The leopards on Yangziling are golden leopards, belonging to the North China leopard subspecies. Male leopards are slightly smaller, about one meter long and weighing around fifty or sixty kilograms, while female leopards can reach over seventy kilograms.
Leopards are medium-sized feline predators, which is slightly weaker than tigers and lions, but they are more agile and have a stronger hunting ability than tigers and lions.
Various wild animals on the ground, such as wild boars, deer, roe deer, and musk deer, are their prey, while monkeys, flying squirrels, and even some birds in the trees are also not immune to their predation.
They also have a particular fondness for eating dogs, and often run down the mountain to steal dogs from people's homes.
Don't be fooled by how fiercely dogs can bite wild boars and bears; when they encounter leopards, they are basically crushed. Whether it's agility, attack power, bite force, or speed, they are far inferior to leopards.
Even if it's a group attack, the leopard can climb trees, and there's nothing that can be done about it.
Wang Tianxiao had lived in the mountains for over twenty years and had only seen leopards twice.
Once, while patrolling the mountains, he saw a leopard standing on the opposite hillside in the distance. There was only a cliff between the man and the leopard. He was terrified, worried that the beast might suddenly leap across the ravine.
Another time, a leopard snatched the child of a worker in the forest farm. The entire forest farm teamed up to chase the leopard and finally cornered it in a cave, where it was suffocated to death by smoke.
Of course, it's also possible that they weren't actually suffocated; in any case, they just didn't come out.
For a predator like a leopard, one den is enough in the forest; any more would disrupt the ecological balance, so the probability of encountering one is extremely small.
"Perhaps not..."
"Uh...uh...uh oh..."
Just as Wang Tianxiao was about to comfort his younger brother, a series of piercing and eerie cries suddenly came from not far away.
It's like a child constantly saying he's hungry, or the sound of a hawk or falcon, but after listening to it too much, it sounds like a poor little dog that's been beaten up.
"This shouldn't be a dog, right?" Wang Tianxiao asked nervously, shrinking his neck.
Wang Tianxiao's expression changed slightly, and he gently shook his head.
"It really is a wolf." Wang Tiancheng was dumbfounded. If he had heard a leopard earlier, but now he heard a wolf, would he and his brother still be able to get out of this mountain and see the sun rise tomorrow?
He placed all his hopes on his older brother.
But he saw Wang Tianxiao shake his head with a serious expression, "Not a wolf, but even more terrifying than a wolf."
"What is that?"
"It's a jackal."
"Isn't a jackal the same thing?" Wang Tiancheng was a little confused.
Wang Tianxiao asked his younger brother to keep his voice down.
It's perfectly normal not to recognize the sound of a jackal. If you're not in the mountains, many people will never see a jackal in their entire lives, and some, like Wang Tiancheng, even think that jackals and wolves are the same thing.
However, jackals and wolves are actually two different species.
Both jackals and wolves belong to the Canidae family, but jackals look more like dogs, so some people also call them jackal dogs.
Jackals are much smaller and lighter than wolves, with the average jackal weighing only a dozen kilograms and the heaviest around twenty kilograms. Their legs are also much shorter than wolves', and their bodies are mostly covered in fine red fur, somewhat resembling a fox.
However, it would be a mistake to assume that its small size makes it weak. The jackal is far more powerful than a wolf; without considering other factors, a wolf simply cannot defeat a jackal.
It can be said that the jackal is the pinnacle of fighting power among canines; if a comparison must be made, then it can only be the hyena of the grasslands.
Although both jackals and hyenas sound like dogs, they belong to different families. Jackals belong to the Canidae family, while hyenas belong to the Hyenaidae family.
They are all ferocious, but jackals are more intelligent; for example, they can act. They put a weak jackal in a dangerous situation, deliberately lure the prey closer, and then other jackals lying in ambush wait for the right moment to swarm in and carry out a "honey trap."
Jackals are ferocious because they have to endure a lot of brutal competition to survive from a young age. The weaker jackals are killed by the adult ones.
Jackals that grow up are naturally all exceptionally fierce. Wang Tianxiao had personally witnessed a group of jackals killing each other, and he still felt lingering fear to this day.
They are social animals, living and hunting together. There are almost no animals they dare not attack, but once internal conflicts arise, they will fight to the death and really go all out.
On one occasion, on his way back from Ziwu Ridge, Wang Tianxiao saw three jackals attacking a deer halfway up the mountain.
Red deer are considered very robust and powerful among deer, especially adult red deer, which are difficult for two or three hunting dogs to handle.
However, it can be seen that the jackals can only flee in haste.
The three jackals divided their tasks: one harassed the deer from the front, preventing it from running too fast; another jumped onto the deer and scratched its rear, keeping it off guard; and the last jackal quickly ejaculated. The deer's entrails were quickly entangled in branches, rendering it unable to fight, and then the jackals would swarm it and feast on it.
The night wind was biting, and only then did Wang Tianxiao truly feel a slight chill.
He didn't understand why such a ferocious beast as the jackal would run to the outskirts of the mountains. Was it because it was too cold in the forest and there was no food to hunt?
What bad luck.
He was also a little nervous, after all, he hadn't fought these things for many years, but his younger brother was already trembling with fear. If he showed any weakness, then the two of them would really be powerless to fight.
Most wild animals are afraid of humans. They observe people's eyes and actions. Once they show the slightest fear, they become bolder. If people act very bravely, they may retreat because they cannot understand them.
"Don't be afraid, your brother is here, everything will be alright." Wang Tianxiao encouraged his younger brother, taking the gun from behind his back to the front to examine the gunpowder and shot inside.
Because he was only preparing to kill rabbits, he didn't load much gunpowder; it definitely wouldn't be enough to deal with jackals. He reloaded the gun, stood up, shook his neck, and then loosened his wrists and ankles.
After being transferred from the forest farm to the nursery in his previous life, he said goodbye to the mountains. It had been more than ten years since he had experienced this kind of danger. Now he felt both fear and excitement.
Wang Tiancheng also joined his brother in the pre-event preparations.
In cold weather, limbs are prone to stiffness, and sitting under a tree for a long time made it even worse.
The two cries continued to rise and fall, their destination unknown.
A series of "meows" followed.
A series of "uh...uh...uh uh" sounds.
They appear to still be fighting.
The game remained undecided for a long time.
To Wang Tianxiao's surprise, the jackal's call was singular, rather than a chorus of calls. They usually hunt in packs and rarely go alone; even when they find prey separately, they will call to their companions.
It's rare to see a situation like this where you call for a long time but no partner shows up.
Could it be a lone jackal?
Wang Tianxiao had a sudden thought.
If a jackal is old and its fighting ability is weakened, it will be driven out of the group. If it does not leave quickly, it may be bitten to death by its younger companions.
However, the old jackals in the mountains usually run deep into the mountains, and it is relatively rare for them to sneak out to the outer edge of the mountains.
"What do we do now, brother?" Wang Tiancheng was terrified by the shout.
Wang Tianxiao pondered for a moment, looked at the big tree beside him, and an idea came to him: "Climb the tree."
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