Snow Leopard Elegy

Chapter 10 Snow Leopard Elegy (10)
At this time, Qiangba and I heard the roar of two snow leopards, rushed from the Nu River to the scene where they met, and witnessed what happened afterwards.

Although the above-mentioned large part of the plot was fabricated by my imagination, I don't think it will be too far from the truth, because only in this way can I explain why the snow demon slapped the Big Dipper mother with its tail, and the Big Dipper mother Not angry, why did the Snow Demon open her mouth to bite the Big Dipper Leopard's shoulder blades, but the Big Dipper Mother Leopard did not fight back with an eye for an eye, why faced with the Snow Demon who had already passed the lactation period, the Big Dipper Mother Leopard opened her arms to let it breastfeed.

Logical reasoning makes this series of seemingly abnormal behaviors reasonable.

It is certain that when she recognized the Snow Demon in front of her as her sweetheart who had been separated a year ago, the Big Dipper Mother Leopard was both pleasantly surprised and excited about the reunion, and at the same time felt ashamed.The past is vivid, and it can be said that every detail is remembered very clearly.The snow demon cried and begged in the pit, but it hardened its heart and drove away with the three cubs.Yes, it has tried its best. At that time, the situation was severe and the situation was critical. It had no choice but to lose one and guarantee three.But no matter what, the little guy was still alive, calling his mother heartbreakingly in the trap, which is undoubtedly a cruel abandonment.Facing the miraculously resurrected little baby, it was full of unspeakable guilt.

It is certain that when Xue Yao recognized the female leopard in front of her as the biological mother who gave birth to it and raised it, Xue Yao felt extremely happy for the chance encounter between mother and daughter, and at the same time, the grievance and resentment buried in her heart for more than a year also swelled like fermentation.It has two completely different mothers in its heart. One is a kind mother who loves it, feeds it when it is hungry, cuddles it to sleep when it is sleepy, licks and scrubs its fur with its tongue tirelessly, and takes care of it in every possible way; The other is the cruel mother who, after it fell into the trap, abandoned it without looking back amidst its pleading, leaving it to loneliness, despair and death without mercy.If it is reunited with the first mother after a long absence, it should plunge headlong into her mother's arms and act like a spoiled child; if it meets the second mother by chance, it should return it with blank eyes and curses, and turn away like avoiding the plague.What makes it confusing is that the two moms are actually one mom.It was so conflicted that it didn't know what to do.

The Big Dipper female leopard dragged the wild goat towards Snow Demon with her mouth in her mouth. The intention was obviously to give the delicious wild goat to her daughter as a gift. Giving food as a gift is like sending charcoal in the snow. It can not only solve the daughter's practical problems, but also express my love.

When the Snow Demon swung its tail and slapped the Big Dipper Mother Leopard heavily on the face, the Big Dipper Mother Leopard did not have a seizure. She had already learned from the Snow Demon's unhappy expression and resentful cry that her daughter was still worrying about what happened at the trap a year ago. get mad at it.Although a daughter slapping her mother with her tail is a disobedient act of a younger generation slapping an elder, it is willing to accept any form of punishment as long as it can calm the daughter down and eliminate the estrangement and estrangement between mother and daughter.

When the snow demon bit the Big Dipper mother leopard's shoulder blade, the Big Dipper mother leopard did not struggle to resist. She knew that her abandonment had left a huge trauma on her daughter's heart, and she knew that she had committed an unforgivable sin.If the daughter wants to bite, then bite it. It is willing to use blood to heal the trauma of her daughter's heart, and it is willing to use blood to make up for its own sins.

After all, it was the real mother who gave birth to it and raised it, the Snow Demon gave up biting at the last moment.The Beidou mother leopard let the snow demon suck her own fragrant milk, and the mother-daughter relationship that had been interrupted for more than a year was re-bonded due to the process of breastfeeding and breastfeeding.

I have read a field investigation report on the life forms of snow leopards. Female snow leopards have a strict reproductive cycle. Generally, after the cubs run away from home at about two years old, they will go into heat again and mate again to give birth to the next cub.From the analysis of time, Xue Yao is now in his early two years old, and the female Big Dipper leopard gave birth to the second cub, which is in line with the law of birth.

We racked our brains on the wildness of the snow demon, but with little success.Just when we were in a state of desperation, Snow Demon's biological mother, Beidou Mother Leopard, appeared. I believe that the work of releasing Snow Demon has opened a new page.

The mountains and rivers are full of doubts, and there is another village.

