Chapter Eighty-two Capturing Mountain Rats

  Today, many brothers rewarded me, including honest person 888, Blood Lion Beast Emperor, W absolute version √ God, & Dragon in * Expedition &, as well as Xinyi's 7 votes to urge for more! Thank you, village friends!

  Back home, Chu Jiaqiang didn't stay, immediately went to the village to borrow some iron cages and other things, then picked some better grain, brought it, and followed Tang Pangzi up the mountain slope.

  These iron cages all have some small mechanisms inside. When the mountain rats sneak in to eat, they easily trigger the mechanism and get locked inside.

  Apart from the iron cage, the most primitive one is actually the mousetrap. However, the hit rate of the mousetrap is much lower, and it's easy for them to escape. If they are caught by their paws, they may struggle desperately and then break off that paw to escape. If they are caught by their body, the whole mouse will die quickly, not fresh, so the mousetrap has been slowly phased out now.

  "It's not the best time to catch mountain rats now, the best season should be winter. In winter, they have eaten up their food and will come out to find something to eat, seeing food, they must eat it desperately. Now in autumn, there is plenty of food, the bait you put must be of good quality to lure them." Chu Jiaqiang said.

  "That winter we'll come again to harvest a few more times. This thing is not only delicious, but also very nutritious." Tang Baozi said in agreement.

  Chu Jiaqiang didn't immediately go down into the pit, but instead observed from the peanut field, as if looking for something.

  Tang Baozi couldn't help but ask: "Younger brother, what are you looking for? Hurry up and get to work, set up the trap well, then leave."

  "No rush, I need to find a place where peanuts grow better to set traps, so the probability is higher." Chu Jiaqiang said. After scanning around, he picked up the cage and walked over.

  The making of a mousetrap is simple, and anyone who has seen it done can do it.

  The main idea is to catch mice like this: open the door of the cage, put some food inside to lure the mouse in, and when the mouse comes in to eat the food, trigger a switch while eating, which quickly closes the door of the cage under the action of a strong spring before the mouse can react!

  There are three issues worth noting: First, the food used to lure mice must be in line with the mouse's taste and can quickly attract mice with the smell of food (can use small cloth bags containing some fresh fried peanuts), and it must not spoil within a relatively short period of time (one or two days).

  The hook that holds the food should have a relatively loose trigger switch, so that when the food moves slightly, the switch will turn off immediately (a small stick can be used to test it).

  Three is the mouse cage to be placed in places where mice often appear, with the opening facing the direction of the mice's movement. At the same time, attention should be paid not to place it in places where people can easily see it, so as not to scare away the mice and also to avoid accidentally hurting people!

  "Little brother, how did you know the mountain rat was coming from this direction?" Tang Baozi asked in puzzlement.

  "Look, they're called mountain mice because they generally live on mountains. So we can rule out the direction below. On the left, the mountain is full of rocks, not suitable for digging burrows, so that's also ruled out. There's a small stream to the right, and the soil there is too wet, which doesn't suit them either. Plus, damp places have many snakes, and mice are afraid of snakes, so they won't be on the right side either. Therefore, it's only possible that they came from the top of the mountain."

  Tang Baozi suddenly enlightened and nodded: "Little brother's observation is really meticulous!"

  "Haha! The more you do this kind of thing, the more natural it becomes. It's nothing special. If you don't believe me, ask the kids in the village and they'll give you a logical analysis. Those guys are experts, they basically know everything about the mountain. If you want wild mushrooms, let them go pick some, and you'll definitely get a big harvest. But you can't bully those little kids." Chu Jiaqiang said.

  "Haha! How could I? Do I look like the kind of person who would exploit children's labor? Tomorrow, I'll let them pick some to bring back. These mountain goods are also good stuff. Those outside are all made with cosmetic surgery, cultivated to look good, but not edible." Tang Baozi was very knowledgeable about food, and with just one glance, he could roughly tell if something was authentic or not.

  "It's actually not that troublesome, you can just go find a mouse hole and catch it directly, no need to wait for so long." Chu Jiaqiang said.

  Tang Baozi immediately glared and said: "Why didn't you say so earlier? Hurry up and put the other cages away, we'll go catch a few to take back, and have a tooth-sacrificing feast tonight."

  Chu Jiaqiang somewhat regretted telling this guy, didn't he ask for trouble? Helpless, he could only hurry to set up the cage. However, not all of them were placed, leaving two to bring along.

