Live Wilderness Adventure

Chapter 830 Gunshots

After punching in another legendary oasis, Bi Fang led Alpha along the canyon and continued heading east.

The well-fed West African crocodiles lay quietly on the shore, lazily opening their mouths, enjoying the warm sunshine. There are several dove-like crocodiles in the water behind them, with four colors of black, white, gray and light yellow. feather bird.

These birds are complex and colorful, and they are very eye-catching from a distance.

Stepping into the water with long feet, swaying small ripples, catching small fish in the river, two of them seemed not satisfied, after searching for a while, they set their targets on the West African crocodile, jumping on the bank, jumping suddenly Into the mouth, bowed his head to peck.

[What kind of bird is this, it looks so beautiful]

【Hiss, isn't it afraid that the crocodile will eat it? 】

[I've seen this, Toothpick Bird! 】

[I seem to have read in that article that this is eating the meat residue in the crocodile's mouth, and it can also help clean the mouth. The two are in a symbiotic relationship, so crocodiles will not eat birds]

Uh... Bi Fang scratched his eyebrows, This is probably fake.

【ah this】

[Is it fake? 】

【It's over, I'm about to be slapped in the face by God Fang】

The toothpick bird's scientific name is Egyptian plovers. The statement about its mutual benefit and symbiosis with crocodiles comes from the records of an ancient Greek writer named Herodotus, a book called History.

This book records what Herodotus heard and saw during his travels, as well as the history of the Achaemenid Empire in Persia. It is the first complete prose work handed down in the history of Western literature.

There is a record in it about what you call 'the toothpick bird', to the effect that, according to Herodotus, a Nile crocodile would lie on the bank, open its mouth, and let a bird called 'trochilus' Fly into its mouth and help the crocodile remove the carrion and leeches in its mouth.

But from a biological point of view, crocodilians don't need their teeth cleaned. They don't have broken teeth like mammals and can't be replaced.

Each crocodile tooth is composed of three parts: functional tooth, replacement tooth and dental plate, and the stem cells in the bulge of the dental plate can develop into a replacement new tooth. It is the special structure of the crocodile tooth that makes the new tooth replace the functional tooth. The process of maturing the teeth proceeded smoothly.

Secondly, the crocodile's teeth are so widely spaced that they can't get food crumbs in.

The teeth of the crocodile are cone-shaped, and the gaps between the teeth are also cone-shaped. The main function of the teeth is to catch and kill animals, and then swallow them whole instead of chewing them. Meat dregs will not be stuffed with meat.

Even if there are still bacteria on the teeth, it's not something a bird can solve. In other words, the bird basically doesn't get much benefit from the crocodile's mouth.

The most important thing is that no other scientist except Herodotus saw this phenomenon more than 2,000 years ago.

The photos of the Egyptian plucking the crocodile's teeth circulating on the Internet are actually digital reconstructions based on Herodotus' description.

For many years, people have firmly believed in the toothpick bird, and regarded the friendship between the toothpick bird and the crocodile as a model of mutual benefit and symbiosis between animals.

But with the development of time, more and more people have raised doubts. The biggest question is that more and more people are traveling to the African continent, and many of them are photographers or photography enthusiasts.

If they had seen the funny scene of the bird getting into the crocodile's mouth, they would have taken the precious footage anyway.

However, there is no such photo.

In addition, many scientists who went to Africa for investigation have never seen this strange phenomenon.

In the more than 2,400 years after Herodotus' death, only two zoologists claimed to have seen the scene of the toothpick bird flying into the mouth of the crocodile to eat. Unfortunately, the things they told did not have a specific time and place. , without real evidence, it cannot be convincing.”

Later, in order to uncover this eternal mystery, Mr. Howell, an ornithologist from the University of California, made a special trip to the Gambella region of Ethiopia, Africa, and conducted a two-and-a-half-month investigation.

During the two-and-a-half-month investigation, Professor Howell worked tirelessly, leaving early and returning late, and discovered many interesting living habits of Egyptian plovers, which were never known before. But he has never seen To the phenomenon of Egyptian plovers catching insects in crocodile mouths.

Finally this biologist, Thomas Howell, wrote a book in 1979 which basically states that he has never seen this phenomenon himself, and that some authors throughout history have claimed to have seen it, But these authors are not particularly reliable.