Sixfold family love

Beidou Mother Leopard works hard to be a good mother, doubly repaying Xue Yao for her lost maternal love.

That evening, the snow demon did not come to our observation station to ask for the food.It has the wild goat gifted by the Big Dipper mother leopard, and it no longer cares about the three pounds of meat we feed; it has found the strong backing of its mother, and it has complete maternal love, so it does not want to be with us two. What's the matter with walking naked apes.

Water flows to lower place, man goes to higher position.Animals are the same, constantly pursuing a more perfect and happier life.

Qiangba and I felt somewhat lost, but anyway, the snow demon has found its biological mother, and we no longer have to worry about how to teach it to support itself. It's as if the burden on our shoulders has been lifted, and there is a sense of relief.

I am quite interested in animal behavior, and I really want to know what wonderful stories will happen to a snow leopard that has been raised by humans for a year and returns to its mother.The next morning, I took Qiangba to the crescent-shaped cave near the snow line and hid in a tree hole, hoping to observe the life of the mother and daughter leopards.

The crescent-shaped cave is surrounded by morning mist, and a few sparrows are jumping among the dead branches and leaves at the entrance of the cave. The dawn here is quiet.

"I guess, this crescent-shaped cave may be empty. The snow demon has moved to the lair of the Big Dipper mother leopard. The mother and daughter are reunited. They are a family. Of course they want to live together." Qiangba said in a low voice. .

"Not necessarily." I said, "The Big Dipper mother leopard's breasts are swollen like grapefruit, and she is feeding a litter of cubs. I'm afraid the snow demon will not easily let the snow demon move there."

As far as I know, snow leopards are withdrawn, cautious and suspicious. Before giving birth to cubs, the female snow leopard will drive the male leopard out of her den after mating with her and impregnating her.At this time, if its previous crop of cubs who have already made a living on their own accidentally walk into its territory, it will drive them away roughly like it would deal with intruders, and will never allow its grown-up offspring to stay in their territory. by myself.An animal behaviorist in the West explained this phenomenon by saying that the mother snow leopard must make room for a safe living space and enough emotional space because her fragile little life is about to be born, so as to ensure that the newborn cubs grow up safely.

Sure enough, as I guessed, after about ten minutes, the figure of the Big Dipper female leopard flashed in the snowless barren valley, trotting to the front of the crescent-shaped cave, and vomited and vomited softly.The cry of the Big Dipper female leopard was like the alarm clock ringing to wake up.Soon, the snow demon's colorful head was reflected in the dark crescent-shaped cave.It walked out of the cave with its sleepy eyes open, and stretched like a cat, it seemed that it was not fully awake yet.

The Big Dipper female leopard swooped up to the Snow Demon, stuck out her tongue and began to lick the Snow Demon's fur.It licks very carefully, starting from the head, inside and outside the pinna, forehead and cheeks, bridge of the nose and chin, eyelids and mouth, all carefully licked, and then licks the neck, limbs, back, chest, belly, tail, and wipes the snow away. Every part of the demon's body was scrubbed until it shone brightly.It's like a caring mother is grooming her delicate daughter carefully.

Fur licking plays an important role in the daily life of snow leopards, especially the licking and kissing of cubs by mother leopards, which can be said to be the most important life care. It was eliminated by the harsh nature.As soon as the cub slips out of the birth canal, the female leopard needs to carefully peel off the layer of placenta wrapped around the cub with the tip of her tongue; after biting off the umbilical cord, the female leopard uses her tongue to seal the wound on the navel with her saliva to avoid inflammation and festering; A newborn leopard cub is covered with amniotic fluid and dirty blood, and the mother leopard needs to wipe it off with her tongue. In the first few days after birth, the cub cannot defecate on its own, and the feces are held in its stomach. The mother leopard uses her tongue to lick and stimulate The excretory cavity of a leopard cub allows the leopard to defecate; before the leopard is half a year old, the mother leopard spends the rest of her time licking and grooming the fur of the leopard except for food, water and sleep before the cub is half a year old. Kissing can convey love. Promote skin blood circulation and stimulate the growth of leopard hair; cubs are frightened, mother leopard's licking and kissing is the most effective comfort, and can quickly restore the cub's calm; cubs are scratched by rocks or thorns, mother leopard's licking and kissing, has The unique effect of anti-inflammatory and stasis.

No wonder a zoologist said: For many types of mammals, love is condensed on the tongue.

As far as I know, the number of times a mother snow leopard licks and kisses her cubs is inversely proportional to the age of the cub. Gradually decrease, and when the cubs are one year old, they enter the relaxation period of love. Unless there are special circumstances, the mother leopard will no longer lick and kiss the cubs.

