"Uncle, brother-in-law, come and see, there are quite a few black pythons outside!" Lin Zicheng and Lin Ziyang were wearing straw raincoats and carrying buckets outside to catch snakes, while they did not forget to shout to Lin Changxi in the inner room.
This prompted the families of Lin Changhe and Lin Changfa, who were hiding from the rain in the rain shelter, to quickly look out to check the situation. Sure enough, they saw traces of a snake swimming among the rotten leaves under a tree not far away.
They also put on their straw raincoats and joined the snake catching army.
The fish that Zhao Qing caught was beheaded by Feng Zhenniang, who then began to skin and pull out its tendons.
Tan Ying and Lu Hua had no fondness for slippery snakes, and the sound of their aunt skinning a black python made their scalps tingle.
Lin Rui put on a straw raincoat and planned to join in the fun. Since the black python is not poisonous, catching it is almost the same as catching loaches and eels!
Lin Ziyang and Lin Zicheng had heard the sound of them calling for people to catch snakes, so it seemed that there must be a lot of snakes nearby.
But after Lin Rui actually went out, he found that there were not only a lot of snakes here, but he had actually disturbed a snake's nest!
There were rustling sounds of snakes swimming in the wet piles of leaves around the open space, and on the roof of their shed there were two or three snakes swimming with their heads held high.
Dabo Lin Changfa kicked the tree trunk, causing it to shake. One or two snakes actually fell from the tree. If he hadn't dodged in time, he might have been caught by the black python.
The black python can also be seen in the woods a little further away. In addition to the black python, the highly poisonous bamboo pit viper can also be seen. The blinking green color is particularly eye-catching among the dark green leaves.
"When it rains, the snakes in the mountains come out to hunt for food. We've caught a good time. Let's catch a few more and have a snake feast today!"
The place where they are resting now is a place that ordinary people have never dared to set foot in before, so the native black python has almost no natural enemies here, and it reproduces very quickly, with dozens of snake eggs in one nest.
Now it is a good opportunity for Lin Rui and others. They have turned into snake catchers and are having a lot of fun catching snakes.
Black pythons are non-venomous, but they are the nemesis of many poisonous snakes. The hormones grown in their bodies can break down the venom of the same species. The smaller bamboo pit vipers, seven-step snakes and red-banded snakes are all prey of black pythons.
In order to save energy, they usually use one move to defeat the enemy. In order to get enough food, the same kind of black python is also on their menu.
Lin Rui and his friends' luck could be described as good or bad, as they happened to choose a snake's nest. The good thing was that the black python was not poisonous.
Lin Rui once watched a documentary about man and nature. One episode showed a snake island in a certain sea area. The snakes there were breeding and proliferating everywhere, on branches, soil, grass, river water, and any place visible to the naked eye.
Although the number of black pythons in this forest is not as terrifying as that on Snake Island, it is still a nightmare come true.
Fortunately, it was non-venomous. Otherwise, if it were more venomous snakes like the bamboo-leaf green snake, the red-banded snake, and the seven-step snake, he might have left his luggage and fled with his family without looking back when it rained.
After being taught a few tricks to catch snakes by his brother-in-law and practicing them, he quickly got the hang of it. The first time was new, the second time was easy, and the third and fourth times he had an extremely high hit rate.
In order to store the black pythons, the women who were good at hand weaving specially found bamboo, split it, roasted it, and weaved a larger bamboo cage. The snakes were put into the bamboo cage, and soon the cage became heavy.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and most of the black pythons around had been caught. Everyone decided to stop while they were ahead and dragged their catch into their respective rain shelters.
Lin Zaozao, Lu Hua and others were indifferent to soft-bodied creatures such as snakes, loaches and eels, but as they caught more and more snakes, their expressions gradually became numb when handling them. They swiftly clamped the snake heads between two specially made wooden forks, and then chopped them off with a knife, leaving only the slippery and twisted bodies.
One, two, three, more than a dozen headless black pythons were thrown aside, twisting with the help of the nerve reactions carried by their muscles, and then slowly became motionless.
The children stood not far away and watched curiously, pointing and talking, and were extremely surprised.
The freshly peeled snake gallbladders were swallowed by the old man, uncle and others, saying that it can strengthen the body. Zhao Qing even handed one to Lin Rui, but Lin Rui immediately hid away and repeatedly refused: "I don't want it, I don't want it."
Zhao Qing still looked regretful: "This is a good thing!"
Lin Rui almost cried as he looked at the snake gallbladder that seemed to be still hot: "Brother-in-law, there's really no need. I'm sick of these things!"
Seeing that Lin Rui was really disgusted, Zhao Qing had no choice but to take the snake gall away.
The appearance of the black python is still very intimidating, with a body two fingers thick and black skin with patterns. The round snake head is inlaid with all-black pupils that belong to cold-blooded animals. However, they rely on physical attacks and when they encounter humans, they are just swimming prey.
Lin Rui and Zhao Qinglin Changxi caught a total of fifteen black pythons. The village head's family caught even more, a total of twenty-six, because they were all young and strong laborers.
Although the families of the eldest uncle and the third uncle did not live in the same tent with them, it was easy to imagine that they would have a good harvest. After all, the bamboo cages that the two families carried were almost crushed by snakes. In the end, they had to carry the snakes on their backs while holding them in their hands when they returned.
Lin Changtai, wearing a straw raincoat, picked up the snake head and snake intestines that were thrown into the large leaves under the rain shelter and threw them far away to prevent them from attracting mosquitoes and wild animals at night.
The skinned snakes had fresh white meat and were chopped into small pieces by Lin Rui's second sister's mother and aunts and thrown into the pot to cook.
While catching snakes, Lin Changxi discovered wild ginger in the woods. He picked a lot of it and used it as a seasoning for snake soup to remove the fishy smell.
"Mom, sister, you must cook it thoroughly!" Lin Rui said worriedly. He saw with his own eyes the way the parasites under the skin twisted after his brother-in-law peeled off the black python's skin.
Snakes are one of the animals with the most parasites, and this little-known fact is true.
How can you find such a good cooking method in the wild? The black python is a wild one after all. There are so many ways to eat snakes in modern times, steaming, making soup, salt and pepper, grilling, spicy...
But now, the most common methods are cooking soup and grilling. Lin Rui also upgraded the cooking method of beggar chicken and made beggar snake.
The thing that is most abundant in the forest is yellow mud. Sprinkle salt on the snake segments, wrap them with elm leaves, put them in the fire and slowly bake them to dehydrate. They can be eaten when they are cooked.
"Hey? Why isn't the snake skin lost?" Lin Changshou wondered as he looked at the small pile of snake skin in the corner.
"What a waste! I didn't ask you to throw it away. These intact snake skins can be sold to fur traders after a little processing. They will fetch at least a dozen cents each!" Lin Pingmao was used to being thrifty and was reluctant to throw these snake skins away.
Lin Changtai said helplessly, "Dad, we're not at home. We're on the road fleeing famine. If we don't process the snake skin, it will definitely stink and mold. It's raining all the time now, and I don't know when it will stop. How can we have the time to prepare the snake skin?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
