Snow Leopard Elegy

Chapter 9 Snow Leopard Elegy (9)
It was a gray afternoon, the sky was covered with lead-like haze, the strong wind rolled up dense dust and covered Gaoligong Mountain, a gray hawk was circling high in the sky, and a group of gray wild dogs drilled their heads on the limestone hillside looking for a place to go. Food to satisfy your hunger.The Beidou female leopard's lair is located in a windy cave on Banpo. The cave is shallow and the entrance is too large. The strong mountain wind carries sand and dust into the cave, blowing the four cubs under half a year old. Can't keep my eyes open.It is a female leopard with only experience. From the thicker and thicker clouds and the dark wind and sand, it is known that a rare spring cold snowstorm is coming.It is not difficult to judge that the goose feather snowflakes will blow into the cave with the wind, and within a long time, this shallow and small cave will be filled with snowflakes, turning into a snow mound, and burying its four cubs alive.To avoid this natural disaster, the only way is to move, to a cave in the lee of the mountain bay.

The four cubs are less than half a year old, and they are neither too big nor too small, and moving is very difficult.If the cub is smaller, the Big Dipper mother leopard will use the feline stunt to gently hook the cub with its long and sharp canine teeth, and hold it between her lips and teeth, just like an efficient and safe porter. One at a time can quickly transport a litter of cubs to their new home.If the cubs were older, they would have enough strength to run on the hillside by themselves, and the Big Dipper female leopard would not have to worry about it. As long as she opened the way in front, and be careful not to let other carnivores approach, she would be able to complete the moving process safely and quickly.In their current appearance, they weigh about twenty kilograms and are as big as civet cats. They can no longer hold them between their lips and teeth and run around. However, their muscles and bones are weak and their legs are weak, so they can still walk smoothly on flat ground. Stumbling, not walking fast or far, very troublesome.

No matter how troublesome it is, you have to move. This is an option and cannot be hesitated.

A female Beidou leopard leads her four cubs on a difficult walk on the snowy slopes of the plateau.For a while, it jumped to the front, using its body to make a safe passage for the cub among the bushes and bushes; for a while, it ran to the back, and helped the fallen cub up on the path paved with gravel and snow.After walking halfway, they ran into trouble. The gray hawk swooped down from the sky and hovered over the cub's head with malicious intentions. The group of gray wild dogs also came to join in the fun, barking at a distance of about [-] meters. , Disturbing the Beidou mother leopard.The wind is blowing harder, carrying fine snow dust, indicating that the blizzard is about to kick off.It kept flapping its tail, shoving and shoving it with its mouth, and pulled it with its calls, urging the cubs to go fast.An extra second of delay on the road means more danger. Only by going to the new home as soon as possible can safety be guaranteed.

Just then, something unexpected happened.

The smallest female leopard cub, oh, is now we are trying to release the wild Snow Demon, exhausted, unable to walk, squatting next to a tree stump panting.The Big Dipper mother leopard and the other three cubs had already walked 30 meters forward, and the poor Snow Demon became a lonely loser.The gray hawk's wings were flat and silently slid down like a dead leaf, and it stretched out its sharp claws to grab the back of the snow demon.The Snow Demon screamed, and the Big Dipper Leopard turned around and ran over as if flying, chasing the Gray Harrier Eagle back into the sky.The gray hawk circled in the air, flapped its wings and aimed at the three little snow leopards ahead, trying to dive down.The Big Dipper female leopard looked at one thing and lost another, and was impatient. She vomited and roared towards the sky, threatening and intimidating to stop the gray hawk from doing evil, and at the same time beat the snow demon's buttocks with her long tail, urging it to go fast.Maybe it was the Big Dipper mother leopard who was so impatient and whipped her tail too hard, maybe the snow demon was frightened by the attack of the gray hawk just now, her legs trembled and her heart trembled, maybe it was the big dipper mother leopard's tail that hooked the snow demon's neck and made the snow demon It staggered, maybe the snow demon stepped on an ice wheel and slipped. In short, the snow demon stepped on the trap dug by the hunter, and with a loud sound, the thin turf covering the trap collapsed. The snow demon fell into a pit more than three meters deep.

Disasters are formed in this way, and wild animals encounter natural and man-made disasters, which is a common occurrence.

The sound of the snow demon falling into the trap startled the gray kite eagle, flapped its long wings and fled away.

