Catch the Mountain 1985

Chapter 7 Greyhound

When Zhang Peng came to the east room, he saw Zhao Chunming sitting bored on the kang. As soon as Zhang Peng entered the room, he said happily: "Second brother, you and I are just thinking about when we will go to Yang Erluzi's house at the east end of the village tomorrow."

"Ah?" Zhang Peng was stunned for a moment, then realized that he had said he was going to get a gun before, so he was in a hurry.

Zhang Peng didn't say anything, and sat on the edge of the Kang with his legs raised. Zhao Chunming became even more anxious when he saw that Zhang Peng didn't speak.

"Second brother, Yang Er is not easy to talk to. Unless you buy it at a high price, or if it's not enough, you can borrow it. If that doesn't work, let's go up the mountain and get some chinchilla skin first. We should be able to save it by the end of the year." Zhao Chunming said with a slight worry.

"Okay, don't be so sad. Is this still a problem for your second brother?" Zhang Peng looked at the anxious Zhao Chunming and said with a half-smile.
Hearing what Zhang Peng said, Zhao Chunming was shocked and said hurriedly: "What's wrong? Second brother, do you have a solution?"

"Didn't you and I see me holding a sack when I came back? Guess what it is?" Zhang Peng said
"Ah? I didn't pay attention either." Zhao Chunming scratched his head, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He seemed to have thought of something, and immediately jumped up from the kang excitedly.

"Second brother, have you got a gun?" Zhao Chunming said excitedly

"Damn, please keep your voice down, how about I get an old muff from my uncle?" Zhang Peng said proudly.

Hearing this, Zhao Chunming couldn't sit still anymore and shouted to see the gun. Zhang Peng quickly pulled him over and whispered: "Keep your voice down, don't be anxious, we will finish eating later." Yes, now there is a problem: now that we have a gun, where can I get some bullets?"

"This is not easy, brother. When my dad comes back and ask him, he will know everything," Zhao Chunming said proudly.

"Damn, I'm so stupid. He will definitely know when Uncle Zhao comes back." Zhang Peng patted his thigh and said with a smile.
While Zhang Peng and the others were chatting happily, Liu Cuihua came in from the kitchen and said: "Boss, stop chatting, clean up the kang, come over and put the dining table on the kang, we are going to eat."

On the dinner table, there is a plate of eggplant stewed with gaya seeds, a plate of pork stewed with green beans, and a small plate of fried rice. The staple food is cornmeal pancakes, which are considered a luxury in this era. The three of them are all acquaintances and sit down together. The aroma of the dishes As soon as it floated up, the two people's gluttons were aroused, their appetites were whetted, and they picked up a piece of gaya meat. The meat of this fish was very good, and there was only one big thorn in the whole body. When chewing it, the aroma filled the mouth.Li Cuihua smiled and saw that he didn't eat much, most of it went into the stomachs of his two brothers.

Zhao Chunming's father has to wait until evening after work, so he can go for a walk at the foot of the mountain this afternoon. Children who grow up in forest areas are always restless. It is not an empty talk to rely on the mountains to eat. After dinner, Zhang Peng and Zhao Chunming and Li Cuihua said hello and went out. They wanted to go to the forest at the foot of the mountain to get some greyhound skins. Now the purchasing station in the forest area also collects greyhound skins. Although the price is cheap, there are a lot of greyhound skins. It is relatively easy to catch, and it has become a small income for the families living around the forest area. Now they are also in urgent need of making some money. They can buy some when they find out where there are bullets.

Greyhounds are actually squirrels. Greyhounds are how they are called in the forest. Although they are not big, they are very clever. If there is any disturbance, they will climb up trees and hide. The easiest way is to shoot with a slingshot or Remove the clip so that the fur on the greyhound will not be damaged and you can sell it at a relatively good price.

I brought a few clamps from home and a homemade slingshot and set off.In this era, hunting was not as serious as it would be in later generations. People in forest areas always had awe for the mountains, and this was the time when greyhounds were storing food for the winter, so as soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, they could vaguely see jumping in the forest. figure.

Zhang Peng and Zhao Chunming looked at each other. Because they were very familiar with each other, they knew what to do with one look. Zhang Peng turned to the right and Zhao Chunming turned to the left. They each took a clip and entered the forest, picking out some signs of greyhound activity. The tree is placed on the only way for greyhounds to go up and down the tree, and then all they have to do is wait.

After placing the trap, Zhang Peng and the two of them did not stop, but slowly walked deeper into the forest, taking the initiative to gain more gains.

