Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

Chapter 244: Chapter 244 Mendun’er: Can’t You Be More Aspiring?

The center held an emergency meeting and overnight conducted an examination on Foodie Fu and Baby.

The next day, a temporary wild release plan was confirmed, to take place in the semi-wild area nearest to the center, near Yuntai Mountain.

Chen Ying also came to help, leading the male panda on foot directly to the semi-wild area to meet up with Foodie Fu.

The two places didn’t seem far apart, but it took a day plus most of the night to get there.

This was still under the circumstances that Jianzi Meat could move relatively quickly to reach the planned area before Foodie Fu and her cub.

If it had been Great Bai, with his sluggish nature, it would have been considered good luck to arrive in three days.

Apart from Chen Ying, a three-person support team also moved behind, meanwhile recording the situation around the animal paths from the center to Yuntai Mountain.

This data could provide foundational support for designing a bigger and more comprehensive wild release area and would be beneficial for the construction and restoration of the previously interrupted ecological corridors between various conservation areas.

Once Jianzi Meat’s arrival was confirmed, the other wild release team also began the final step of the release.

To tell the truth, everyone at the center and the conservation area was sweating bullets about this plan.

Foodie Fu’s experience with her cubs was not abundant, and Baby had just turned a month old; whether he could adapt to the outside world was still uncertain.

That’s why the centers had made ample preparations, with two teams arranged to take turns in following up and protecting them; Daddy Xu even volunteered to stay and monitor Foodie Fu’s movements.

Chen Ying was relatively confident about the release.

Although the love between Foodie Fu and Jianzi Meat was true, and Baby seemed like an accident, Foodie Fu’s affection for her cub was up to par. With Jianzi Meat’s help and protection, he believed they could probably manage to raise a super-sized baby… right?

Mainly because Baby was too big, comparable to an overweight human child, larger than any newborn recorded at the center.

Raising such a big Baby, the difficulty level had also increased several notches.

It was exactly this consideration that led the center to choose a wild training base with the richest food sources and the most robust rescue capabilities when determining the wild release area.

Outside the base, the semi-wild area had man-cultivated bamboo forests, as well as tens of thousands of hectares of wild bamboo forests. With regard to food, there shouldn’t be an issue.

The day after arriving in the area, Jianzi Meat successfully found his beloved Great Bai and Foodie, his big son.

Jianzi Meat’s learning ability was extraordinary.

After watching Foodie Fu with the cub for half a day, he learned how to carry the cub in his mouth, learned to use his thick, warm, and soft belly as a baby crib for the cub.

He and Foodie Fu worked together, though somewhat clumsily, but he took up the father’s responsibilities with extreme earnestness.

After observing for two days and confirming that the chances of an accident were relatively small, Chen Ying left the wild training base.

The reception center in Xiaozhai Village had also officially started operating.

The most recent batch of rescued animals was mainly birds, with some small animals, such as the Spiritual cat, ferrets and the like.

Chen Ying checked on the conditions of the rescued animals and even helped the veterinarian treat a Forest musk deer with a broken lower leg.

He hadn’t even taken off his white coat when he heard a commotion outside.

It was the weekend, and some parents had brought their children and elderly to visit. Xiaozhai Village was also creating a scenic spot for people and nature to coexist harmoniously, and this family had been attracted by the promotional materials.

The commotion was between the father and grandmother of that family; a young mother was holding her child tightly next to her, and sitting on a small stool with a face turning blue from anger was the grandfather.

“What’s happened here?”

“Brother Ying, this young man went to feel for stones in the river, and he found a small frog and wanted to take it away. We saw it, and told him he couldn’t take it, then the grandma started yelling at us. Then the uncle spoke up for us, and they started arguing.”

The two local children, aggrieved and at a loss, saw him come out and hurried over to hide behind him.

“May I take a look?”

The child held back tears and handed Chen Ying a mineral water bottle he was holding.

Inside was a green Sichuan torrent frog.

There are fifteen species of torrent frogs in China, and the peak spawning season is from May to September; before or after that, it’s rare to see these little elves.

At a glance, this torrent frog seemed to be in its spawning period. Regardless of whether it was a protected species or not, it shouldn’t be captured.

Chen Ying led the child by the hand and walked outside.

“Little friend, tell Uncle where you found it, shall we take it back home? It’s a frog mommy, and she has lots and lots of little tadpoles at home waiting for her to return. She also has little tadpoles in her belly, so we can’t let her leave her children, right?”

“Yeah, the teacher said we also can’t wander off, or else we’ll lose our mom and dad.”

The child’s leap in logic made Chen Ying choke up a bit, and he promptly agreed.

“Exactly, so shall we take her back together? When her children grow up and become pretty little torrent frogs, come back next year and you’ll see even more adorable frogs.”

“Can I still see her next year?”

“Of course, you can.”

“But I don’t even know its name, and it won’t recognize me, how will I know which one is it?”

Chen Ying smiled, his heart in turmoil.

That’s a very good question. Don’t ask again next time.

“How about this, you give it a name, and if next year you see one that looks like it, just call out to it loudly, and if it replies with a ‘ribbit ribbit,’ then it has recognized you.”

“But don’t all frogs go ‘ribbit’?”

“Ordinary frogs only croak once; if it answers you, it will definitely let out two ‘ribbits.'”

