1241: Surrounded

Surrounded

Zhang Zian could understand Fina's resistance to his suggestion. This was because cats liked to be clean. Even their own excrement was buried. Comparatively, the fox was sexy and smelly, and "fox" was a commonly-used word to describe people who used beauty to charm others.2

The fox had a pair of glands on its tail. When it encountered an enemy or was frightened, it released a strange smell, which was used to disgust the enemy in hopes of repelling it. This was similar to weasels and skunks, but the fox did it better. As those two animals looked less pleasing to the eye than the fox, their names were rarely used to describe things. Phrases such as "sexy weasel" or "sexy skunk" were unheard of. This was, after all, a superficial world.

As a pet, the fox would often have the stench gland removed. Otherwise, it would be inevitable that one would smell it even if they were at home. One probably would not be able to stand it, and the house would be difficult to live in. It may even affect the neighbors.

In addition, even if it was a pet fox and had its stench gland removed, not all was well. Although the fox produced no smell, the smell of fox urine was quite pungent!

To this point, foxes were actually very similar to cats. They'd both originated in arid desert areas. In order to adapt to the dry and water-deficient landscape, their ancestors could not urinate as freely as humans. They must concentrate their urine or risk losing valuable water when relieving themselves.

In a desert where the living environment was extremely harsh, without this ability, they might have been extinct by now.

Concentration was the essence of the game. As for the smell of concentrated urine... It was easy to imagine how pungent it was.

However, the two animals treated urine differently. Although the scent of cat urine was also very pungent, the cat would bury the urine once done so as not to have the smell scare away prey. This would also prevent themselves from being the prey…

Cat litter and sand were essentially the same. Pet cats would naturally approach cat litter in the same manner and did not need to be taught. Thus, it would be easier to handle.

Foxes, however, did not do this. They didn't care about burying their urine. Of course, foxes were canine-like animals, and it would be somewhat demanding for them to behave like cats.

Although it may not matter. Since they were a canine species, might it be possible to bring them outside so they could relieve themselves outdoors, much like a dog?

Alas, humans had had tens of thousands of years to domesticate dogs. It was only then that they'd taught this and made it instinctive for dogs to behave in such a fashion. The fox had never quite become the mainstream pet of human society. To buy a fox and expect it to pee like a dog did would be highly unwise... 

Therefore, raising a fox as a pet was not impossible. After all, even more exotic pets were raised by humans in a cage or at home. However, it was best to prepare a separate living space for it, otherwise the sofa, bed, and other furniture would be full of its pungent smell.

Putting aside how to raise foxes, the other issue was how to catch them without alarming them. Once alarmed, they always released chemical bombs. As the saying went, never fail to catch a fox, for you will be sprayed with strong smells!

The hunting instinct within Famous made him very eager to try. However, upon listening to Fina and her disdain for fox smells, he was affected as well. After all, he was a public dog figure and had an image to maintain. 

Zhang Zian glanced up a little and found that the group of fennec foxes had not left. He said to Fina and Famous, "The Fennec Fox has strong athletic abilities, and it runs like a fly in the desert. It will be hard to catch up. Even if you do catch up with them, you probably will be very tired. Plus, it may attack you with those smells when you catch it. So we should not be fighting them. We should think of how to use our wits to catch them."

Fina didn't say anything, but her eyes suggested that she was skeptical about his IQ.

Zhang Zian drew a topographic map on the sand with his fingers.

An arc represented the sand dunes they were currently at. A circle and two points behind the arc represented their three positions. A distance from the arc, he drew a few "X" symbols, representing the group of fennec foxes.

"Let's use a primitive hunting method. You two are going around from the left and the right." He drew arrows on the left and right of the arc, pointing to the back of the x.

"After you are in place, you don't need to catch them. Simply bluff and drive them to the sand dunes. If they run elsewhere, you will simply block their way and make sure they run only here," he explained. "Direct them to me, and I will finish the capture."

Early men had used similar methods to hunt large animals, such as flocks of bison. It was not difficult to directly surround and kill the buffalo, but because they only had sharp-pointed stones tied to their spears, it was difficult to penetrate the thick skin of the bison. Even if they cut through the skin, it may not significantly injure the bison. Rather, such attacks may end up injuring them, or they might be killed by the counterattack of the bison.

Therefore, early men would surround the bison from three sides, leaving only one direction for the bison to run. The entire group would run up the slope, but when they reached the edge of the cliff, they were unable to come to a quick stop. They ended up falling off the cliff. Even if first few bison saw the cliff, the rest would not have and would simply push every single bison off. Therefore, the men would only have to go down the cliff to pick up the meat and use it to make dumplings for the New Year.

Zhang Zian also intended to use a similar method by asking Fina and Famous to play the role of early men. As for himself...he played the cliff.

"Are you sure this method is feasible? It does not sound very reliable!" Fina was doubtful.

"This is the wisdom of real hardworking people who were on the ground doing it!" Zhang Zian said confidently. "Come on, don't wait for them to run away!"

"You'd better be sure. If I get coated in that smelly fox smell…" Fina snorted and reluctantly went to the left. It soon disappeared into the night.

Famous then went to the right to lurk.

Zhang Zian saw that despite how unwilling it was, Fina still trusted in his plan, likely out of goodwill to him. Like a light streak of smoke, it quickly made its way to the foxes without alerting them. 

Famous was slower because it was worried that it would be discovered. After all, it was slightly larger. Therefore, it used a technique it had learned while filming "War Dog." It listened for the foxes first. Upon sensing nothing amiss, it took a few small steps before stopping. The whole process then repeated again. It ended up taking ten minutes to get in place.

With everyone in place, Zhang Zian was ready. He did not have a cup to sound off the start of the mission. Thus, he took out a flashlight from his pocket, turned it on, and quickly extinguished it. It was the signal to start the action.

At the same time, Famous and Fina came out from their hiding places. They did what Zhang Zian planned and did not make any sound. This was so as to not wake up the people in the camp. They ran swiftly towards the foxes.

The fennec foxes reacted very quickly. They started panicking and fleeing in the opposite direction of Fina and Famous.

A desert chase was about to begin.

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