Not long after walking in the forest, Zhang Peng saw a greyhound with a long tail hopping on a branch. When they saw the greyhound, Zhang Peng and Zhang Peng immediately stood still and gave Zhao a Chunming made a gesture, slowly took out the slingshot clay ball, and began to approach cautiously, looking for a favorable killing position.

Northeastern people hunt small prey like this in the mountains and forests. If they don't have guns, they will most likely use slingshots.Many of the projectiles are mud balls made of yellow mud.Even though it is just a mud ball, it is very powerful. It is also very simple to collect the materials. Find some clay loess, add water and stir it into mud. Roll the soft and waxy yellow mud into long strips. Use small wood chips to divide it into small pieces as evenly as possible. Put your hands together. Round them into small clay balls and bake them by the fire. After drying, they will be shaped. There is no cost and it is easy to get.The little thing that exists in this mountain is very alert. It will notice even the slightest noise. It lies motionless on the trunk of the tree. If there is any disturbance, it will immediately run away on the branches. However, it usually does not run for too long. Far away, jump around and observe to confirm whether it is safe before proceeding to the next step.Facing such an animal, even if you use a slingshot, you still have a chance.

Zhang Peng, who had already chosen a position, bent down and slowly entered the shooting range that could ensure the power of the projectiles, and gently opened the slingshot.

Snapped……

There was a soft sound, and the projectile flew out, accurately hitting the gray dog ​​lying motionless on the tree trunk vigilantly.

For such a small animal, even if it is hit on the head with the power of a slingshot, it will be fatal.The greyhound suddenly turned over and fell from the tree trunk. When it fell to the ground, its four calves were still twitching and shaking.

"Okay..." Zhao Chunming saw Zhang Peng hit the target with one blow, and kept cheering from behind.
Zhang Peng walked straight to the side, picked up the greyhound, took a sharp knife, and cut his throat to bleed.The blood must be bled immediately, otherwise the blood will be mixed with the meat and the taste will be bad.This is also the advantage of using a slingshot, which can ensure the integrity of the fur to the greatest extent. If it were to be replaced with other firearms, such a small thing would collapse with one shot, and the fur would be difficult to be intact.

After handling it, Zhang Peng stuffed the greyhound into his shoulder bag and called Zhao Chunming, and the two continued to search in the woods.

It didn’t take long for the second greyhound to be acquired.It was Zhao Chunming who shot it, and it took him two shots to knock it down. This time, he had better luck, and he discovered the tree hole where the greyhound was hiding.Climb up and take a look, boy, there are actually a lot of hazelnuts, pine nuts and pecans in the cave.

"Second brother, this little guy is really hard-working." Zhao Chunming said to Zhang Peng under the tree, but he unceremoniously took out all the greyhound's reserves in the tree hole. Preliminarily estimated, there must be More than a pound smaller.

Go back at night, wash it, and fry it in an iron pan. It's a very good snack.

Throughout the afternoon, Zhang Peng and Zhao Chunming kept wandering in the woods.

Probably because of the sunny weather, these greyhounds, which like to be active during the day, rushed out to play. This also gave Zhang Peng and the others an advantage. They shot six greyhounds and bought two more greyhound nests. Harvest about two pounds of nuts.It's good luck.Just by selling these few intact greyhound skins in a state-owned store, in this year when daily wages were only a few cents, it was no problem to cover a few days' wages.

On the way back, he checked the traps he planted before, but there was no harvest yet. Zhang Peng didn't think much about it. He put the traps away and went out of the mountain. This trap couldn't be left in the forest. He was not the only one who came out to pick up the traps at this time. Both of them, if anyone sees them, they will definitely go away.

The two returned home and carefully peeled off the greyhound skins piece by piece with a knife in the yard. They slowly scraped off the grease on the greyhound skins. After they were almost treated, they washed them several times and the sewage was gone. Hang the fur aside to dry.

Afterwards, I found a few wooden sticks, nailed a few frames, and got some hemp rope. I then used nails to punch some small holes along the edges of the furs, put on the strings, and stretched them on the frames to dry.

The Northeast has its own way of processing skins. For small animals such as squirrels and rabbits, a whole piece of skin is usually taken off and made into a cylinder. It is hooped on a log pile and shoveled with a dull knife to remove the oily skin, and then stuffed inside. They are supported by hay and dried in the shade. After saving some, they are sent to the purchasing point of the state-owned store for sale.

This is just freshly peeled rawhide and does not require too much tanning. Unless you want to use the fur yourself, otherwise it is unnecessary. Just sell it to a state-owned store to ensure that it does not rot or rot.

(End of this chapter)