Strange Life of a Cat

On the third day after arriving at the internship base, the students who had been divided into groups left the internship base with the leading teachers of each group.

The four members of the Jiao family were with one of the teams. The two leading teachers of that team had a good relationship with Jiao's father. They talked about their previous team leading experiences while walking into the mountains and woods.

When going out into the wild, everyone wears long sleeves, long trousers, hiking shoes, and a sun hat. There are many insects and mosquitoes in the forest on the mountain. Don't look at them in broad daylight. Once you enter the forest, you will know how powerful those mosquitoes are. Therefore, students all carry toilet water, water, Fengyou essence and some anti-mosquito agents in their bags.

Zheng Tan didn't think anything of it. One was that he was now wearing a cat fur, which acted as a layer of protection. The other was that he was used to it and always ran around in the woods. He thought it was okay to just wear it. Some other things are just too much in the way.

The teacher leading the team pointed out some plants and introduced them to the students as they walked. If they thought they were worth making specimens, they would collect some and make specimens together when they went back. As for those plants that were common in Chuhua City, they were too lazy to bother. .

On the first day of field practice, the leading teacher did not intend to take the students directly to a remote place, but instead walked up the winding mountain road. The cement road was very smooth. It should be mainly used for tourism. After the number of people became less and less, they didn't see many vehicles driving along the way. Instead, they could see one or two crabs staying boldly on the road for a short distance. middle. People use a mantis' arm as a car, but it uses a crab's arm as a car. Although there are no cars here, there are many people.

Jiao Yuan followed the students. Every time they saw a crab on the road, they rushed towards it with a bottle as if they had been given blood. Jiao Yuan didn't even have to stretch out his hand to catch it. There was a student chasing crabs behind, so Jiao Yuan just grabbed it. Put the jar in front of the crab and wait for the crab to crawl in. However, crabs that are smarter and faster are not so easy to catch. Crabs can climb faster than shrimps, and some of them can slide down the slope from the roadside into the stream below if you are not careful.

There was a crab crawling toward Zheng Tan. Zheng Tan raised his paw and quickly lifted it toward Little Yuezi. Little Yuezi was also prepared. She was not afraid of crabs. She took the bottle and swung it up. Naturally, other students came over to help. , they will not give up this opportunity to please the teacher, help the teacher's children, maybe the teacher can let them go during the final exam and not fail the class.

Along the way, the group also caught a lot of crabs. Except for a few people who packed one or two crabs in their own bottles, the other crabs they caught were put into a bag.

After walking for a while, the group deviated from the main road and climbed up the mountain. The surrounding area is quite popular. Sometimes you can see one or two families of villagers living on the mountain. However, unlike the well-built houses near the previous base, the houses of these villagers are very simple tile-roofed houses.

Along the way, the leading teacher not only told the students some plants they saw, but also talked about the insects they knew. Father Jiao also said something to the two children.

Hey, there's a cat over there! Jiao Yuan pointed to a place and said.

Zheng Tan looked along the place pointed by Jiao Yuan. There was indeed a cat running there, and it quickly left everyone's sight and hid in the bushes. Those who reacted slower looked over and saw that the cat was gone. Shadow. The cat was probably scared away by the movement of the group of people here.

They should be wild cats. One of the teachers leading the team said, There are many wild cats here. Some are domestic cats that returned to the wild. After several generations of breeding, they became wild cats.

After saying that he felt uneasy, the teacher told the students: Be careful when you see wild cats on the mountain. These cats are different from your domestic pet cats. They have bad tempers, but they have not been vaccinated. , I don’t know how many germs I carry with me even if I run in the mountains all day long, so it’s better to stay away from them in the future.”

Everyone looked at Associate Professor Jiao's cat that didn't need a leash but kept following him without causing trouble. Then they thought about the cat they just saw that disappeared at the slightest movement. Is it really the difference between a domestic cat and a wild cat?

Cats are originally very wild and have strong survivability. If they return to the wild, a lot of them will survive. It's a pity that those birds are the only ones. In the past two years, people from the Bird Protection Association came specifically to catch cats. Not long after, another cat-loving organization came to condemn it, alas, said another teacher who led the team.

Zheng Tan sighed in his heart: Sure enough, the organizations that love cats and birds really don't deal with them.

I guess I felt that this topic was not a good topic for the students, and it might easily cause conflicts. The teacher who led the team did not continue, and instead said: Tell me, is it possible that we will find an albino this time? animal?

Hey, that's a good idea. It's not easy to find albino animals. Even the people on the field expedition team can't guarantee that they will encounter them every time. Many of them are discovered by accident. The probability is too low. Another teacher who led the team said smiled.

You also said it was an accident. No one can say whether we will encounter one at any time, maybe it will be a red animal!

