Chapter 8: Catching Forest Rats
The piglets he had bought were too small, and having just arrived in an unfamiliar environment, they were rather fragile. They could not be released directly onto the mountain.
Ying Kongtu cleaned out the storage room in one corner of the courtyard, where he usually kept tools, and temporarily kept the piglets there.
Ying Kongtu had many years of experience raising pigs. After bringing the piglets back, he first adjusted their diet.
If he were doing it for economic benefit, it would be best to feed the piglets cooked food.
But that was not his purpose, so he had no intention of feeding them cooked meals.
The little piglets were still fragile. For now, he mainly fed them vegetable leaves mixed with rice bran. After raising them a little longer, he could mix in wild vegetables and wild grasses and let the pigs slowly adapt.
The piglets could not be kept at home for long. He planned to build a small shed beside the vegetable plot on Wuchuan Mountain.
Once the shed was built, he would release the piglets onto Wuchuan Mountain to free-range.
That day, Ying Kongtu went up the mountain early in the morning.
Building a shed was not troublesome, but if he wanted to make one sturdy and durable, it still required some skill, as well as several days of work.
What he lacked least now was time.
Ying Kongtu walked around the forest, cut down a few small trees growing in the shade that were not doing very well, and dragged them back to the clearing.
The branches had all been trimmed off, and the air was filled with the distinctive bitter, clean fragrance of tree sap.
Ying Kongtu rather liked this scent. He took a deep breath and suddenly distinguished another smell in the air.
It was a warm, sun-baked scent mixed with cat fur.
He looked in the direction the scent came from and saw a bit of orange and white amid the dense woods.
“Dart?” Ying Kongtu placed the branches on the ground and beckoned to the cat. “You’re here?”
The orange tabby held its tail high and paced over to Ying Kongtu, rubbing its head against his leg. “Meow.”
Ying Kongtu’s gaze softened. He bent down to stroke the orange tabby’s head, then scratched its chin. “You came up the mountain very early today.”
The orange tabby crouched at Ying Kongtu’s feet, narrowed its eyes, puffed out its chest, and made purring sounds in its throat.
Ying Kongtu smiled and took a piece of fish wrapped in banana leaf from his pocket, placing it in front of the orange tabby’s mouth. “Eat.”
This piece of fish had been made by drying reservoir fish, and it was coated with meat powder on the outside. It smelled delicious and was a little snack Ying Kongtu had prepared specially for the orange tabby.
The orange tabby sniffed Ying Kongtu’s fingers with its pink nose, licked them ingratiatingly twice, then quickly picked up the fish piece in its mouth, placed it on the ground, and began eating with a purring sound.
Ying Kongtu left it alone and continued shaving the wood, then began building the shed in the open space he had set aside.
Actually, if he built the shed with brick and stone, the materials would be stronger and less easily damaged.
Brick and stone were not expensive nowadays either.
It was only because Ying Kongtu did not want to make the mountain messy that he used local materials and built a wooden shed.
The piglets were still small now. He had to build them a shed to shelter them from wind and rain and let them rest at night.
Once they grew up into large pigs with thick skin and tough flesh, he would not need to be so careful.
Even stretching a waterproof tarp in the mountain would be enough.
The shed was built very quickly. Ying Kongtu moved the piglets onto the mountain and still fed them every day.
The piglets soon adapted to free-range life and began running happily through the woods. They only came back when it was time to eat or sleep.
Ying Kongtu observed them for a while and found that this group of little pigs had adapted quite well to mountain life.
They were keen on eating all kinds of wild vegetables and wild fruits, but they did not really damage tree bark.
With the pig herd here, the wild boar herd indeed did not come near much anymore.
Perhaps because there had not been much food here to begin with, the wild boars were unwilling to take the risk of coming to a place where food was not abundant and danger might await them.
The little vegetable garden gradually became peaceful again.
The fenced vegetable garden also gradually grew.
The water spinach he planted could already be harvested. The stems and leaves he cut were crisp and tender. He used them to make water spinach stir-fried with fermented bean curd and water spinach stir-fried with beef. The taste was outstanding.
The tomatoes, chilies, eggplants, and other vegetables beside them had also begun flowering. In another twenty or so days, he estimated that he would be able to harvest the first batch of fruiting vegetables.
Ying Kongtu was weeding the vegetables.
The weather was becoming hotter and hotter, and there were more and more weeds.
He fertilized and watered the vegetables, and the weeds, nourished by the same fertilizer and water, also grew extremely lush.
If he did not weed diligently, the weeds would sooner or later drown out the vegetables.
Ying Kongtu was lowering his head and pulling weeds when suddenly, from the forest above the vegetable garden, came the orange tabby’s cry, full of warning.
“Meow-ow, meow-ow”—hoarse and fierce, completely different from the sweet, coaxing voice it usually used.
“Dart?” Ying Kongtu stopped what he was doing and looked up the mountain.
There was no more movement in the forest.
He stood where he was and waited for two seconds. Worried that the orange tabby had encountered some fierce beast in the woods, he picked up his hoe and hurried over.
Very soon, he saw the orange tabby standing in the clearing, its body slightly lowered, its head bowed as it stared at the weeds beneath its paws.