The child was successfully persuaded.

During the conversation, they had already reached the stream.

The child carefully opened the bottle cap, and poured the little torrent frog onto the grass by the bank.

“Little frog, you better hurry home, and don’t wander around anymore, otherwise, you won’t see your children.”

The child’s mother and grandfather, who followed, revealed smiles.

The child’s mother even took two pictures, capturing the scene of the child saying goodbye to the little torrent frog.

“Do you want to see some raptors?”

“What’s a raptor? A big goose? My dad said he used to get chased and beaten by a big goose when he was little. Dad is really tough, it really hurts when he spanks me, so if a big goose chased him, it must be even tougher.”

Chen Ying was about to laugh so hard it hurt.

“No, raptors are large birds that fly in the sky. Up the trail outside our village, there is a bird-watching platform. With binoculars and a camera, you can take pictures of peregrines, common buzzards, and hawk-eagles. Sometimes, you can even see golden eagles and vultures.”

The child was easily distracted, and there is a natural love for the sky among children. Hearing that so many birds could be seen, the child immediately wanted to drag his mom to go quickly.

“Your dad and grandma are still at the rescue station.”

“What are they doing? Time is so precious, what’s causing the delay? What if we’re late and the raptors have gone home?”

The child, impatient, started hopping on the spot and then broke into a run towards the rescue station.

The child’s grandfather quickly chased after his grandson while the child’s mother let out a sigh of relief and thanked Chen Ying.

“Don’t worry, just have a good talk with the child’s father, and don’t argue with the elderly. That generation doesn’t have much of a sense of animal conservation; it’s not just them. Just talk it through.”

The child’s mother exhaled and, forcing a smile, chased after them.

Chen Ying didn’t go over. By now, the village cadres were probably on their way. They were more professional at this kind of work than he was.

Looking back at the place where the torrent frog was released, the little guy was no longer there.

The vegetation in this stream area was well protected, but the path was quite steep and the stones were slippery. The village should find a way to fence off this section to prevent accidents.

Nowadays, there are a lot of people playing in the water at tourist spots. He remembered there was a shallow riverbed on the road from Xiaozhai Village to Yunxi Village.

The water there is shallow, the riverbed is flat, and the pebbles are small, making it suitable for children to play in the water.

Stretching for about fifty or sixty meters, there was an even smaller tributary alongside it.

They could have someone survey the area, and if there are no protected animals, it could be developed into a family-friendly site for playing in the water and catching little fish.

There was no need to worry about fishing out the species.

Those that could be caught were very common fish, and the number of tourists in Xiaozhai Village was destined to be limited. By paying more attention to ecological balance, the issues wouldn’t be too significant.

Of course, all these plans would need to be confirmed by a professional agency after a survey, not something he and a few village cadres could decide on a whim.

Walking up the path, Chen Ying was about to leave when the child’s father approached him.

After introductions, he learned that the father was a member of the Bird Watching Association, but a new one, still in the process of accumulating knowledge.

Before, he had worked in travel photography, and now joining the Bird Watching Association was also an attempt to start a business leading bird-watching and photography tours.

This trip was prompted by information he found online about Xiaozhai Village; he wanted to scout the location in advance.

“After arriving here, I found it to be even better than I expected. I wanted to ask if you provide rental makeup rooms for wedding photography?”

Chen Ying had no clue about these things and called a female cadre named Lü.

She seemed to be in charge of publicity.

After introducing their roles, Chen Ying excused himself, saying he had other matters to attend to, left contact information with the photographer, and quickly left.

Back at the building, he saw Mendun’er throwing a tantrum again, swinging a piece of bamboo wildly, with Little Sen chased to a frazzled state.

“What are you two up to?”

“Oh my gosh, Brother Ying, come quick, help me with Mendun’er. The lady here won’t listen to reason at all.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know. It came over today and started getting angry, wouldn’t eat anything I offered. Then it started chasing me, I’ve pleaded and admitted my faults, but it just won’t calm down.”

Actually, Mendun’er did have some restraint. If it really wanted to hit, one slap per Little Sen wouldn’t be difficult.

Chen Ying hugged the lady’s big head and rubbed it vigorously several times before the lady calmed down and sat.

“What’s wrong, Big Baby?”

“You all went out to play and didn’t take me with you. I’m just a bear, taking care of three babies, do you know how hard that is? Why is it that Foodie Fu gets help from a bear, and I don’t?”

Tears streamed down Mendun’er’s face, clearly showing the girl’s distress.

“Where’s your brother? Didn’t Great Bai say he was going to help you with the kids with Jiaojiao?”

“Pfft, as if I’d believe what comes out of Great Bai’s mouth – total lies.”

Chen Ying was exasperated; where had this lady learned such classic lines from dramas?

Mendun’er initially had a team following it, but it wouldn’t let them get close.

They had thought Chen Ying would only be gone for two days and didn’t expect him to vanish completely.

Mendun’er had to worry about the babies and be anxious about the two-legged beast not getting into trouble, to the point of near madness.

It chased Little Sen to bite him because it thought this two-legged beast was simply an idiot. If he were more capable, its own two-legged beast could have stayed to help with the kids!

For Little Sen, it was yet another day of being unjustly criticized!