Chapter 37: Fire Attack on the Squirrel Den
Although Gray Dogzi doesn't pose much of a challenge to Northern Goshawk, their numbers are far less than Sand Grouse and Flying Dragon.
These creatures have territories in the pine forest, so their density isn't very high. The situation of catching two at once, aside from the possibility of a male and female pairing during the breeding season, means the two squirrels are likely related by blood. They just happen to have slightly overlapping territories after growing up and leaving their old dens.
With two squirrels in hand, Yue Feng continued walking along the ridge. For the next twenty minutes or so, apart from occasional bird calls, there were no new discoveries in the vast forest.
Could it be that he arrived too late?
This is indeed possible. Squirrels are interesting animals; they like to be active in the early morning and late evening twilight. After the sun rises, they hide in tree hollows or nests.
It was already past seven when Yue Feng returned from town. By the time he circled around and arrived at this Red Pine Forest, it was past eight. Catching the previous two also took a considerable amount of time, and now it was already 9:10.
It seems it's time for the second move!
Yue Feng didn't give up searching. He shifted his attention from the ground to the surrounding tree hollows.
Squirrels have a habit of storing food. During the autumn season when food is plentiful, they collect Pinecone, hazelnuts, acorns, and other food items, hoarding them in tree hollows to eat during the winter.
Generally, these tree hollows have no cover, so they are easy to find if you observe carefully.
Yue Feng focused on observing older, larger trees and quickly found the first tree hollow.
The bottom of this tree hollow was located about ten centimeters above the ground, extending upwards to a height of over three meters.
Yue Feng knocked on the tree trunk, producing a hollow thud.
The next second, Yue Feng looked around and found fatwood next to a fallen tree.
This stuff is everywhere in the Northeast. Every household uses it to start fires. Later, unscrupulous merchants hyped it up as amber wood and even gave it the elegant name 'Northern Agarwood'.
Because this stuff is oily, it's very easy to ignite, and when lit, it produces black smoke if it doesn't burn completely.
Yue Feng picked up a few pieces, lit them with a match, and then chose a small piece smaller than a matchbox. After blowing out the open flame, he stuffed it into the tree hollow at his feet.
The smoke rose, and soon smoke began to emerge from the hole above.
Yue Feng put Northern Goshawk into combat readiness, and man and eagle, their attention was focused on the location of the hole.
Suddenly, a large Gray Dogzi was seen darting out of the hole with a whoosh, climbing up along the tree trunk.
Seeing this, Yue Feng decisively released Northern Goshawk upwards.
This was a completely new attempt. Northern Goshawk was skilled at ground raids or aerial pursuits within a range of twenty to thirty meters, but this vertical flight combat method was the first time it was used in Yue Feng's hands.
However, Northern Goshawk did not disappoint Yue Feng.
After being released, its wings flapped rapidly, using the speed of the release to quickly chase after the squirrel above its head.
The squirrel ran away by circling the tree trunk, while Northern Goshawk chased it by flying in circles around the tree. Yue Feng wasn't idle either; he picked up a piece of miscellaneous wood from the ground and knocked on the tree trunk with a bang.
The frightened squirrel jumped from one tree to another trying to escape, while Northern Goshawk seized the opportunity. Just as the other party landed and hadn't yet stabilized its footing, it swooped down and grabbed it.
This time, Northern Goshawk's first grab was not the Gray Dogzi's head. It chose the back, which was easier to claw. After sinking its claws into the squirrel, it used force with its wings to pull backwards. The attacked squirrel was pulled away from the tree trunk and fell from a height of several meters.
Gray Dogzi was in free fall, and Northern Goshawk folded its wings, diving down like a torpedo.
Just as the squirrel landed, the attack from the eagle's claws, carrying a strong wind, also arrived.
Northern Goshawk's left claw immediately gripped the Gray Dogzi's neck. When it turned its head to try and bite, the right claw went straight for the face. After the right claw had a firm grip, the left claw reversed its position, also going for the face to seal off the squirrel's mouth.
The series of actions sounds slow when described, but in reality, the entire pursuit process was completed in just a few seconds. From Northern Goshawk's dive down to the first grab of the neck, the second grab of the face, and the third reversal to complete the 'tiger embrace head', the total time was completed almost in a single breath.
When Yue Feng had released the eagle before and rushed over, whether it was a Weasel or a Gray Dogzi, they had already been controlled by the eagle's 'tiger embrace head' with both claws. This was the first time Yue Feng had witnessed the scene of a Hunting Eagle performing technical maneuvers on its prey at such a close distance.
Even though he had lived two lives and had decades of falconry experience, seeing this scene with his own eyes, Yue Feng still felt extremely shocked.
Birds of prey possess reaction speeds far exceeding those of ordinary mammals and have the strongest combat ability at the same weight. The miracle of nature's creator was completely displayed at this moment!
Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak!
A series of squirrel screeches sounded. Northern Goshawk spread its wings like a victorious general, its claws tightly holding the Gray Dogzi's head, rendering it unable to move.
Yue Feng hurriedly put down the miscellaneous wood stick in his hand and rushed to the eagle's front in a stride.
He put on the glove, placed the dead squirrel on it, and with the fastest speed, swapped it with the screaming squirrel on the ground.
Another Gray Dogzi, intact from head to tail, was in hand!
Yue Feng repeated his trick, stuffing the second live Gray Dogzi into the cage, and squatted down, allowing Northern Goshawk to tear at the flesh and blood of the first squirrel.
It's definitely impossible to eat until full in one go. No matter how skilled the falconry is, if the eagle eats until full in one go, it won't work properly. However, hunting with the intensity just shown consumes a particularly large amount of the Hunting Eagle's physical strength. Yue Feng allowed Northern Goshawk to tear off seven or eight mouthfuls of meat into its crop before taking off the dead squirrel.
He poured a capful of clean water from the kettle for Northern Goshawk to wet its beak. The little guy cleverly took a sip of water, tightened its feathers, and then its tail feathers drooped. Soon, the feathers under its belly slowly relaxed.
Yue Feng's trick of smoking the squirrel den with pine resin was indeed effective. After letting the eagle rest for about five minutes in place, Northern Goshawk's feathers relaxed, and it raised its tail, shooting out a straight 'eagle bar' like an arrow. The 'eagle poop' that landed on the ground was clearly black and white.
With its feathers relaxed and having passed a 'bar', the eagle had completely recovered. Seeing this, Yue Feng got up from the ground, took out the fatwood that was still smoking, and continued to search for the next squirrel den suitable for a 'fire attack'.
...
While Yue Feng was wandering in the pine forest, on another ridge of Wild Chicken Ridge, the Zhang family brothers were also using their eagles to search for possible prey on the mountain.
Around six in the morning, the Zhang family brothers came to Yue Feng's house for breakfast and to pick up their eagles. They ate steamed buns made of mixed grains, salted vegetables with lard, and cornmeal porridge until they were nine-tenths full, eager to go into the mountains to catch more prey and sell them for more money.
After a day of actual combat yesterday, the eagle nicknamed 'Bold Yellow' by Xiao Wu had been basically trained smoothly. Today was a relatively familiar hunting ground. The eagle made several attempts and caught several chickens. Its momentum was very good. The brothers discussed it and decided to take off the 'string' that was attached.
It's Monday, the first day of the trial recommendation. Currently, the data growth seems a bit unsatisfactory. Not only has the new book ranking not risen, it has dropped by more than twenty spots.
Requesting votes, requesting comments! If you have any good ideas, you can also say them in the comment section. When I see them, I will consider adding them to the later creation!