“What’s wrong?” Ying Kongtu walked forward. “A snake?”
The orange tabby did not raise its head.
Just as Ying Kongtu was about to reach it, it suddenly shoved its paws fiercely into a crack in the ground, supporting itself only on its two hind legs.
Its two paws dug rapidly, and its sharp claws quickly pulled out a forest rat.
The moment the forest rat came out of the ground, it still wanted to escape.
The orange tabby lowered its head and bit it, picking up the forest rat in its mouth.
Only then did the orange tabby look at Ying Kongtu. “Meow.”
“Very impressive.” Ying Kongtu reached out to stroke it, then looked at the forest rat. “What a big forest rat.”
This forest rat weighed at least two jin. Even with the orange tabby being as large as it was, it could barely hold it in its mouth.
The orange tabby puffed out its furry chest, a hint of pride in its orange-yellow eyes. “Meow!”
There were all kinds of wild animals in the forest.
Rodents were at the bottom of the food chain and belonged to one of the most numerous categories of wild animals.
Seeing that the orange tabby had caught a forest rat, Ying Kongtu did not pay it too much attention.
The weather had warmed, and all kinds of wild animals were gradually entering their breeding season. Rodents already had strong reproductive ability, so naturally, their numbers were not small.
It was only after seeing forest rats several times that Ying Kongtu realized something was not quite right.
There were far too many kinds of rats in the forest.
That day, he deliberately set aside time to go up the mountain and inspect carefully.
The orange tabby came over early in the morning and leisurely followed him up the mountain.
One person and one cat went up the mountain in the morning light.
Morning mist filled the mountain, and the air carried the special scent of moss and other plants.
As Ying Kongtu walked, he observed the condition of the trees around him.
If the orange tabby grew tired and crouched on the ground, refusing to walk, he would also carry it for a while.
Very soon, he discovered that the number of rodents was even greater than he had imagined, and their destructiveness was also strong.
Many firs, Chinese red pines, spruces, red birches, and other trees on the mountain had been gnawed.
Quite a few fir trunks had been stripped and chewed into a mess, revealing smooth, bare wood.
Many Huashan pines had their roots bitten through, and holes had been dug around their roots, with all the soil scraped out.
No wonder these trees had not been growing well recently.
He had thought it was because the weather was dry and their leaves had wilted a little.
He had not expected their roots to have been gnawed by rodents.
When many animals in the forest moved around, they had fixed routes.
This tendency was especially obvious among rodents.
Ying Kongtu crouched down and searched. Very soon, he found a “rat path”—some rat had been walking along this route for years, and the traces of trampling and gnawing were very obvious.
Seeing Ying Kongtu crouch down, the orange tabby curiously slipped over from beside his legs. “Meow.”
“Shh.” Ying Kongtu pressed the back of the orange tabby’s neck and said in a low voice, “Don’t make a sound.”
The orange tabby gently shifted its paws and lowered its tail. It really stopped calling. Instead, following Ying Kongtu’s gaze, it stared brightly ahead.
Seeing that it had entered hunting mode, Ying Kongtu gently stroked its back. “Good cat. Help me catch a forest rat.”
The orange tabby lifted its head and looked at Ying Kongtu’s chin, then softly said, “Mi?”
Ying Kongtu pointed toward the front of the rat path. “See it? There’s a rat hole by the tree root. There should be a forest rat inside.”
The orange tabby still did not quite react.
Ying Kongtu pushed its bottom, urging it forward.
Only then did the orange tabby seem to understand. It trotted a few steps to the front of the rat hole.
The orange tabby lowered its body, its nose twitching as it sniffed at the rat hole.
It quickly caught the scent of rodents and stretched a paw directly inside to dig.
When its right front paw could not reach, it switched to its left front paw, pressing its body low and digging hard.
Soon, squeaking sounds came from inside the rat hole.
The orange tabby grew even more excited. Standing only on its hind legs, it dug fiercely into the hole with both paws.
After digging for quite a while, a dark shadow suddenly flashed at the entrance of the hole—the forest rat inside had run out.
There was no need for Ying Kongtu to remind it. The orange tabby swiped a paw forward and directly pinned the forest rat beneath its claws.
“Meow!” The orange tabby lifted its head to look at Ying Kongtu.
Ying Kongtu crouched down and first stroked its head. “As expected of you!”
The orange tabby probably heard the praise in his tone and became even more excited. “Meow!”
Ying Kongtu scratched its chin. “Let me see.”
The forest rat the orange tabby had caught was a vole, likely a black-bellied vole. It was also rather large and was struggling hard.
Ying Kongtu took photos and made a record.
The orange tabby soon could not restrain itself and began playing.
It let the vole go, then whenever the vole tried to run, it stepped on the vole’s tail again.
The vole tried several times to break out, but it could not get away.
Ying Kongtu had just finished checking information when he saw this scene, and a smile could not help appearing on his face.
Several hundred years ago, he had raised a golden cat.
That golden cat had likewise been a fine hunter of rats.
Now, the golden cat was no longer here, but the orange tabby was doing just as well.