  Then the two of them climbed up the mountain.

  "We can't be searching for mouse holes all over the mountains, can we?" Tang Baozi said. With his build, he was panting after climbing for a while. It was late afternoon now, and standing on the mountain ridge, one could feel the cool breeze, but Tang Baozi was drenched in sweat.

  "That's not necessary, there is a regular route to follow, just walk along the mouse path." Chu Jiaqiang smiled.

  "What's a mouse path? How do I find it? Can mice even open roads?" Tang Baozi was stunned, this was his first time experiencing it personally, and he had no experience at all. In the past, he had gone hunting with a dog and a group of friends in the mountains, and he could identify rabbit burrows, but he had never dealt with mouse holes before.

  "Of course, but you have to observe carefully, or you won't see it." Chu Jiaqiang pointed to a spot near his feet and said: "Look here, the grass was originally growing well here, but quite a few were bitten off. These mountain rats are very good at enjoying themselves, they specifically choose the best grass, take it back to their nest, and won't be too cold in winter."

  "That can only mean that the mountain rat has been here before, but it's not necessarily a regular route?" Tang Pangzi said gloomily.

  "Listen to me! They have a habit with rabbits, which is to take the old road. Although they are fierce in nature, they are very timid, otherwise people wouldn't say 'timid as a mouse'. So they only take safe roads, and don't dare to venture into unknown routes, and will even leave some marks on the way." Chu Jiaqiang explained.

  Walking along that old mouse path, I soon came to a cave entrance, a fist-sized hole with some plants covering the outside.

  "After all, no matter how clever a mouse is, it's still not as smart as a human. By the way, how did you know there were mice inside?" Tang Baozi was overjoyed.

  Chu Jiaqiang pointed at some mouse droppings near the entrance of the cave: "These mouse droppings look fresh, there must be mountain mice inside."

  "What do we do now? We didn't bring a shovel over, how are we going to dig?"

  "No need to dig, let's take a look around. There must be other entrances nearby, we just need to seal the others and leave one open." Chu Jiaqiang started searching around.

  "Ha! Isn't this the trick of a rabbit?"

  "The cunning rabbit has three burrows, but the mountain mouse also has this behavior. What if a snake comes? A snake blocking the entrance can eat all the mountain mice in one nest." Chu Jiaqiang knew that the mountain mouse was much more cunning than the house mouse.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, soon found an entrance next to a pine tree, Chu Jiaqiang immediately sealed it, and after not finding any more mouse holes, returned to the original place.

  "Now we can use water to flush them out, the mountain rats are afraid of water, and they will immediately rush out in a panic. We just need to put an iron cage at the entrance of the hole and wait for them to come out. Of course, there is no water here, burning fire and smoke also works."

  As soon as he heard the water, Tang Pangzi collapsed, but in the next sentence, he immediately took out his lighter and lit a cigarette.

  Chu Jiaqiang fetched a pile of dry grass and cleared everything around it, lest the fire get out of control. In the mountains, forest fires are the most feared, and once they start burning, they can be terrifying. Before the fire spreads too far, there may still be a chance to put it out, but if it gets too big, all that can be done is to quickly organize people to set up isolation belts, which means clearing all vegetation before the fire reaches them.

  Chu Jiaqiang grew up in a rural area and still has some awareness of fire prevention.

  A fire was lit next to the entrance, and then slightly crouched on the ground, blowing air into the cave. Thick smoke poured in through the entrance, and soon, sharp cries came from inside.

  "Be careful, hold the iron cage tightly, it's about to come out!" Chu Jiaqiang shouted loudly.

  Tang Baozi heard the words and immediately stabilized the iron cage. As soon as it was stable, two big rats scurried out from inside, one of which crashed into the iron cage. Chu Jiaqiang immediately closed the iron net door of the cage.

  "Alright, next place." Chu Jiaqiang extinguished the fire, not leaving a single spark behind. A single spark can start a prairie fire, this principle everyone understands.

  "Is it all gone?" Tang Baozi asked.

  "What do you think? Didn't you see that these two mice are very fat? There must be none inside, generally speaking, those with a larger body type have a certain sense of territory, don't think only tigers can't coexist in the same mountain!" Chu Jiaqiang said.

  They caught two more elsewhere and then headed home.