The snow demon has already passed its first birthday, and it is more than two years old. Not only has it passed the relaxation period of love, but it has also passed the abolition period of love. Under normal circumstances, the Big Dipper mother leopard should no longer be so intimate and loving. Snow demon.I think, in the mind of the Big Dipper mother leopard, Xue Yao is still the cub who was less than half a year old when she fell into the trap a year and a half ago. The hallucination, the psychological time of the Beidou mother leopard, the unfinished cub-rearing timetable, automatically stopped when the snow demon fell into the trap, and when the mother and daughter met again, the psychological time started again, and the cub-rearing timetable also stopped. start working.That is to say, in the heart of the Beidou mother leopard, Xue Yao is still a half-year-old cub that needs to be taken care of carefully.

This is very good. Compared with the snow leopards that normally live in the wild, the various life skills of the snow demon are indeed still at the half-year-old stage, and everything needs to be started from scratch.

After a while, the Big Dipper female leopard finished licking and grooming the Snow Demon, and then signaled the Snow Demon to go to the hunting ground with her.

The snow demon has bright fur, a radiant face, and a heroic posture.It is different if there is a mother to take care of it. If there is no Big Dipper mother leopard to urge it to get up, it must still sleep in the dark cave and sleep until the sun hangs over the treetops, and then it will walk out lazily. In a cave, find a rock heated by the sun, yawn and then go back to sleep, like a slob who can never get enough sleep.I have observed how the snow demon combs his fur and washes his face like a cat after he wakes up in the morning. He squats on the ground, turns his head and licks the side of his neck indiscriminately. After a few washes, even after washing the face, most of the time the corners of the eyes are still sticky with eye mucus, unkempt, and sloppy fur. The appearance gives people a feeling that they have no confidence in themselves and life.

Make the appearance clean and tidy, although it is only a small detail of life, it reflects the attitude and mental outlook of life.Anyone who has conducted field observations knows that whether it is a bird or a mammal, an individual with a positive attitude towards life and a vigorous and positive outlook on life has bright and tidy feathers or fur, and a clean face.

The Big Dipper female leopard walked towards the Gamar Grassland along the winding ridgeline.Snow Demon followed closely behind.Qiangba and I kept a distance, tiptoeing to observe the pair of mother and daughter leopards.

Cross the Qinggou, wade across the stream, and come to the entrance of the Gamar Grassland.This is a gentle slope once soaked by mudslides, covered with Changpu, Artemisia annua, wild hawthorn and dogtail grass.Although the altitude here is not too high, the season has entered early winter, some herbaceous plants have withered and yellowed branches and leaves, and some cold-resistant shrubs are still tenaciously extending their greenness, forming a mottled plant community.For snow leopards, this is the best hiding place.Drilling into these shrubs and grasses, the colorful leopard skin blends with the mottled vegetation, just like getting into a sea of ​​clouds and fog, and it is difficult to see them clearly from a distance of more than ten meters.

In the distance, a group of Tibetan antelopes were gnawing wild bean pods on a wet grassy beach. The Big Dipper female leopard looked up and immediately bent her knees and crouched down, hiding her body in the grass.Once the prey is found to be active nearby, it is necessary to use the terrain and features to quickly hide itself, which is the most basic hunting method for cats.The Snow Demon didn't understand this. Seeing the group of Tibetan antelopes in the distance, they stretched their necks out and their heads popped out from between the branches and leaves. They didn't realize that doing so would expose themselves prematurely and make the prey escape in fright.Pa, the Big Dipper female leopard raised her tail and knocked on the snow demon's head moderately.Xue Yao shrank her head suddenly, and looked at the Big Dipper mother leopard in surprise.The Big Dipper female leopard formed a horizontal line from the beard, the back of the back to the tip of the tail, her eyes were fixed on the front, her ears turned slightly, and she raised a curved front leg, about to step over, and paused on the spot for several seconds.

I moved the binoculars to a group of Tibetan antelopes in the distance. They were concentrating on eating wild bean pods. The big bent-horned sentinel sheep, which served as a guard, stood on a fallen tree and looked around peacefully. Something unusual happened.Looking at Xue Yao again, she was watching every move of the Big Dipper female leopard intently.I understood that the reason why the Big Dipper female leopard poses in the typical posture of a cat before hunting, and repeatedly lifts its bent front legs to make stealth movements, is to demonstrate for the snow demon.It already knows that although the snow demon looks about the same size as an adult snow leopard, its hunting level is at zero, and its livelihood skills are still at the primary stage. It needs literacy work, enlightenment education, and ABC needs to start from scratch teach.