Thinking of this, Ying Kongtu stroked the orange tabby’s head again, then continued his inspection.
He walked through the mountain and gained a rough understanding of the situation in the forest.
The forest rodents were mainly divided into two categories—rats and squirrels.
Those gnawing tree bark were likely mainly squirrels, such as chipmunks and red-bellied squirrels.
Those gnawing tree roots were likely rats, such as field mice, voles, and forest mice.
When there were too many squirrels and rats, forest rodent damage was likely to break out.
The current situation was not optimistic.
Frowning, Ying Kongtu took photos of many typical rat holes and traces of rodent activity and submitted them to the county Forestry and Grassland Bureau.
Forest rodent damage was an important type of forest pest. Every year, forest rodent outbreaks occurred in different places.
There were already so many rodents on Qingfang Mountain. On the surrounding mountains, there were probably even more.
After submitting the report, Ying Kongtu continued inspecting the mountain.
Soon, his phone rang. He glanced at his bracelet and saw that it was an unfamiliar number.
There were few strangers in a small county town. Even express deliveries had fixed couriers. It was rare for unfamiliar numbers to call.
Ying Kongtu looked at the call and thought for a moment. In the end, he still answered.
On the other end of the call was a middle-aged man. “Hello, is this Ying Kongtu?”
Ying Kongtu said, “Yes. Who is this?”
“I’m Pei Lejiu, the deputy chief forest officer in charge of this area. We just received a report saying that a rodent outbreak may have occurred in our forest?”
“I can’t judge whether it’s a rodent outbreak or not. I just saw that many trees have been damaged by rodents, and there are many rat holes.”
Pei Lejiu’s voice was somewhat grave, but very polite. “Are you still in the mountains? Could you take us to see the site of the rodent damage?”
Ying Kongtu hesitated for a moment. “I’m on Qingfang Mountain.”
“Qingfang Mountain is fine. If you don’t mind, I’ll bring people up to take a look?”
There was nothing on the mountain that needed to be hidden from others, so Ying Kongtu quickly gave him a rough location.
Pei Lejiu and the technicians arrived quickly as well. A little over ten minutes later, they reached the foot of the mountain by motorcycle.
The three met up on the mountain.
Pei Lejiu wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve, first greeted Ying Kongtu, then explained, “Yesterday, we just received a report that a forest rodent outbreak occurred in the Wutela area, damaging more than five thousand mu (~825 acres) of public welfare forest and shrubland.”
No wonder they had come so quickly.
As soon as Ying Kongtu heard this, he understood. “When the weather warms, rodent outbreaks do become more likely—this way.”
Ying Kongtu led Pei Lejiu and the technician toward the areas with more rodent damage. “I’m not a professional, but I feel there are quite a lot of red-bellied squirrels, chipmunks, and voles nearby.”
Ying Kongtu was not very familiar with the specialized names for various rodents, but he was excellent at finding rat holes and rat paths.
He pointed out the rat holes and rat paths he had found one by one.
Pei Lejiu and the technician took photos nearby and quickly recorded them.
The technician soon confirmed, “This is definitely rodent damage. The number of rodents in one hectare of forest land already exceeds twenty. In a mature forest like this, more than ten rodents per hectare counts as rodent damage.”
Pei Lejiu’s expression changed slightly. “Severe rodent damage?”
The technician said, “It probably hasn’t reached that level. The rodent damage looks like it has just occurred. We need to continue monitoring.”
Pei Lejiu said, “Then we still have to set bait.”
The technician said, “We still need further monitoring to determine the specific situation.”
Pei Lejiu said, “Then we’ll go now.”
After saying this, Pei Lejiu looked up at Ying Kongtu. “Mr. Ying, your four mountains will also need prevention and control together. Could I trouble you to monitor the rodent situation further? Or if it’s inconvenient for you, we can come instead.”
Pei Lejiu knew a little about Ying Kongtu’s identity. The previous application to set up wild boar protection facilities in this area had been personally approved by him.
Ying Kongtu said, “If it is confirmed to be forest rodent damage, what treatment methods will likely be adopted?”
Pei Lejiu said, “At present, the main methods are spraying low-toxicity rodent bait, setting traps, and hiring professionals to dig out rat holes and capture live rats.”
The technician added, “The Wutela side has newly developed a mousepox virus, but we’d need to apply for it. I don’t know whether the application can be approved.”
Pei Lejiu roughly knew what Ying Kongtu was thinking and said, “We also place great importance on ecology. Even if we spray agents, they will all be low-toxicity agents or rodent baits specifically targeting rodents, and we’ll try our best to reduce the impact on other plants and animals.”
Ying Kongtu evaluated it inwardly for a moment, then nodded. “All right. I’ll help monitor it. Sorry to trouble you.”
Pei Lejiu said, “No trouble, no trouble. This is all what we should do. Then we’ll go look at the situation on the other mountains first?”
Ying Kongtu saw them off. “All right.”
Pei Lejiu said, “Then see you later.”
Author’s Note:
Note: The golden cat, also known as the Asian golden cat, is a medium-sized feline mammal of the genus Catopuma in the family Felidae, order Carnivora. It is not a tiger.
