Chương 117: Chapter 683: Discovering Animals Close to Home
"The porcupine's thorn armor is practically invincible. No animal can deal with it. You'd think there'd be a lot of them, that they'd be common, but porcupines seem quite rare?"
"The last invincible one stopped thinking!"
"Even so, they can't handle humans who can throw stones from afar and use sticks as tools!"
Fang Ye laughed, "While porcupine quills are formidable, they do have their flaws!
Their quills grow backward, which is very effective against typical predators, as most predators approach their prey from behind to attack. When the porcupine raises its quills, the predator is at a loss.
However, some predators are very clever! For example, foxes will circle around the porcupine and attack from the front. And pack-hunting wolves can surround it, making it hard to defend both front and back.
Moreover, after using their quills, it takes time for new ones to grow. If they encounter a persistent opponent and run out of quills, they become defenseless and vulnerable to any attacker.
Another issue is their complicated reproduction. They only mate in the autumn and winter, with a long gestation period of 90-110 days, giving birth once a year to usually two or three offspring. After birth, there's a long nursing period of about 50 days.
While a porcupine mother is still nursing her young, other rodents like mice and rabbits can already become grandparents."
"That makes sense!"
"The male porcupine must be thinking, with so many quills, even mating is a challenge, let alone overpopulation!"
"You've got a point!"
Fang Ye added, "During mating, the female porcupine flattens her quills."
As he spoke, he signaled the keeper to throw some corn kernels into the enclosure.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Two handfuls of corn kernels were tossed in, and the porcupines basking in the sun immediately stood up. The cautious ones hesitated, while the more active ones quickly ran towards the corn.
Despite their small size, porcupines can run quite fast!
Like a legged Roomba, their little legs moved rapidly as they dashed to the front of the activity area to eat the corn.
Some aggressive porcupines raised their quills to monopolize the food, making their bodies swell like a peacock displaying its feathers.
Their tails rattled, making a crisp "clack clack" sound, as they backed into their companions in a threatening manner.
The intimidated porcupines glanced at them and chose to avoid conflict, moving to other areas.
The viewers, having just learned about porcupine intimidation tactics from Fang Ye, were amazed to hear it in action.
An elderly man with graying hair and a young boy, likely a grandfather and grandson, stopped at the porcupine exhibit, watching the porcupines eat corn with great interest.
The grandson curiously asked, "Grandpa, have you seen these before?"
The old man reminisced, "Porcupines, huh? They used to be on the mountains! Back then, the land was poor, and the grain yield was low. There were also wild boars, and scarecrows didn't help; the fields were often a mess.
Once, my brother and I went to the mountains to plant sweet potatoes. We saw sweet potato scraps leading into the bushes and suspected something was hiding there. We were brave back then and didn't think much of it. We used a machete to cut through the bushes and found a mound of dirt.
A spiky creature poked its head out, scaring me. It was a porcupine! Then it retreated back into the mound. I built a fire outside, trying to smoke it out, fanning the smoke in with my shirt.
But after a while, my brother came running and scolded me, asking if I wanted to set the mountain on fire. We quickly put out the fire, and as soon as it was out, two porcupines dashed out of the hole and disappeared into the bushes."
The grandson earnestly said, "Grandpa, we shouldn't harm wild animals!"
"Haha, that was a long time ago."
The viewers also heard the grandfather's story and joked, "Setting the mountain on fire? You'll end up in jail!"
"A wisp of smoke on the mountain, a police station down below!"
After the grandfather and grandson left, Fang Ye said, "The old man mentioned that there used to be porcupines on the mountains when he was young. This is exactly what our native exhibit aims to show visitors—introducing them to local animals.
People naturally pay attention to star animals like pandas, elephants, and tigers. Many visit the zoo specifically for them, but they know very little about local animals.
Most zoos also don't invest much in showcasing local animals.
Yellow-breasted buntings, eagle owls, white-headed bulbuls, wild boars, porcupines, otters, dragonflies, frogs—these are all beautiful and charming animals. To be extreme, even if a zoo only displayed these local animals, it would still be interesting. What do you think?
Apart from birds and small insects, most people rarely see local animals. They might only hear about them from their elders.
By introducing citizens to these local animals, helping them realize that these animals have been around for thousands of years, and thinking, 'Wow, there are such animals nearby,' 'How beautiful!'—we achieve our goal for the native exhibit.
In the future, the native animal exhibit might gradually expand, showcasing animals rescued and unable to return to the wild."
The viewers were full of praise: "I think it's great! If citizens see these animals in the zoo, they won't harm them easily in the future. They'll also value the environment more and not litter in the wild."
"I'm so jealous of the people in Linhai having such a zoo! I've lived in my hometown for over thirty years and never knew what animals were around."
"This could be promoted in zoos across the country! Each local zoo's native exhibit would feature local animals, creating a unique identity. Citizens would surely love it."
"It's difficult! Most zoos focus on making money by introducing star animals. They have no interest in displaying these ordinary animals. Linhai Zoo is truly unique."
"I love animals and once applied to be a keeper. But it was very different from what I imagined. My daily tasks were to attract visitors, sell products, and encourage feeding. I lost interest and quit after a while. Here, the keepers think about how to enrich the animals' lives, making their days more enjoyable. The red fox keeper hides food in various places and even uses fake actions. It's a world of difference."
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