After enough rest, Zhang Zian dismantled the tent, packed everything up, and continued on their way.
Famous was still running in front, but it was not responsible for leading the way. It was only responsible for sniffing out suspicious smells.
Zhang Zian followed the flashing light according to the electronic map in the game, but there were no roads in the forest. They often had to take detours, and sometimes it was not even close.
Pi, who got a new toy, followed Famous closely.
Before, when it heard any noise in the forest, it would make Pi nervous for a while. If a small animal was suddenly driven out of the grass by Famous, Pi would be so scared that it would hide behind Zhang Zian.
Now that Pi had a handy self-defense weapon, it could not wait for a small animal to jump out of the forest and let it try it out. The forest had been quiet, which made it so anxious that it scratched its ears and cheeks.
Zhang Zian was not worried that it would be in danger. Although there were some beasts in the mahogany forest, there were very few sightings of snakes, probably because the temperature was too low all year round and there was always fog. There were definitely no poisonous snakes, so he did not bring anything to protect himself from snakes.
The deer were still following them. With the deer at the back, they did not have to worry about black bears or coyotes suddenly appearing behind them.
The deer's injury was much better, but the scratches from the bear would not heal so quickly. It would take at least a month for it to completely recover.
The deer and Zhang Zian seemed to have formed a tacit alliance, not just a relationship of feeding each other salt. Both sides walking together was beneficial to each other. It was a kind of symbiosis in a sense, just like the relationship between coyotes and American badgers.
Today's weather was the best day since they entered the forest. Although it was not completely sunny and cloudy, at least part of the blue sky could be seen. There was no fog, and the air was dry and cool. This dryness was relative to the previous days, but it was not directly comparable to the dryness of the Egyptian desert.
When it was almost noon, Famous, who was walking in the front, suddenly stopped, straightened its body, and looked forward.
Zhang Zian and the elfins all knew that it might have found something new, so they all raised their vigilance. Pi even tightened its grip on the wooden stick in its hand.
He first looked back at the herd of deer. The head deer did not have any abnormal reactions, and leisurely stopped to eat the grass.
"What's wrong?" he walked over and whispered to Famous.
Famous turned his head and glanced at the cat elfins in confusion. "I think I smell a cat."
"Cat smell?"
Zhang Zian was also stunned. How could there be the smell of cats in the forest?
Fina and Old Time Tea also came over and sniffed carefully, giving strong support to Famous's words.
"It is indeed the smell of a cat," Old Time Tea agreed.
Fina did not deny it either.
Although dogs were known for their sense of smell, cats' sense of smell wasn't any worse than dogs', and might even be a little better than dogs'. However, cats weren't as easy to train as dogs, and they weren't as diligent and hardworking as dogs. Therefore, even though cats had an extremely sensitive sense of smell, they only knew how to serve themselves.
Take Fina as an example. It was hard to imagine it taking Famous's place and blazing a path in the front …
Zhang Zian looked up at the nearby branches. "Could it be a short-tailed cat?"
Just like the coyote was a canine native to North America, the short-tailed cat was a feline native to North America. It was a large wild cat, different from the Japanese short-tailed cat in pets. In order to avoid confusion and misunderstanding, it was more appropriate to call it the "North American lynx."
The North American lynx was widely distributed in three countries in North America. The specific number was unknown, but there was no danger of extinction for the time being. They were often legally hunted during the hunting season.
After experiencing the attacks of black bears and coyotes, the North American lynx could only be considered a piece of cake. Although this kind of wild cat was very fierce and would even take the initiative to attack people, they were not social animals. If they appeared alone, they might not be able to beat Pi with a wooden stick, so there was nothing to worry about.
Wild animals were either in groups, big, or poisonous. Otherwise, they posed little threat to people.
Hearing Zhang Zian's explanation, although his explanation sounded very reasonable, the elfins were not completely convinced.
"Are you sure it's a North American lynx?" Fina asked suspiciously.
This question … Zhang Zian hadn't seen it with his own eyes. How could he be 100% sure? Of course, he didn't dare to guarantee it. If he said something wrong, he would be the subject of ridicule.
"If it's not a North American lynx, what else could it be? Could it be a cougar? "he asked rhetorically.
Cougars were called mountain lions by the locals. They were much larger and heavier than the North American lynx. Their body length was twice that of the North American lynx, and they were a greater threat to people. Therefore, the notice in the forest park specifically pointed out the two kinds of beasts, cougars and black bears.
The logo of a famous sports brand was a jumping white cougar on a black background.
Cougars also had another name, which was the American golden cat. So if he had to say … was it considered a cat?
There were only these two kinds of cats in the North American wild that could be called by name, including their series of subfamilies.
Fina and Old Time Tea looked at each other, then exchanged glances with Famous. They seemed to disagree with his conclusion.
"What's wrong? If you have something to say, just say it. "He was a little confused by their ambiguous attitude.
Richard seized the opportunity to add, "Quack! If you have something to say, just say it! If you have something to say, just say it! If you have something to say, just say it! Extreme joy turns to sorrow! "
Zhang Zian raised his hand as if he was going to hit it. "I'll let you experience extreme joy turns to sorrow first!"
It was still Famous who said, "What we smell is not the smell of a wild cat. It's like … the smell of a domestic pet cat."
Zhang Zian was laughing and playing with Richard. He couldn't help but be stunned.
Deep in the forest, there was the smell of a pet cat?
Was it really a pet short-tailed cat? How could it be!
But looking at Fina and Old Time Tea's expressions, Famous didn't seem to be joking.
The smell of a pet cat was, of course, different from the smell of a wild cat. Humans couldn't smell this difference, but elfins could.
"Is it a stray cat?" He raised a possibility.
Famous and the others shook their heads, because they weren't sure.
Domestic cats, stray cats, and wild cats. There was no clear transitional definition for these three concepts. A domestic cat that wandered outside for a few days was considered a stray cat? If a stray cat stayed in the wild, was it considered a wild cat?
There were a lot of stray cats in the United States, but even if they were stray cats, how did they wander into the depths of the forest? There were all kinds of fierce predators along the way. Coyotes, badgers, cougars, North American bobcats, and large birds of prey such as eagles and owls would all prey on small domestic cats.
Zhang Zian scratched his head. He couldn't understand this problem.
"Forget it. Don't think too much. Let's take one step at a time." He waved his hand and said, "Let's move on. If there really is a cat, maybe we can meet it."
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