When the dust settled, the Snow Demon shook off the sand and grass clippings from his body. Fortunately, his body was intact and his limbs were not injured.It wants to climb out of the trap, but the walls of the pit are too steep to climb. It wants to jump out of the pit, but the pit is more than three meters deep. It tries, but it can't even reach half of the height. It can only vomit. Whispering and whining, she called for the Beidou female leopard to come to her rescue.

Speaking of the Big Dipper mother leopard, watching the snow demon disappear from the ground as if by magic, a big hole appeared in the ground after the sound of sizzling, and a cloud of dust was raised. She was really shocked and jumped out instinctively. He rushed to the front three cubs, covered the little ones in his arms, stared at the magical ground that swallowed the snow demon with two frightened eyes.After a while, there was a muffled cry for help from the Snow Demon.It took the three cubs to the edge of the pit and saw that the snow demon was running around anxiously at the bottom of the pit.Seeing the face of the Big Dipper mother leopard appeared on the edge of the pit, Xue Yao seemed to be looking forward to a savior, sobbing more sadly and eagerly, wishing her mother would jump into the pit immediately to rescue it.

The Big Dipper mother tentatively stretched out her front paws several times to jump into the trap, hesitated for a while, then retracted her front paws again.It is a female leopard with only experience and has the ability to analyze and judge.The pit is narrow enough to accommodate its body, so it cannot run up and jump. If it jumps, it can only stand at the bottom of the pit and jump up.The height limit of a snow leopard jumping in situ is about three and a half meters. If it wants to jump out of such a deep and small trap with a cub weighing about [-] kilograms in its mouth, the chance of success is too slim. Not only can't the Snow Demon be rescued, but he may even be trapped in this damn trap.If it is caught in the trap, the other three cubs around it will surely die.It can't do the stupid thing of killing the whole family, it can't take the risk.

The snow demon screamed at the bottom of the pit, afraid that his mother would not come down to save it.

The Beidou female leopard hurriedly circled the pit, hoping to find a good way to rescue the snow demon from the trap without taking too much risk.Maybe, you can use your claws to dig the sand into the pit, and the sand will fill up inch by inch, and the snow demon will rise inch by inch, and the pit will be filled, and the snow demon will be out of danger.It quickly turned around and lay down on the edge of the pit, clawing desperately with its four claws, but the result made it frustrated. This area is gravel, which is close to the permafrost layer. The ground is frozen hard by ice and snow. Dozens of gravels the size of a fingernail were dug down at this speed, until tomorrow the nails were cut off and the paws were bleeding, and the trap could not be filled with sand. It had to give up this futile effort.Maybe, you can fish the Snow Demon out of the death trap by fishing. Of course, the fishing rod is its two-meter-long tail. Pull the little one out of the pit.The little guy’s teeth are already full, it relies on it to maintain balance during exercise and can effectively repel mosquitoes and flies. Its beautiful long tail may be bitten and disabled. make the necessary sacrifices.It sat on the edge of the pit with its tail hanging down, and tried several times patiently, oh, baby, it depends on your own good luck to be rescued, jump up, jump a little higher, bite, oh, don't lose heart, do it again , treat my tail as the throat of a herbivore, bite it hard, don't be polite... Unfortunately, the little guy's ability to jump up is really bad, he jumped several times, but he couldn't bite it The tip of the tail, and jumping lower and lower every time, there is no hope.

The mountain wind was blowing more and more fiercely, and fine snowflakes were flying all over the sky. The three cubs were covered with a layer of snow, and they shivered in the cold.The group of daring gray wild dogs gradually approached from the hillside, staring at the three cubs with green eyes, barking strangely.The Big Dipper female leopard roared and rushed towards the wild dogs, and the wild dogs ran away, but after a while, these nasty wild dogs gathered again, like a group of flies that were hard to disperse, jumping and barking crazily around the three cubs.The Big Dipper female leopard knew very well that the gray wild dog was hungry and cold, so it was very likely that she would take a risk and besiege her and the three cubs by relying on the number of dogs.If they continue to stay here, the danger will become greater and greater. Even if the three cubs are not eaten by the greedy wild dogs, they will inevitably be frozen into popsicles by the raging snowstorm.It cannot sacrifice three other cubs in order to save one cub in the trap.Although she is just an ordinary female snow leopard and not a mathematician, she still understands the simple mathematical truth that one is less than three and three is greater than one.It is not a confused mother, and knows that life is very cruel, whether it is to save the car, to consider the overall situation, to sacrifice partial interests for the overall interests, it is all about the same truth.When it's time to bear the pain and give up love, you have to bear the pain to give up love. The mother-in-law and mother-in-law are reluctant to part with this and that, which can only make themselves fall into a greater predicament and cause a greater crisis.Hurry up and get out of here, before the blizzard blows too hard, before the gray gray dogs are too rampant, it is the wisest choice to abandon the snow demon in the trap and take the three cubs to their new home.

