Chapter 178

"Really?" Shi Wen held Chasing Clouds and looked down at it. "Then we'll have to ask Chasing Clouds where it was caught."

Chasing Clouds, "Gurgle."

It's obvious that it can't speak or understand.

Zhu Ji overheard this and suddenly noticed, "Wait, why is your prairie eagle making a 'cooing' sound?"

Shi Wen, "It's just imitation. Birds sometimes mimic the calls of other birds, making random calls, just to lure predators or for fun. After Chasing Clouds came to our ranch, he started making a 'coo-coo' sound."

"This will work?" Zhu Ji stared at Chasing Clouds. "Is it trying to imitate a pigeon's cooing?"

Shi Wen had mentioned that Chasing Clouds's call sounded a bit strange, but he couldn't quite place it. Shi Wen realized it was mimicking a pigeon's call. Staring at Chasing Clouds, he exclaimed with sudden realization, "You've reminded me! It really could be!"

While the two of them were talking, Yan Kexing was still looking at the mouth of the water shrew on the ground.

Shi Wen asked, "What's wrong?"

Yan Kexing: "I've been thinking about getting a water shrew specimen, and it should be possible to do it now."

Shi Wen looked at the mouth that Chasing Clouds had spat out with a troubled expression. "Use this to do it?"

Yan Kexing: "No, let's see if we can go out and find some live water shrews in a couple of days."

Yan Kexing quickly took the photos and sent them to Gong Jiang.

Gong Jiang and his group arrived at the ranch half an hour later.

Lin Chengqian exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Shi, you guys actually got news about the water shrew? That's incredibly lucky!"

Shi Wen: "Hmm?"

Lin Chengqian: "Many experts have argued that we have water shrews here, but it's a rare species, and we've never found one. My senior colleague even wanted to do a special feature on it, but we couldn't find any information, so we had to give up."

Shi Wen looked towards Gong Jiang.

Gong Jiang: "Water shrews are so small and hard to find, much harder than finding many large animals."

Lin Chengqian and Ge Yue nodded in unison.

Shi Wen looked at Yan Kexing Yan Kexing, who surprisingly showed a rare expression of agreement.

Shi Wen immediately exclaimed with great enthusiasm, "Let me take you to find them! I'm an expert at finding small animals!"

Author's Note:

Note 1: [Rat Ping] means an animal that cannot be seen in Jinjiang, pronounced "Ping", and is an animal of the hamster family.

Chapter 178

Water shrews mainly live near bodies of water such as streams and ponds, and are insectivorous mammals.

If you're going out to look, you have to look in a suitable environment.

Shi Wen showed the map to Yan Kexing and the others. "There are only a few rivers and streams around us. Judging from the water shrew's mouth in Chasing Clouds's stomach, they can't be located too far away. I think we should be able to find some clues if we start searching from here."

Shi Wen spoke while glancing at Yan Kexing and the others, indicating that they could speak if they had any questions.

Yan Kexing smiled and said, "I'm fine."

Yan Kexing has no problem, then the others have even less of a problem.

Shi Wen said, "That's fine, let's set off then. Meeting adjourned."

Yan Kexing smiled again.

Yan Kexing's smile was so rare that Gong Jiang and the other two couldn't help but glance at him several times before quickly pulling their heads back before Yan Kexing could look at them.

Lin Chengqian, head down, frantically typed on his phone: [Brother Shi looks so cool when he's so relaxed and at ease!]

Lin Chengqian: [How many times did the teacher laugh just now?]

Ge Yue: [... I never expected the teacher to be like this at home.]

Gong Jiang: [Stop chatting, hurry up and catch up. Check if the equipment has power; we'll shoot some footage later.]

Lin Chengqian: [I've already checked everything, all the equipment is fine, and I brought power banks and such. Senior, could you ask if it's okay to film this? What's the teacher's opinion?]

Gong Jiang: [Yes, you can take pictures. I've already asked. Just don't take pictures of people.]

Today we're going to gather information about water shrews in the neighborhood, so it's not a good day to bring the little ones.

Shi Wen was mainly worried that her little one would get too excited and run around, disrupting the search.

Some of the more composed little ones can be managed, like Cong Zai and Heiwa, but the other little ones will definitely protest.

So Shi Wen left all the little guys behind, and just the few pure humans set off for their destination.

They drove there, and when they arrived, they got out of the car to search.

In May, the grasslands are covered with all kinds of flowers, and the snow melts, leaving behind clean and cold meltwater.

Shi Wen squatted down, put his hand into the water, and felt the water flowing over his palm.

There were undercurrents underwater, and he could sense some animals moving around, though they seemed to be fish or something similar.

He has not yet found any trace of mammals.

There were all sorts of caves along the shore; he had already seen several fox dens and marmot dens on his way here.

Upon arriving at the location and taking photos, Gong Jiang couldn't help but ask, "Are there really water shrews in a place like this?"

Shi Wen, head bowed, said, "We'll find out if we look. If it's here, we'll definitely find some traces."

There was no exposed soil or mudflats here; thick, soft grass covered the entire bank. The stream was very clear, and apart from the ripples created by the water hitting the rocks below, nothing else could obstruct their view.

Gong Jiang and his team filmed the video, but they couldn't see anything unusual, let alone find any trace of the water shrew.

Shi Wen that they really couldn't find it, I pointed it out to them one by one.

From paw prints of various animals to caves that are in use or abandoned, to animal hair, and even grass and algae that have been chewed, there are actually quite a lot of traces left by animals.

Shi Wen can even deduce a simple map of mammal activity with his eyes closed.

Gong Jiang couldn't help but exclaim, "Brother Shi, you're truly knowledgeable!"

Shi Wen chuckled, "This has nothing to do with erudition; it's purely a natural talent."

As he spoke, he exchanged a glance with Yan Kexing gently patted his shoulder, seemingly agreeing with his statement.