My 1995 Small Farm

   Chapter 168 Earth Mouse

  Chen Ling saw that the second donkey was in such a hurry, thinking that it was something caused by his little grandson, so he threw a bag full of corn and ran after him.

  It wasn't until I got there that I realized that it wasn't a little baby fooling around, it was an adult, the youngest son of the Ermao donkey family.

  This kid is going to the mountains to gather honey.

   The last time I went hunting in the mountains, I encountered several large honeycombs, which looked very greedy.

  It's a pity that I didn't have time to pay attention to it at the time, so I only left a mark.

   After I came back, I kept thinking about it. It happened that I was not busy today, so I took the guy to the mountain.

   Prepare wormwood and match rope, find the honeycomb and light it under the tree, smoke it, and after all the bees have been smoked away, use a long bamboo pole to pick the honeycomb down.

   But the boy thought that the smoke of the match rope was too small and it was slow to smoke, so he found some dead branches and piled them under the tree to make a fire.

   Now the fire is big and the smoke is full, and the bees make the smoke dizzy.

   He just kicked the tree trunk with his feet, and fell into the fire with a crackle like a dumpling.

   is really exciting and enjoyable.

   But he only looked at the honeycombs on the tree, but he forgot to clean up the surrounding weeds and dead leaves, and accidentally ignited the fire, and the fire spread immediately.

  Fortunately, this beehive is not far from the foot of the mountain, and there are many people working in the fields recently. When Chen Ling and Ermao Donkey rushed over, there was no open fire, but the smoke was still billowing, which was very choking.

   But Er Mao can't care whether the smoke is choking or not. After seeing his son, he slapped the belt hard. It was useless for the villagers to persuade him. He was so stunned that the boy's clothes oozes blood.

   When something like this happens, you can’t do it without being ruthless.

  The people in the mountains are most afraid of fire, especially during the harvest season. Whether it is summer or autumn, the weather is relatively dry and the wind is strong.

  If there is a mountain fire, no matter whether you are green or yellow, the wind blows and fires all over the place. It will burn you all down, and there will be no time to save it.

A few days after the incident, the little grandson of Ermao Donkey's family followed Xiaosen to Chen Ling's house to play and said that after his father was beaten, he went up the mountain to collect honey again the next day like no one else. return.

   Hearing Chen Ling stunned for a while, he sighed that this guy is a talent.

  Er donkeys are stubborn enough, it is useless to persuade anyone to decide what to do. I didn't expect this kid in his family to be more stubborn than him.

  He is slandering people here.

But Ermao Donkey went to the village and spread the word about him becoming an epidemic prevention officer at the animal husbandry station. The villagers did not know the difference between an epidemic prevention officer and a veterinarian, so they all regarded him as a veterinarian. After hearing about this, he was quite surprised. .

   I felt that the Chen Ling Township government refused to go before, so why did I suddenly become a veterinarian, so many people came to ask.

  Chen Ling didn't tell them much, only said that if there is any problem with the poultry and livestock at home in the future, just come to him.

  The villagers also smiled and agreed.

   Even so, there are actually very few poultry and livestock that suffer from problems. Most of them are stocked in rural areas, and there is no problem all year round.

   In the blink of an eye, there is only one tail left in Leap August.

  The corn in the field is also growing old, and it is the harvest season.

  The corn cobs are cooked quickly, and the tender corn can be eaten for about ten days a year. After this time, it will quickly become old and hard, and can no longer be eaten.

   Fortunately, these days, Chen Ling's family has no shortage of tender corn, and they have it on the dinner table.

   In addition to changing from Ermao donkeys, there are also a few people who borrowed sprayers and sickles.

  After eating the tender corn, every household in the village began to prepare to collect it at home. They called it 'Breaking the Bud Valley'. Chen Ling has not been idle at home these few days, and helped Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng to break it.

Carry the basket, put on old clothes, put on a straw hat and gloves, get into the corn field and open the bow from side to side, crack it all the way, and break the basket full in three or five minutes, then fall on the ground ridge, continue to break, he is One person is faster than three people, and each family can be broken up in a day at most.

  Wang Lixian had many family members, the girl and her son-in-law went down to the ground with them. They got up early at six in the morning to collect them, and they all went home by noon.

  In the evening, the three family members together, lit the electric lights in the yard, surrounded the high corn pile, and began to peel the corn, crunching, chatting and listening to the radio.