The Big Dipper mother leopard lay on the edge of the pit, stuck her head into the pit, and let out a mournful roar to the snow demon trapped inside. She knew in her heart that this was the last farewell. She took the three cubs with her and left. There is no doubt that the demon must die.

Although the Snow Demon was not yet half a year old at the time, she already knew how to read her face. She looked up at the miserable face of the Big Dipper Leopard, listened carefully to the mournful roar of the Big Dipper Mother Leopard, and caught such a frightening message: Mother is no longer I managed to save it, my mother is going to leave it, my mother is going to abandon it!It felt that the shadow of death had enveloped its head, and it was so terrified that it was terrified. It stared at the Big Dipper female leopard with teary eyes, and screamed desperately with the saddest expression and the most desolate voice.

Out of survival instinct, Snow Demon certainly hoped that the Big Dipper Leopard would continue to try to save her. Even if she couldn't rescue her from the deep pit, she would stay here to accompany her, give her some comfort, and give her a share. warmth.

Undoubtedly, the heart-piercing cry of the Snow Demon was like a sharp knife twisting in the heart of the Big Dipper mother leopard.It is willing to die instead of Snow Demon. If doing so can ensure that Snow Demon and the other three cubs can survive safely, it will not hesitate to go through fire or water.It's a pity that it can't do this. Once it dies, the whole family will be finished, and there will never be another result.It raised its head to the sky and let out a heart-piercing long roar, reluctantly took one last look at the snow demon, gritted its teeth, stomped its feet, turned around and took the three cubs out of the trap.

The face of the Big Dipper female leopard disappeared from the edge of the pit, and the snow demon at the bottom of the pit screamed loudly. If the cry could be translated into human language, it would roughly read:

—Mom, please, don't abandon me, come and save me!

The Big Dipper mother endured her grief, moved her legs as heavy as lead, guarded the three cubs, and walked towards the new home in Shanwa, whimpering as she walked:

——Son, forgive mother for being cruel, it's not that mother is hard-hearted, mother really has nothing to do!
The footsteps gradually faded away, the whimpering of the Big Dipper mother leopard gradually faded away, and the strange barking of the earth gray wild dog gradually faded away.Xue Yao's last hope of survival was also shattered, and she let out a cry of resentment:
——You are a bad mother without love, I hate you!
Just when the Big Dipper mother leopard arrived at her new home safely with her three little snow leopards, and when the snow demon was covered with thick snow and was about to freeze, the owner of the trap—a pair of hunters and his son happened to pass by here and rescued the snow demon from the trap. After coming out, Wu was carried back home in a big leather jacket.

Of course, the Beidou mother leopard did not know about the rescue of the snow demon.

Two days later, the snow came back in spring, and the land was bright in spring. The Big Dipper female leopard went out to hunt and passed the trap. Oh, the snow had already filled the pit, and she sniffed on the trap, but she could no longer smell the snow demon.It thought that the snow buried the body of the snow demon, and also buried the scent of the snow demon.Poor child, miserable child.Although it was forced to abandon the Snow Demon, and although its decision was completely correct, it still felt guilty and distressed.She is a mother leopard, and she has the responsibility to protect the safety of her cubs. She is fully responsible for the unfortunate death of a cub at such a young age.Facing the young undead buried under the snow in the earth pit, the Beidou mother leopard has a deep apology. In any case, even if there are a thousand reasons for abandoning her own children, she cannot escape the condemnation of her conscience.It squatted beside the trap silently for a long time, and then with a broken heart, it set off for the Gamar Grassland to hunt down its prey.

After all, the living is more important than the dead.

After several months, the Beidou mother leopard gradually forgot about this tragic past, and the trauma in her heart slowly healed.

Suddenly, the cub that fell into the trap appeared alive in front of her. To the unprepared female Beidou, it was like seeing a tree walk or a stone roar, and she was greatly shocked.Dreaming?Hallucinations?It bit its own tail, and the pain was shocking, which proved that it was not a dream; it closed its eyes tightly, moistened the eyeballs, and opened it again, and found that the snow demon and the wild goat were still a few steps away, which proved that it was not a hallucination.