According to his research, even if Herodotus's story about crocodile and toothpick bird being good friends is true, it is still a very rare phenomenon, and it is definitely not the main source of food for birds, so crocodile and egyptian sparrow are not symbiotic relation.

That is, it should not be seen as a paradigm of mutualism between animals.

It's an individual behavior, it can't be a commonality of a species.

We were lucky enough to see the toothpick bird go into the crocodile's mouth.

[I finally saw someone I knew, but in the end I was slapped in the face by Fang Shen, it was really difficult]

[It's really hard to live in the wilderness. I really don't know anyone. It's hard to know one, but the result is still wrong.]

Bi Fang laughed.

[Then why doesn't this crocodile eat toothpick birds?]

[Yeah, what is the bird doing in the mouth of the crocodile? 】

Probably eating some parasites or something.

Bi Fang stared at the crocodile a few times.

All animals have a characteristic, that is, they stop hunting when they are full.

Crocodiles don't lie on their stomachs with their mouths open when hunting, but float quietly underwater with only their eyes and nostrils exposed. When they lie on their stomachs with their mouths open, it means that they are full and will not hunt anymore, even birds Jumping around the mouth and not hunting for prey.

It's like one of those crocodile shows where people often get applauded by stuffing their hand, or their head, into the crocodile's growing mouth. Before starting such a show, the crocodile must have been fed. I'm full.

Besides, the crocodile's reaction and movement are much slower than that of the bird. If you really want to eat it, you won't be able to eat it, so you will let it go, but whether you will eat it or not is not certain.

As soon as the words fell, everyone heard a loud sound of teeth clashing.

The West African crocodile, which was motionless, suddenly closed its upper and lower jaws. Of the two toothpick birds, only one escaped, and the other was bitten without any suspense, and swallowed in a few mouthfuls.

After a successful blow, the West African crocodile quickly turned around and swam towards the river, disappearing.

Not long after, everything returned to calm again, and the crocodiles nearby did what they wanted, as if nothing had happened.

【Hiss, God Fang was right】

【It's true that people die for money and birds die for food】

【My God, it's amazing】

Several toothpick birds are pecking at a small fish together.

As it got deeper and deeper, the pollution level of the Heishui River began to decrease. It was no longer black, but light gray. There were fewer and fewer wild camels to be seen, and more West African crocodiles were replaced.

The dense crowd of crocodiles on the shore made the audience's scalp tingle, especially when Bi Fang almost walked past them, it reached its peak.

[Why do I feel that there are more and more crocodiles]

【It's almost gone】

【Scared, too scary】

【Fang Shen is too courageous】

This is a normal phenomenon. Strictly speaking, the life overlap between West African crocodiles and camels is not high. West African crocodiles do not rely on eating camels to survive, but basically rely on eating fish. Therefore, the fewer camels, the more crocodiles will increase. Because where there are fewer camels, there are more fish.

Bi Fang looked at the river and explained briefly.

Excessive pollution will thin the fish in the river and reduce the rations of West African crocodiles, so they will naturally avoid the gathering places where the river water is blackened by the pollution of camel feces.

Such situations are not uncommon in Africa, such as the Mara River, which is one of the waters where hippos gather. In the dry season, there will be many hippos crowded in small lakes.

They excrete 8.5 tons of feces every day. Too much excrement accumulates, making the environment of these small lakes very harsh.

The dry season is fine, because the area of ​​the water area is not large, it only affects the surrounding area, but in the rainy season, the water area becomes a large river, and the feces that have not had time to be decomposed by microorganisms will be washed to other places by the river water, floating Everywhere.

【I feel a little sick】

[Too heavy mouth belongs to yes]

【Want to see】

[a little hanging]

【What manure making machine】

The feces accumulated on the bottom of the water for a long time will be fermented by microorganisms, which will produce gases such as methane, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, which will lead to a significant reduction in the oxygen content in the water, resulting in a large number of fish deaths in the river.

When the rainy season comes, many dead fish bodies will appear on the water surface of the Mara River. These suffocated fish have also become a special phenomenon.

And this phenomenon is still a vicious circle. The death of fish in the river will increase the accumulation of rot, which will cause the river's purification ability to fail to keep up with the production speed of pollutants, further pollute it, and become more and more unsuitable for the survival of organisms.