  After the corn is peeled, it is tied to the wooden shelves under the eaves and in the yard.

   This is also a common sight after the autumn harvest.

   At this time of year, strings and piles of golden corn cobs are hung on the front door, eaves, and trees of every household.

  Tie the corn, and there will be strings of red peppers hanging on the walls and door frames, and some will put yellow persimmons in the courtyard, or peel them and dry them to make persimmons.

   Such a scene can also add some festive atmosphere to a plain small mountain village.

   At times like this, the Chen Ling family is no exception. The Wang Lixian family gave a lot of corn and peppers to the family, which were enough to eat in autumn and winter. In addition, in addition to these, a lot of goji berries were also dried. When the weather was good, they were spread out on a bamboo plaque and placed in the yard. They were all wild goji berries that he had to do in the mountains these days.

  …

   An autumn rain and a cold, a few light rains after the autumn harvest made the weather completely cool, and the north wind blew whistling at night, and the branches in the yard were blown humming. Relying on his good health, Chen Ling didn't pay much attention to it at first. He was still covered with a thin quilt when he slept. As a result, in the middle of the night, the couple couldn't carry it anymore, so he turned on the light and took out a thick quilt from the closet. just feel warm.

  It was cold, and people were lazy and unwilling to move. Except to pick up Wang Zhenzhen every two days, Chen Ling didn't move much at home. Every day when he cooked food to fill his stomach, he would lie down in the yard and watch his daughter-in-law read books and newspapers.

It wasn't until Han Chuang came over to play with him on a motorcycle that he led the dog to wander outside the village and went to the reservoir to have a look. I wonder if the weather was cold and the things in the water stopped a lot. I didn't hear any villagers say that there was movement at night, so Han Chuang still didn't see any sign of the 'monster' when he came here this time.

   But he was not disappointed, because Chen Ling told him to bring two little rabbits back to raise him when he left. He likes rabbits very much, which made him happy for a long time.

Jiang Xiaoqing didn't come with him today. The two old men were wandering around with their dogs outside the village. They saw a few young people in the village carrying shovels and hoes wandering outside the village, like looking for treasures, walking and stopping, After digging from east to west, the two were attracted to the past.

   approached and asked, only to realize that these people are looking for mouse holes.

   These boys also greeted Chen Ling when they saw Chen Ling. Brother Fugui and Uncle Fugui shouted.

   "Why are you looking for mouse holes? Are you trying to catch mice to eat?"

  Han Chuang squatted down, stared, and looked into the hole curiously.

   "I don't eat, I'm looking for food."

   "Looking for food? How much food can be hidden in a mouse hole?"

  Han Chuang couldn't help laughing.

   He naturally knows that mice steal food, but the mouse hole is just that big, and there are a few mouthfuls of food in the sky. It's worth digging, isn't it a waste of effort?

   Might as well catch a mouse, it's a piece of meat anyway.

   Seeing Han Chuang laughing, these boys didn't argue, and said to him directly: "You ask Uncle Fugui, he used to dig a lot, sometimes he can dig up to 180 kilograms in just half a day."

   "One hundred, one hundred, one hundred and eighty pounds?"

  Han Chuang was startled, and looked at Chen Ling with round eyes: "How many mouse holes have you dug?"

   "I didn't dig a lot. If you're lucky, three or four will be enough."

Seeing his disbelief and surprise, Chen Ling explained to him with a smile: "The ground rats are very good at stealing food. Don't look at how small the holes are. The bottom extends in all directions and the holes are connected. The guy is big. They also know winter. I don’t have much to eat, so if I want to survive the winter, I have to prepare enough food, so I try my best to transport it to the cave…”

   Ground mice are often called voles. When the crops are ripe, they are more diligent than people. As long as there is no one in the field, they will transport food into the cave day and night. After the autumn harvest, a mouse hole was dug, and ten catties of grain was not enough.

  If you are lucky, you can dig out forty or fifty pounds from a large mouse warehouse.

   Most of these large rat sheds are in the fields, and a rat hole is dug. Sometimes it can dig down the ridge of other people's houses, and it is easy to be scolded, so people look for it at the foot of the mountain and the side of the ditch.