A few minutes later, the Big Dipper female leopard probably thought that the class was almost done and could be transferred to the subject practice stage, so she walked lightly through the grass.Snow Demon seems to have mastered the essentials of sneaking in bushes and grass. Like the big dipper mother leopard, she bends her knees and lowers her body. Her beard, back and tail form a horizontal line and move forward.The Big Dipper female leopard is obviously a good hunter, with skillful skills, bypassing the branches and vines of the shrubs, looking for the gap between two canopies of grass to pass through, and avoiding the dead branches and leaves that are easy to break and make noise with her soft feet, like a fish Swimming forward as silently as in the water, only the blades of grass and branches could be seen shaking slightly.The Snow Demon was obviously a novice and layman. Sometimes his body bumped into a bush, and sometimes he overwhelmed a piece of wormwood. From time to time, the soles of his feet stepped on the dead branches and leaves on the ground, making crackling sounds, and the grass leaves and branches shook violently.If stealthily sneaking among dense vegetation is a compulsory subject for snow leopards, then snow demons are like homework done by elementary school students, scribbled and full of mistakes.

Although they are still far away, the Tibetan antelope is a very alert animal, and its vision and hearing are top-notch in the animal kingdom.The whistle sheep with the big curved horn seemed to have heard the abnormal noise made by the snow demon walking, raised its neck uncomfortably, and looked in the direction of the mother and daughter leopards.Just at this time, the Snow Demon's shoulders rubbed against a bush of wild rhododendrons, knocking off a grass-woven bird's nest, and with a bang, two big-billed crows that were nesting in a tree nest flew up in shock, croaking loudly. tweet.Crow's mouth, anyone who sees it hates it.The big horned whistle sheep sensed that the situation was not good from the startled flying and croaking of two big-billed crows, so it let out a short cry, and raised a goat's hoof.I have studied the behavioral characteristics of Tibetan antelopes. The short bleat of the big-bend-horned whistle sheep is a kind of early warning, notifying the Tibetan antelopes who are burying their heads in eating: suspicious movements are found, but it is not certain that it is a terrible enemy. Please do it Good mental preparation!I saw in the binoculars that the Tibetan antelopes stopped eating, and dozens of pairs of sheep looked at the big bent-horn sheep. Big trees, they will run wildly in the opposite direction.

The Big Dipper female leopard immediately stopped walking and lay down gently.The snow demon followed suit and crouched in the grass.

I know that the snow leopard is not only a mountain beast, but also an intelligent animal. It knows how to make the best use of the situation and is very patient when hunting. Sometimes, in order to paralyze the prey, it will hide in the bushes for an hour or two without moving.For animals like snow leopards that use ambush as their main hunting method, waiting patiently is not only a training of will, but also a compulsory hunting subject.

Waiting patiently, waiting for the best time to catch, waiting for the prey to become paralyzed, waiting for things to turn around.

A long time passed, and the big horned whistle sheep was still holding its front hoof, its eyes were wide open, staring at the grass and shrubs where the mother and daughter leopards were hiding, as if they would never stop until they saw something. .I think this big horned sheep must be a guy with a strong sense of responsibility. Maybe he once suffered from the sneak attack of carnivorous beasts, learned a lot of wisdom, and became extra cautious. Before the doubts in his heart were completely eliminated, The alarm will not be lifted.

Snow Demon became impatient and struggled a few times to stand up.It probably thinks so, we are snow leopards, why do we hide when we see the Tibetan antelope, as if we are afraid of these plateau sheep with a strong smell, how wimpy and breathless!The Beidou female leopard hurriedly held down the snow demon that was about to move with her claws, and stopped the snow demon with a stern expression, blowing her beard and staring.

Snow Demon had to lie down obediently again, but he seemed extremely uncomfortable, his body twisted and turned, as if thousands of ants were biting it.

The Big Dipper female leopard crawled a few steps to the left in a prostrate posture, stuck to the snow demon, stretched her head over, rubbed the snow demon's forehead with her soft chin, and licked the snow demon's ears and neck with her tongue. This set of body language , Undoubtedly trying to appease the Snow Demon: My child, don’t be impetuous. If you want to become an excellent hunter in the high mountains and snowy areas, you must learn to be patient, learn to wait, learn to be calm and calm, and learn to deal skillfully with the prey you are interested in.

(End of this chapter)