Suddenly, Er Ya shouted excitedly, "Fourth Uncle, catch cormorants! Catch cormorants!"
Chen Laosi looked up at the large flock of cormorants and egrets flying in the sky and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, let's go look for baby birds nearby and see if we can catch them."
Egrets are also skilled fishermen, but why do people choose to raise cormorants for fishing instead of egrets?
Firstly, their habits differ. Cormorants can dive into deep water, thus expanding their hunting range. Egrets, on the other hand, are primarily active as divers and lack the ability to engage in deep-sea hunting. They mainly hunt in shallow waters, where humans can fish, making egrets unnecessary.
Secondly, cormorants can be easily tied to boats because they travel by boat, and their low center of gravity prevents them from falling or losing their balance. Egrets, however, are too large to stand on a boat, so you can't expect them to fish.
Finally, cormorants only fly low, so their owners don't need to worry about them escaping. But egrets are different. There's an old poem that says "a line of egrets soars into the blue sky," so egrets can fly away at any time. Naturally, this kind of bird cannot be kept as a pet; it's an ungrateful wretch that can't be tamed.
At this moment, Chen Nong took out a slingshot from the bamboo basket and asked, "I brought a slingshot, do you want to shoot cormorants?"
Zhou Kai said with a wry smile, "Look how big those birds are. You think you can knock them down with these little pebbles? Be careful not to anger them, or they'll swoop down and peck at you."
Those waterbirds that dare to roam near humans are all large birds, and they look like they're not to be trifled with.
Chen Nong said, "It's alright, we'll lure it down and then catch it."
Chen Shi asked, "Then are you willing to act as bait and lure them down?"
Chen Nong said weakly, "I dare not, it hurts a lot if a cormorant pecks me."
Chen Kai said, "This is a good idea. With so many of us, we can definitely catch the cormorant by luring it down. Who wants to give it a try?"
Chen Kai was speechless when he saw that everyone was silent. These kids were usually so reckless and fearless, but now they were all cowering.
Chen Laosi and his gang had provoked many animals near the village before, but they always ended up suffering a crushing defeat.
Some animals look incredibly cute and harmless, but when they get into a fight, they can be incredibly ferocious. Some animals are also very petty and hold grudges. If you provoke them once, they will call on their companions to bully you the next time you see them.
Especially those flying animals, if you provoke them, you'll only be bullied. You can't even fight back. They can fly down and peck you unexpectedly. Before you can react, they'll fly away. What can you do? You can only jump up and down in anger.
And it's even worse if you get a grudge from a flying waterbird. One day you go to play in the water, and suddenly a waterbird will peck you. And once it holds a grudge, it will peck you again the next time it sees you.
Seeing that they were all so cowardly, and considering how big the cormorant was, Chen Kai himself was unwilling to risk it, so he went to find Xiao Tian.
Xiao Tian knows how to enjoy himself. He had someone bring over a lot of cold drinks, and now he's sitting on a small stool, leisurely sipping his drinks and admiring the scenery.
Chen Kai also sat down and ate some cold drinks with Xiao Tian. The two of them were very relaxed and comfortable.
The bamboo raft moved forward slowly. Not far away, a boy with a bamboo pole waved and said, "Chen Ke, are you here to fish too?"
Chen Laosi replied, "Yes, we came to fish. You've caught quite a few already, haven't you?"
The boy laughed and said, "No, we didn't catch many fish either. Want to cast our nets together?"
Chen Laosi said, "No need, we'll go a little further to fish, and see if we can catch some baby birds while we're at it."
A little boy advised, "You'd better not provoke those birds. They're very annoying, especially the big water birds. They just tried to steal our fish and almost capsized our bamboo raft."
Chen Laosi replied, "Yes, I understand. We'll be careful!"
Chen Kai was a little curious whether the large water bird they were talking about was the kind he was thinking of.
At this moment, Xiao Bao was restless, looking left and right. He really wanted to go into the water and play!
Suddenly, Xiao Bao saw an animal emerging from the water in the distance, so he pointed at it and asked in confusion, "Fourth Uncle, what's that in the water?"
Everyone looked in the direction Xiao Bao pointed.
It was quite far away, and Chen Laosi couldn't see the animal clearly. He said uncertainly, "Judging from its appearance, it should be an otter."
Zhou Kai was intrigued and wanted to know what it was, so he said, "Let's go, let's row over and take a look."
They used bamboo poles to paddle towards the unidentified creature.
Daya looked at it carefully and said, "It looks like a beaver."
The bamboo raft continued to approach the unidentified animal, and when they were only ten meters away, they finally saw it clearly.
Chen Nong exclaimed in surprise, "So it's a big cat!"
The others were also very surprised, not expecting it to be a wildcat.
Chen Laosi and his companions quickly stopped the bamboo raft and looked at the big cat with curiosity. It was the first time they had ever seen a big cat swimming in such a large lake.
Take a good look at it, and you can brag about it to others for a while when you get back.
Chen Kai stared at the big cat with shining eyes, really wanting to take a picture of it!
This is definitely a fisherman's cat!
Fishing cats, as the name suggests, are extremely skilled at catching fish, spending their lives catching and eating fish along the riverbank. It's easy to imagine that excellent swimming skills are essential to becoming a qualified fishing hunter.
The fishing cat's paws are always extended forward, and the tips cannot be fully retracted, but there are webbing between the paws and toes. When swimming, the fishing cat skillfully propels itself in the water with its paws, while its tail controls direction on the surface.
The fishing cat looks very much like a domestic cat, but it is many times larger, reaching up to 1 meter in length. It likes to roam in the jungles along the river, often diving into the water to swim and catch fish.
In fact, besides the fishing cat, the Turkish Van, tabby cat, Bengal cat, and Maine Coon are also excellent swimmers.
Among them, the Turkish Van is probably the only cat breed that truly loves water. Most cats, regardless of whether they can swim or how well they can, generally dislike going into the water. But the Turkish Van is different; they are born with a love for water and genuinely enjoy swimming, making them a unique breed among cats.
Moreover, other cats need to learn to swim and catch fish because of their living environment, which is humid and watery.
As everyone stared at the big cat, the big cat noticed them, turned its head, and gave them a disdainful look, as if to say: What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a cat that can swim?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com