  Han Chuang felt very novel after hearing this, and found a mouse hole behind the buttocks of a few young people. When Chen Ling saw this, he called him over, went home and took a shovel and hoe, and went to find it near his home. It's okay to dig here.

   It is just late autumn, and the wild insects are about to disappear. The chickens and ducks at home can only eat some small fish and shrimp, and plan some grass seeds and insect eggs. After winter, even grass seeds were not eaten.

  Not only chickens and ducks, but also quails and pigeons. There are so many mouths, big and small, waiting to be fed with food. It is better to take this opportunity to dig a few mouse holes and get some food back.

   After the two of them approached, there was no need to go two or three hundred meters around the cemetery. There were many raccoons and the like in the cemetery. It was a forbidden area for mice. Even if there were holes, it was not a mouse hole.

   But down the **** two or three hundred meters away from the cemetery, there are quite a few mouse holes in cotton fields and sorghum fields. Basically, a mouse hole can be found every three or five steps away.

   There are a lot of rats and thieves in this place. They know that if they have stolen food, they should stay far away, either in the ridges or in the ridges of the ditch, or in places such as cotton fields where there is little food.

   And there are many bright holes, dark holes, main holes, and fake holes, which are more exaggerated than tunnel warfare.

   Basically what people can see at a glance is Myeongdong.

   From Myeongdong, it is impossible to see if there are mice in it.

  If you want to find the main mouse hole, you have to go to the dark hole to find it.

   Generally speaking, dark holes are relatively hidden, hidden under grasses, beside tree roots, or in thorns on ditch slopes.

   Especially on the slopes of the ditch, you can often see a pile of new soil at the entrance of the dark hole, which means that there must be mice inside.

  Chen Ling taught Han Chuang to identify a few holes, so he buried his head in digging. Heiwa Xiaojin had nothing to do with the mice in the hole, so he could only lie beside his master and bask in the sun with his eyes closed.

  Chen Ling was very strong, holding the shovel two or three times, and shoveled down the weeds and soil from the top of the hole. The mouse burrows and twists and turns.

   Therefore, when digging mouse holes, you should also pay attention to skills and not be reckless.

   It’s not enough to just exert stupid strength.

   After digging a shovel, you need to see what the mouse hole is like, and be careful to let the soil cover, otherwise the effort will be wasted.

   However, there are safe ways.

   Pull some dog's tail grass and stuff it into the hole. After one plug is finished, keep plugging it, and then plug it all the way into the mouse hole. It doesn't matter if the hole is buried, just follow the traces of the dog's tail grass to find it.

   Anyway, what you want at this time is not the mouse, but the food in the mouse hole. Once you know the location, you can dig whatever you want, and it doesn't matter if the mouse runs away.

  Chen Ling used to dig a lot when he was a child, and he was familiar with the road. He waved his shovel and buried his head to dig. In a few minutes, a dark hole was dug out, and there was a constant creaking sound. Heiwa stood up abruptly and stared at the entrance of the cave.

   As for Xiaojin, he still squinted his eyes and basked in the sun boredly. Obviously, he was not interested in the contents of the cave.

   These are all lessons learned from digging Badger's holes in the past, and I don't want to go to waste in vain.

   "Brother-in-law, we're here to find you to dig mice..."

   Hearing the sound of mice, when Chen Ling and Han Chuang were digging separately, Wang Zhenzhen threw his arms and led a group of people over quickly.

   is Liang Hongyu and his wife, as well as Qin Yueru and her daughter Xiaolizi.

   "Uncle, I hugged the cat to catch the mouse."

  The little girl dared to speak after she was familiar with it, and held up a chubby raccoon to show him.

   "Okay, little chestnut is really smart."

  Chen Ling praised with a shovel, then talked to the adults, and introduced Han Chuang by the way.

   So a group of adults and children began to find mouse holes.

   After a while, Wang Susu also came over with the cows, keeping the cows next to them, watching them dig mouse holes.

   At this time, Chen Ling had dug a small mouse hole, but there was no food, so he was digging blind, and Han Chuang couldn't.

   Qin Rong first dug a big mouse hole and shoveled it down, and the mouse scurried out like crazy, but Heiwa easily caught up with him just two steps away.

  One, two, three... After catching the mouse, Heiwa came back and set it up in front of Chen Ling, barking and asking the master for credit. Qin Yueru looked interesting, so she picked up the camera and moved closer to take pictures.