Go ahead and dream. If you can really meet a reddish animal, not to mention the overwhelming reports, just a few leaders in our hospital will tremble. Unfortunately, those are only 'according to data', although some scientific expedition teams have also seen it. I have seen red-haired bats and the like. Last year, someone in a nearby village even said they saw red-haired wild boars. However, there is no really convincing evidence. Those abroad do not admit that there are red-haired species at all. In an authoritative international magazine, All that can be said is that 'no red-haired mammal has been found so far', and even catching a red-haired mouse would be a major event and big news in the world.

Therefore, the so-called red animals are just rumors and legends.

Dad Jiao thought of something and smiled: Some people used to joke that if you really want to find genuine red animals in their natural state, you can only find them in the Border Mountain City.

Albino animals can also be obtained after long-term artificial selection and protection and cultivation, such as the white mice commonly used in laboratories. Artificial mutagenesis and cultivation can indeed create many things, but organisms in their natural state are more valuable for research. People who study this area in the circle know the research value of albino and reddish animals, especially reddish animals.

They whispered the next few words, and only the two leading teachers and Father Jiao heard them. The students resting in the shade of a tree not far away did not pay attention.

Zheng Tan stood by and listened to their chat. According to the two teachers who led the team, many albino animals and mammals have been found in Bishan City, such as albino squirrels, foxes, bears, etc. Some people once thought that the emergence of albino animals was due to the development of humans and the expansion of their activity range, which led to the gradual shrinking of the animal's living space, the reduction of the population, and the degeneration caused by inbreeding. However, some people also felt that the albino animals in this place were Since albino animals existed in ancient times, and are more numerous and concentrated than other places in the world, it is unlikely to be a pure albino phenomenon, and there may be other unknown causes.

When it comes to unknown causes, Zheng Tan's imagination is wide open, such as mysterious organizations, aliens and so on. But it was just a thought. If someone really said it was because of aliens, Zheng Tan might not believe it.

As Dad Jiao said, there are many more unrecognized biological species on the earth than are known. Although human knowledge is improving, there are still many unsolved mysteries. Perhaps, when civilization develops to a certain extent, these mysteries will be solved... I just don't know if the mystery of the cat's body and human heart can be solved.

Zheng Tan was just wondering whether the reddish species they were talking about would be immediately made into specimens if they were discovered. Then he realized that if it were caught, it would definitely be treated as an extremely precious species. It is true that things are rare and valuable, not to mention that to these researchers, the value of reddish animals is incomparable to other animals.

Zheng Tan had killed the white mouse, but he had never seen the red mouse. Zheng Tan was also looking forward to meeting a red animal, which would make the trip worthwhile.

We went to the field on the first day. When we came back, the students were so tired that they went into the room and lay on the bed. They were not as energetic as the previous two days. I heard that other groups also encountered a snake that fell directly from a tree and almost killed it. To a student below, the student is still in shock. I also heard that a student in another group was hit on the back of his hand by a mosquito-sized insect of unknown species on a tree. Although the insect quickly fell to the ground and crawled away, the back of the student's hand soon became swollen. It looks like pig's trotters when it rises, and it is said that it will have to stay at the base for several days without leaving the house. However, Zheng Tan felt that the day had gone well, and he was still in the mood to go out for a walk after dinner.

The two children had taken a shower and gone to bed. Under the watchful eye of Father Jiao, Zheng Tan jumped out of the window, climbed over the base wall, and walked to the cement road outside.

It is surrounded by two- and three-story villa-style residences. It seems that many people living here have some wealth.

Looking from the side, you can only see mountains of varying heights. You can only see lights in inhabited villages and towns, but they are only small patches. Compared with the mountain forest area under the night sky, the bright area is small. Very pitiful.

While walking along the mountain, Zheng Tan suddenly smelled a faint smell. It would be difficult to smell it with the human sense of smell. Zheng Tan could only smell it with the cat's nose.

This smell made Zheng Tan feel bad and reminded him of the specimens he saw in the museum. He knew that many people now like to decorate their homes with specimens of wild animals, such as deer heads. There are many such examples in this place, but Zheng Tan always feels a little strange.

Although he was curious, Zheng Tan also knew that this place was unfamiliar to him, and it made him feel chilly. He couldn't take risks, so Zheng Tan decided to leave.

But before Zheng Tan could go far, he noticed a shadow flashing past.

In the night, the shadow quietly approached the house that Zheng Tan was looking at just now. As he approached, the guy glanced at Zheng Tan.

Facing those eyes, Zheng Tan felt like the hair all over his body was exploding.

That is a guy who truly survives in nature's rules of survival of the fittest, not a pet who stays at home all day long without worrying about food and drink.

It was a cat, but it was different from ordinary cats. Even though it is not as big as Sir Alex, it is still about the same as peanut candy. Moreover, it makes Zheng Tan feel as threatening and oppressive as the Sir Alex.

(5.12)