it as snails at a glance. Apart from summer, autumn is the best season to eat snails.
At this time, the snail's spawning period has ended, there are no baby snails in the body, the meat is firmer and tastes better.
Unexpectedly, there was an unexpected gain. Sang Yu was delighted and quickly picked up a few snails and put them aside. He could look for more nearby later and should be able to add another dish tonight.
Afraid that the water above the swamp was too deep and the wild ducks would fly away after eating the water plants, Sang Yu searched carefully around and finally selected a swamp with just the right depth.
It would be more appropriate to call it a mudflat rather than a swamp.
The wild grass on it did not turn yellow because of the cold weather, but grew green and lush, but there was only a thin layer of water. At first glance, you might think it was a dry plain.
If you really step on it as if it were flat ground, you will sink into it instantly and eventually be completely swallowed by the swamp.
This piece of land is not only naturally deceptive, but also not far from where the wild ducks are foraging. As long as fresh aquatic plants are sprinkled on it, there is no need to worry that they will not be attracted.
Sang Yu wore bamboo sandals and carefully spread the water plants flat on the swamp.
Seeing that everything was arranged properly, she was still a little worried. The water plants didn't have much smell, and what if the wild ducks didn't notice them because of their poor eyesight.
Thinking of this, her gaze drifted to the snails that she had put together and were now trying hard to crawl into the water.
“Snap—”
After a few muffled sounds, the plump snails were all torn apart, their shells were smashed into pieces, revealing the snail meat inside.
You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child, and the child was just picked up by her just now. Sang Yu comforted herself that there is no gain without pain.
She didn't run to the swamp again, but threw a few snail meats along the swamp and the place where wild ducks were foraging at a distance.
After everything was ready, she called Sang Xingjia and asked him to take a longer route and slowly approach the wild ducks from the opposite side of the swamp.
As long as the movements are slow and gentle enough, the wild ducks that do not feel attacked will not fly away rashly even if they feel a little strange. At most, they will stay away from him.
What Sang Yu wanted was for them to stay away from that place and get closer to the swamp.
She and Sang Yongjing each stood on one side of the swamp, keeping a considerable distance, enough to let the wild ducks relax their vigilance.
Together with Sang Xingjia in the distance, when she gives the order, the three of them will move out together and scare away the group of wild ducks in an instant.
The wild ducks were completely unaware of their plans and were leisurely floating on the water, foraging for food. From time to time, they would dip their heads into the water, pick up a piece of water grass or a small fish, and swallow them whole.
Just as Sang Yu expected, Sang Xingjia's slowly approaching quickly attracted the attention of the wild ducks closest to him, and they began to swim in the opposite direction.
A mallard foraging on the mudflats moved its webbed feet, dug out a snail in the shallow water, picked it up with its beak, and repeatedly squeezed the snail with force to crush the shell.
Then use flexible stones to separate the broken shells from the snail meat, throw away the shell fragments and swallow the delicious snail meat.
A piece of snail meat obviously could not satisfy the wild duck's appetite. It continued to search with its head down, but accidentally found a piece of snail meat without a shell.
The wild duck's already small head didn't consider why a piece of shell-less snail meat suddenly appeared. It just leaned over, picked it up and swallowed it, then continued to search with its head down.
The other wild ducks, who are gregarious, quickly followed, thinking that the one in front had found a new area with abundant food.
Seeing a large group of wild ducks getting closer and closer to the swamp, the three people present even became cautious in breathing, for fear that they would accidentally make some noise and cause the ducks in their mouths to fly away.
After leaving the water, the flock of wild ducks began to walk on two feet, slowly stepped onto the swamp and nibbled on the fresh aquatic plants.
Given their weight, they will not easily fall into the swamp as long as they don't jump around randomly. What's more, they can fly, so they don't have to worry about the terrain.
Sang Yu slowly stretched out his hand and raised it above his head. After Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia in the distance responded with the same action, he counted silently in his heart: three, two, one, it's now!
The three of them started to move almost at the same time, and while rushing out quickly, they threw the stones in their hands at the flock of wild ducks.
The stones were not very big, but each one was flat enough to make a loud noise when it fell into the water and mud.
The wild ducks were startled in an instant and flapped their wings to fly away.
However, they need a certain speed to obtain sufficient lift when taking off, which means they need to run for a certain distance before taking off.
Even on flat ground or water, this is just a minor problem, but in a swamp, it is enough to kill them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com