   "Fugui, come and see, have I dug a mouse's nest?"

   Qin Rong first pointed to the wide earth hole in the cave and asked.

  This cave is bigger than the mouth of a bowl. There are messy hay piles full of holes in the cave. Chen Ling's ears are sharp, and he can hear the squeaking sound inside, which is extremely small and delicate.

   "It's really the old nest of mice, uncle, don't move, there is probably a nest of small mice in it."

  Chen Ling said, and reached out to take out the hay in the burrow.

   Hearing what he said, everyone gathered around and stared at the haystack.

  I saw that the haystack was in the shape of the mouth of a cloth bag. After opening it, the inside was filled with cotton and bird feathers, which was soft and warm to the touch.

  The cotton was disassembled again, and the pink and smooth little mice appeared in front of everyone.

   "Wow, it's a little mouse..."

When Xiao Lizi saw such a small mouse, his eyes lit up immediately, he hurriedly picked up a raccoon from his grandmother's bamboo basket, patted its butt, pointed at the little mouse in the nest and urged, "Quick, cat, cat, quick. go eat."

   However, this raccoon has long since lost its wildness. It is an adult. Let Liang Hongyu and the two be raised as babies. They don't eat raw meat.

   This is the fear of two dogs.

   "Ren Xiaoli, how did your mother teach you that girls should be ladylike and kind. Little mice are so cute, how can you let cats and cats eat them? It's cruel."

   "This is not allowed in the future, do you know?"

   Qin Yueru put down the camera and said with a frown.

  Little Chestnut looked up at her and said nothing.

  This little girl came to the village twice, and each time she ran around with the village dolls to play, she was no longer so squeamish, catching earthworms, catching grasshoppers, and daring to do anything, letting cats eat mice is nothing at all.

   Until Chen Ling handed her the nest of little mice and helped Qin Rongxian to continue digging the hole, the mouse barn was exposed, and there were more than 20 catties of grain dug out.

  Little Chestnut then pointed to the mouse hole and said, "Look Mom, mice are thieves, they are broken..."

   means she did nothing wrong.

   made Qin Yueru feel stuffy for a while, and she didn't know what to say for a while.

   "Yeah, mice are the worst, always stealing their mouths to eat, and they will waste food the most. It is only natural for cats to eat mice."

  Liang Hongyu smiled and touched her granddaughter's little head.

   Then he pointed to the grain in the mouse barn and asked the little girl to identify it.

   "Come and see, look at the grain your uncle dug up, know what kind of grain it is, and what can you eat?"

   It's just that the little girl was not interested in food, so she couldn't wait to ask Chen Ling: "Uncle, how come this mouse is like a human, with a place to eat and a place to sleep?"

   "Oh, you found this all out. Uncle tells you that these mice are very smart. They not only have places to sleep and eat, but they also have thatched huts."

   Having said that, Chen Ling went down with a shovel and dug out a small hole the size of a teacup near the rat's nest. It turned out to be stinky and full of rat excrement and a pungent smell of urine.

   When everyone saw it, it was exactly as Chen Ling said, and they were immediately amazed and felt that their eyes were opened.

  Actually, this place is not used by all mice, but a place specially designed for excretion of female mice during feeding.

  Other rats are settled outside the burrow in mild weather.

  Only in winter when the weather is cold and you don’t go out much, you will open up another place.

   "This mouse is quite interesting, let's continue to find a new hole."

  Han Chuang was busy for a long time and didn't find it, so he was a little unwilling.

   "Don't worry. This mouse hole is very big, and it's a big family of mice. Now only the corn barn has been dug up, and it only weighs about 20 pounds. Let's look for it. Maybe there are other grain barns."

  Chen Ling shook his head, bent over and continued to dig to the side.

   "Huh? Is it true? No matter how smart a mouse is, it won't be so smart, right?"

   "Return, repay, and store grain in separate warehouses?"

  Han Chuang stammered with wide eyes, he obviously didn't believe it.

   provokes the two little girls to snicker at the side, thinking that this silly big man is interesting.

   As soon as Chen Ling looked for it, he really found another mouse warehouse, which stored sorghum and millet respectively.

   But there will be no more digging.

   "The weather is wrong this year, the peanuts and soybeans haven't come down yet, otherwise there are usually peanut warehouses and soybean warehouses in such big mouse holes..."

   (end of this chapter)