If it weren't for the Nile crocodile inside, unlike the West African crocodile, which basically survived by eating fish, it would almost be extinct.

However, animal feces are not all bad. If the amount is appropriate, it will increase the number of organisms in the river and provide nutrients.

We have a suitable level here, and there is not too much pollution, so the number of fish schools is guaranteed, and there are naturally more crocodiles.

The tall camels disappeared, and even though the ground was full of crocodiles, it made the whole canyon look a lot empty.

It is too open, so that the canyon gradually echoes.

When Bi Fang led the huge camel past, the West African crocodile did not move, but startled a crowd of birds.

The birds hovered in the sky for a while, waiting for Bi Fang to leave, and returned to the ground after a while, continuing to search for their lunch in the river sand.

This canyon is not composed of many tall rocks, but a rift valley, with rock walls on both sides as high as tens of meters, and a natural arched stone bridge can occasionally be seen overhead.

Looking at the majestic spectacle like the gate of the gods, the audience in front of the screen were amazed, and even Bi Fang himself felt relaxed and happy.

Looking at the magnificence of nature can broaden your mind. If you feel that life is too tired, go on a trip, go to the desert, Gobi, grassland, forest, starry sky, and giant trees.

Bi Fang breathed a sigh of relief, with a smile on his face, obviously in a good mood.

【No Money】

【Sponsored by Fangshen】

【Let's start a tourism foundation】

【I want you beautiful】

[I think Fang Shen's next step should be the universe. I heard that rockets are not all commercialized? Speaking of Fangshen’s current wealth, he should be able to afford a ticket, right?]

[It's been sprinkled, it's not enough for us to join in! 】

[Add one, collect money and send Fangshen to heaven! 】

[God! 】

Bi Fang made some jokes with the audience and was about to say something when a gunshot interrupted all the following words.

The sound of gunfire echoed endlessly over the canyon, and all the birds that had just stopped were startled and flew one after another in the canyon.

what's the situation! ?

Everyone was shocked.

Bi Fang has watched too many live broadcasts, and the audience is all too familiar with this voice.

gunfire!

How could there be gunshots?

Bi Fang swallowed the remaining words back to his throat, and pulled the frightened Alpha to be vigilant.

Animals are naturally wary of unfamiliar and loud sounds, especially herbivores, who are easily startled.

Alpha almost jumped up just now, but Bi Fang pulled him down in time, and quickly pulled him under the rock wall, clinging to the stone wall, reducing the exposed surface as much as possible.

Up there.

Bi Fang knew the source of the direction without identifying it. Hidden in the shadow of the rock, his face was not very good-looking.

To put it an exaggeration, with Bi Fang's current physical fitness and condition, he would not frighten anyone in hand-to-hand combat, but he still had enough vigilance against such a big killer as guns.

But before Alpha could stand still, a second gunshot sounded above the canyon. Judging from the sound, the distance did not close, and two shots should have been fired from the same location.

What are you hitting?

Bi Fang thought quickly in his mind, and tried to distinguish the type of gun from the sound of the gun.

The sound of different firearms is completely different, and many experienced veterans can roughly identify the type of gun from the sound of the gun.

For example, the sound heard when a pistol is fired is similar to that of firecrackers.

The clear and rhythmic bursting sound of boom, boom, boom must be an automatic rifle.

The sound of da da da that seemed to be firing in succession must be a submachine gun.

More specifically, for example, M249saw sounds like a blast, and mg42 sounds like cutting oilcloth pants with scissors.

But the gunshots now sounded very dull, and Bi Fang couldn't tell what it was for a while.

But soon Bi Fang knew that he didn't have to think so much.

Not long after the second gunshot was fired, Bi Fang, who raised his head and fixed his eyes on the top of the canyon, saw with his own eyes a deer-like animal with sharp horns falling from the edge of the cliff.

The powerful dynamic vision and nerve reflexes also allowed Bi Fang to clearly see the bright red blood on the animal's abdomen.

But no matter whether the wound was fatal or not, when Bi Fang saw it fall from a cliff tens of meters high, he knew that the gazelle was finished.

Introduction to This is the Fourth Natural Disaster: There are four major natural disasters in this world, the weirdness entrenched in the abyss, the omnics who execute the extinction program, the indescribable gods...and, the Luo Fei family named [Player].