As she spoke, Chen Hong flipped the turtle over again. The turtle struggled fiercely, flailing its limbs a few times, stretching out its long neck and thrusting hard, and with a thud, it flipped itself back over.
Yu Yang was stunned. "Mom, this turtle's flipping over is so smooth! It's much more agile than a sea turtle!"
Chen Hong smiled and nodded, "Not bad, you even know how to compare sea turtles and soft-shelled turtles!"
Mom tells you that there are many farmed turtles now, and they can't turn over as quickly. Farmed turtles are slower in their movements, slower in turning over, and slower in running.
"Look, the turtle's run away! Look, look! It's running so fast, whoosh, it's gone in the blink of an eye!"
Chen Hong let the turtle run more than two meters away. Just as it was about to dive into the river, she rushed over and stepped on the back of its body.
This turtle was very fierce. Seeing that its escape route was blocked, it stretched its neck and turned around to bite Chen Hong's toes.
Chen Hong and Yu Yang were both startled. Yu Yang cried out, "Mom, be careful! Watch your footing!"
Chen Hong swiftly withdrew her foot, bent down, flipped the turtle over, grabbed the indentation of its hind leg, and picked it up.
"Ouch, you little bastard, you almost bit me!"
Chen Hong thought to herself, "I almost messed up!"
We've weathered many storms, but we almost got tricked by the Yellow River turtle. We were careless, so careless!
"Mom's okay, son. I didn't lie to you, did I? Those turtles are so fierce, they really bite!"
Whatever you do, don't touch it, and stay away from them!
Come here, let me show you. Doesn't this turtle's tail extend beyond the hem of its skirt?
This one is male. If it were female, her tail would be very short and covered by her skirt.
The simplest way to tell if a turtle is male or female is to look at the length of its tail.
The one with a tail longer than the hem is male. The one with a short tail that is covered by the hem is female.
Chen Hong caught the turtle back into the bucket, then picked up two more turtles and turned them over so Yu Yang could see the details clearly.
"Son, did you see that clearly? Aren't their tails different lengths? Aren't the tails of these two yellow ones shorter, and also covered by their skirts?"
Yu Yang carefully observed the turtle in his mother's hand, nodding in agreement repeatedly.
Putting down the turtle, Chen Hong said with a smile, "Different colors are not a sign of male or female."
The reason they are different colors is because they are not the same species.
Just like crabs in the sea, although they are all called crabs, there are different varieties such as mud crabs, sand crabs, stone crabs, red-shelled crabs, and orchid crabs.
Chen Hong told Yu Yang that the black turtle was a hybrid of other turtles and the Yellow River Three Yellow Turtle.
Although they are also wild Yellow River turtles, they are not purebred native Sanhuang varieties.
The true original breed of Yellow River turtle is yellow in body, belly, and the fat inside its belly is golden yellow.
Chen Hong searched along the shore for several hundred meters and found several turtle holes. She used a stick to pry them open and caught two small, grayish-black turtles, each about the size of a palm.
They also found two dead turtle carcasses and their lids. Chen Hong grabbed the two listless baby turtles and returned to Yu Yang's side.
He continued to educate his son: "Son, look, what's the difference between these two turtles?"
Tell me, let Mom see how good your observation skills are!
Yu Yang said to his mother with difficulty, "Mom, please put my pants on for me!"
I'm wrapped in your clothes, so I can't stand up. I want to use a stick to poke around and take a look at them.
Chen Hong laughed and then remembered that Yu Yang's pants should be dry by now, and it was time to put them on her son.
I picked up the pants from the bushes and touched them; they were indeed quite dry. The warm autumn sun and the gentle autumn breeze made it a perfect day for drying clothes.
While changing Yu Yang's pants, she said to him, "You can't go into the river anymore. It'll get late and cold, and you'll catch a cold if your clothes get wet."
"Come on, put your shoes on too. You just sit on the bank and watch. Whatever you do, don't go into the river."
After watching him put on his shoes, I handed him the wooden stick in my hand and let him use it to poke at the little turtles on the ground.
"Mom, are these two little ones already hibernating? Why aren't they moving at all? Could they be dead?"
He shook his head again, "No, if you poke them, they'll still be able to breathe, and their bellies are still soft, so they shouldn't be dead yet."
Chen Hong picked up the two baby turtles, washed them by the river, and then brought them back.
"Son, now Mom will tell you why they're not moving. Do you see? Aren't they not yellow anymore, and some of them are even blackish?"
Yu Yang observed them carefully and nodded: "They are somewhat dark, and there is a male and a female, and their tails are not the same length."
Chen Hong nodded in affirmation of his observation, "That's right, you observed very carefully."
Mom tells you, these two little turtles are also a hybrid. They don't seem to be moving around much, not because they're hibernating, but because they're about to starve.
The Yellow River is a very magical freshwater river with rapid currents and a lot of silt.
Apart from the ferocious native three-yellow turtle, other turtle species have difficulty surviving in the Yellow River.
They are generally not adapted to the Yellow River environment, find it difficult to find food, and are easily swept to the banks by the rapid current.
Son, look at the banks of the Yellow River. After the water recedes, there are large areas of yellow mud, and hardly any plants can survive there.
They can't find food. Even if people release a lot of turtles into the Yellow River, they will soon be washed ashore and starve to death.
Yu Yang was very surprised. "Mom, how come that big male can still grow so big while it's still alive?"
Chen Hong asked him to compare the three black turtles. "Son, can you tell? This big one is also a bit yellow, not particularly black."
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