It stared suspiciously at the snow demon up and down. Compared with when it fell into the trap a year and a half ago, its appearance has become unrecognizable.It still clearly remembers the snow demon's appearance at that time. It was less than half a meter long, with fluffy and shaggy body hair, and the fur on its tail hadn't fully grown yet. It was as smooth as a mouse's tail, and it was still a leopard cub that was not weaned. Standing in front of it now, But it was a female snow leopard that was more than one and a half meters long, with shiny fur, thick and long tail, and a female snow leopard who was about to grow up. It was quite different from the image in her memory.Oh, from the plump forehead, blue eyes and chiseled mouth of the Snow Demon, you can vaguely see its childhood shadow, its graceful figure and gorgeous fur are a bit like its genetic advantages, that beautiful and incomparable Its long tail seems to have inherited the excellent genes of the male snow leopard named Big Bingshan that it mates with.Recognize the sound again, the sound is also a kind of image.It yelled at the snow demon twice, and the snow demon responded twice.The voice has also become very strange.I remember that at that time, Snow Demon was the fourth oldest among the four leopard cubs, born the latest, with the smallest body and the weakest cry. I don't know if it was too thin or not enough, but it sounded like a baby.Almost half a year old, the other three leopard cubs have already begun to change their voices. The mellow child's voice is rough, showing the mighty charm of a carnivore. Only this little guy still has a pure child's voice, and his voice is clear and melodious, just like a A big bird is singing.Listening to the roar now, it has completely changed, sharp and rough, completely the voice and style of an adult snow leopard, but at the end, there is still a slight lingering lingering sound of a child's voice.Although the snow demon's appearance and voice have become unrecognizable, the Beidou mother leopard is still convinced that the snow demon is her own flesh and blood after being separated for a year, because it smells a familiar smell from the snow demon.

The appearance is easy to change, the voice is changeable, but the smell is long-lasting; the appearance can be disguised, and the voice can be imitated and forged, but the smell is difficult to fake and conceal.

The eyes will lie to it, the ears will lie to it, but the nose will never lie to it.

There is a famous saying that mammals think through their noses, which shows that smell has special significance in animal life.

A gust of mountain wind was blowing head-on, and the Big Dipper female leopard sniffed carefully with her nose.This is a kind of unique smell of my sweetheart. When I smell it, I feel relaxed and happy. After smelling it twice, my troubles will disappear. After smelling it three times, the tenderness is like water. It will never be forgotten in my life.

Although the Snow Demon has been raised by humans for nearly a year and a half, its body is inevitably contaminated with the unpleasant smell of human society, but it develops from an embryo into a baby in the mother's body, and its blood is soaked with the common smell inherited from the mother.After it was born, it lived next to the Big Dipper Leopard for nearly half a year. Day and night, the Big Dipper Mother Leopard licked and combed its body countless times, just like a diligent painter giving a precious piece of furniture over and over again. Utensils painted.The special body odor contained in the saliva of the mother leopard soaks every vellus hair of the cub and penetrates every cell of the cub's body. This is the base color of the smell. As time goes by, this layer of smell painted by the mother's painstaking effort may fade It will fade and dilute, but it will not disappear completely.

The nose, a sensitive olfactory organ, accurately told the Big Dipper mother leopard that the snow demon in front of her was the cub that fell into the trap a year and a half ago.

But the Snow Demon also smelled the familiar smell from the Beidou mother leopard. Although it was not yet half a year old at that time, it was ignorant and childish, but it sucked under the mother's belly every day to suckle, and slept in the mother's arms every night. Keeping warm in the house, the sweet motherly sweet breath unique to the mother is engraved on its heart, which will never be forgotten.Besides, the appearance of the female Beidou leopard has not changed much in the past year, and her cry is no different from that of a year ago. Her vision and hearing also help her recognize that the female snow leopard who almost bit her by using a wild goat as bait has been separated for a year. Many dear mothers.

So, the mother and daughter snow leopards, who had been separated for a long time, officially met in the meadow near the snow line of Gaoligong Mountain. They were separated by a distance, shouted at each other, and used the special vocabulary of snow leopards to express their longing for parting and express the surprise of reunion. .

——Daughter, is it really you?Are you really alive?

——You are my mother, I will not admit my mistake, I dream of you every day!
——Daughter, mommy misses you so much, come to mommy and let mommy kiss you!

——No, no, when I needed you the most, you cruelly abandoned me, I don't want to recognize you as a bad mother anymore!

(End of this chapter)