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Zhu Ji immediately replied, "When I drove here yesterday, there was a lot of snow on the mountain, so there shouldn't be any problem."
Yan Kexing: "Then let's set off."
In order to fit Laibao and Shi Suo, Shi Wen specially drove a pickup truck.
Instead of taking the national highway, they followed the rural roads into the mountains.
The little ones were very excited, making all sorts of strange noises along the way, and they leaned out of the car to look around.
In the vast wilderness, you can see all sorts of small animals coming out.
I also Shi Wen that I saw an eagle.
Groups of weasels emerged from their burrows, arching their backs and bristling their tails, leaping back and forth across the open field.
They look like they're just playing.
I haven't heard of or Shi Wen them play like this, like wrestlers, for a long time, so seeing it again felt quite novel.
When the car arrived at its destination, there was indeed still snow on the mountain.
Zhu Ji, Shi Wen, and Yan Kexing, three humans, led the little ones up the mountain and then slid down.
Since the little guys couldn't use the ski equipment, they just lay down on the snow and slid down belly to belly, and they had a lot of fun.
Zhu Ji played happily with the little ones, showing no signs of speciesism whatsoever.
Shi Wen and Yan Kexing played for a while, then rested by drinking coffee.
Shi Wen remarked, "This guy really has a childlike heart!"
Yan Kexing smirked. "Who says otherwise?"
With so many little ones, they gradually scattered while playing.
Shi Wen didn't pay much attention, since all the little ones in their family were wearing collars. These collars were high-end items provided by the Abnormal Affairs Bureau, which could pinpoint their exact location.
When you need to find them later, you can use the app to retrieve them.
Shi Wen was with Yan Kexing. It wasn't that he couldn't have fun, but he just preferred the atmosphere of quietly leaning against Yan Kexing.
The sun was shining brightly, and the breeze was very pleasant.
Shi Wen leaned on Yan Kexing's shoulder, about to fall asleep.
Just then, Shi Wen suddenly heard Zhu Ji shouting from the other side, "Shi Wen, Old Yan, come and see what this is? Why does this thing look so strange?"
Shi Wen, unwilling to move, said, "What? You caught another small animal? Snow leopards sometimes catch small animals. Just release them, wash your hands, and don't get too close. Be careful of the epidemic."
Zhu Ji: "It's a really strange little animal; I don't think I've ever seen it before."
"There are so many unfamiliar animals here, it's perfectly normal not to have seen them before." Shi Wen snuggled against Yan Kexing, unwilling to move. "If you're really unsure, why don't you bring them over for us to see?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ji put on gloves and picked up the animal the little ones had caught. "This is it. It doesn't seem to be a native species, does it?"
Shi Wen Shi Wen at it sleepily and said, "Is that an Ai Weasel? The one we saw when we arrived."
Yan Kexing opened his eyes and looked around, his tone becoming serious. "It doesn't seem so, it's a meerkat."
Shi Wen paused for a moment, then asked, "We don't have meerkats here, do we?"
There are mongooses in China, but only the red-cheeked mongoose, crab-eating mongoose, and Indian mongoose, all of which are in the southeast or south and have little to do with this area.
They don't have the ecological niche for mongooses here.
Yan Kexing: "It's strange precisely because it doesn't exist."
Zhu Ji handed the small animal to Yan Kexing: "It still has a heartbeat and is breathing, but it's not moving at all. I wonder if it's injured?"
Yan Kexing: "They might be playing dead. These small animals might play dead to avoid danger."
Zhu Ji: "We've already caught them, what's the point of playing dead?"
Shi Wen, "Maybe it thought that if it played dead, we would let it go? Which little guy caught it?"
Zhu Ji: "Your little snow leopard! I was having so much fun skiing just now when your little snow leopard brought me a strange animal and placed it at my feet, its tongue lolling out like a dog, showing off to me. Come to think of it, all the animals in your house are like dogs and cats at the same time."
Yan Kexing: "Don't change the subject, let's continue talking about this meerkat. When you saw the snow leopard cub, did you notice any other meerkats nearby?"
Zhu Ji: "No, the little snow leopard just brought this thing over."
Zhu Ji knew even less information than the little snow leopard and the others, Shi Wen gave up on asking him and simply beckoned the dogs over to ask them.
The dogs stared at the meerkat with wide, round eyes, clearly wondering why it had appeared there.
The little snow leopard was even more difficult to describe; it could only meow.
Everyone followed the little snow leopard to the place where the meerkat had been caught to investigate.
Meerkats appeared in the Linzi, where there were several small holes.
Based on his experience, Shi Wen judged, "There are at least nine meerkats here."
Yan Kexing: "This meerkat colony is quite large. Let Zhou Hongzhong know."
Shi Wen, "Shouldn't we look for other meerkats?"
Yan Kexing: "Let them come and look for it."
Zhu Ji, standing nearby, was puzzled and moved his sunglasses up to his head. "What's wrong with this meerkat? Why are you all so serious? Isn't finding wild animals a normal thing?"
"This isn't normal," Shi Wen explained. "Meerkats can live in temperate zones, but there's no record of them appearing here. Their presence here is likely due to someone smuggling them in."
Zhu Ji: "I understand. It involves illegal activities, right?"
Shi Wen: "Yes, it also involves biological invasion. Our ecosystem is relatively fragile, and any alien species could trigger a chain reaction, so this is a serious matter and needs to be reported immediately."
Shi Wen didn't want to bother Zhou Hongzhong during the Lunar New Year, but this matter really couldn't be kept secret.
When the call connected, Zhou Hongzhong's voice was full of doubt. "What? You said a group of meerkats appeared in front of you? Aren't meerkats something you see on nature documentaries? We don't have any meerkats here."