Become a Cheetah
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This year's drought was particularly severe. For two whole months, not a drop of rain fell. The migrating wildebeest army had long disappeared, and even the gazelles that zebras and cheetahs loved were almost extinct on both sides of the Gangsa River.
They followed the rain and green grass, migrating to a more distant grassland, where they could find more food.
The starving big cats mostly set their sights on the permanent residents of the grassland, such as warthogs and some large antelope.
Even the foul-smelling eland was put on the table. Of course, this dish was not very popular, but it solved the problem of filling their stomachs.
The competition among predators became increasingly fierce. Hida had encountered lions and hyenas more than once while hunting. They no longer patiently waited for her to catch prey before snatching it, but instead directly attacked the moment the prey appeared.
Hida simply could not compete with these guys and had to leave. If she didn't, she might become prey for the hungry hyena pack.
Of course, the eight-year-old Hida could still find food to fill her stomach most of the time. Wild rabbits and small warthogs became Hida's staple food during this period.
She had no cubs and did not need to catch large prey. These small prey were enough for her daily needs.
On the opposite bank of the Gangsa River, Luo Qiao, in order to raise two cubs, had to cheer up and track large antelope and any food he could get his hands on.
The female cheetah Hida and the male cheetah Luo Qiao had completely reversed roles at this moment.
The female cheetah without cubs could eat her fill and not worry about the whole family, while the male cheetah with a family was busy all day for his children. In a sense, this could be called "the first women's liberation movement in the cheetah world!"
Sham did not break into Hida's territory alone. She also brought three five-month-old cubs, two male cubs and one female cub. The three cubs looked healthy, showing that they were not short of food, all thanks to having a good mother.
Shamu was thirteen years old this year. She was experienced, highly skilled in hunting, and very good at calculating. Even in the dry season, she could find enough meat for her five-month-old cubs.
Shamu had given birth to five litters of cubs, with twelve surviving to adulthood. Her highest success record was all six cubs in one litter surviving to adulthood. For female cheetahs, this was almost an insurmountable miracle, and Hida, as Shamu's daughter, was far behind.
Hida had left Shamu's territory after adulthood, and the mother and daughter had hardly seen each other since. Of course, a mother-daughter reunion was a happy event. However, Hida was still a little surprised that Sham had left her territory to come here.
"Mom, why did you come here?"
"Ran into some trouble."
"Is it related to them?"
Hida was referring to the three cubs, and Sham did not deny it.
Hida looked at the three cubs following Shamu, and no matter how she looked at them, she didn't think they were as cute as the two Luo Qiao was raising.
Although their fur was also very beautiful, and their amber eyes were also pleasing, they just didn't look as agreeable as Luo Sen and Luo Rui.
In fact, Hida did not know that there was a term called "selling cuteness," and she did not know that Luo Sen and Luo Rui had mastered this skill.
The two cubs had even summarized eighteen styles of selling cuteness, making Luo Qiao completely a super child-controller.
Hungry, wanting Dad to hunt, sell cuteness;
Wanting Dad to rub them, sell cuteness;
Wanting Dad to groom them, sell cuteness;
Getting into trouble and not wanting to be spanked by Dad, act coquettishly, roll around, and sell cuteness...
And so on, too numerous to mention.
Cuteness is all relative. Compared to the shining images of these two cute creatures, Shamu's three cubs had no choice but to admit defeat.
Shamu lay down next to Hida, and the three cubs smelled Hida's scent, gradually relaxed, and began to chase and play around.
They were at the age of loving to play, and even a dead branch could make them play enthusiastically.
"Mom, what exactly happened?"
"A pack of wild dogs suddenly came into the territory, and now prey is scarce"
Shamu said, licking her paws and grooming her fur, "I can only temporarily leave with the cubs."
"Oh, but there's not much prey here either."
"It doesn't matter, we can always find a way."
Shamu did not seem to care about the amount of prey. She could always find food for her children, otherwise, she would not have raised twelve cheetahs.
Although the lifespan of evolved species was several times that of primitive species, there were few mothers as successful as Shamu.
If she were a primitive cheetah, thirteen years old would be considered an old lady, but Shamu was still in her prime. However, due to the cruel competition on the grassland, evolved cheetahs often died young in their teens.
"Enough about me, how have you been lately? No cubs?"
Hearing Shamu's words, Hida's expression was a little dim. She was eight years old, but only one of her children had survived to adulthood.
Compared to Shamu, she felt useless.
"Only one survived?"
"Yes."
Shamu narrowed her eyes, then licked Hida. Although she hadn't seen this daughter for a long time, time would not take away her maternal love for her children.
"Don't be discouraged, you will have cubs again."
"I know..."
"However," Shamu changed the subject, "want to know why I can raise so many cubs?"
"Yes!"
"The key is to find a good man!"
"A good man?" Hida instantly deflated and lay on the ground. "The male cheetahs I find are all strong, at least they can beat me..."
"It's not enough to just beat you, they have to be able to beat you in a one-on-one fight to be really strong! If it's a gang fight, even if you grow a pair of extra claws, you are no match for an adult male cheetah."
Shamu earnestly educated Hida, "So, whether the cubs are strong and can survive, the male cheetah is very important! He must be capable, and he must have stamina! We are different from lions and leopards, we don't seek quantity, we seek quality, understand?"
Hida nodded, and Shamu stood up and stretched. She did not plan to stay here for long. Just as Hida said, prey was scarce here.
She was carrying three cubs, and she couldn't compete with her daughter for food. Perhaps, she should try her luck on the other side of the Gangsa River.
"Mom, I have one more thing to ask you."
"What?"
"It's about my brother..."
"Which one?"
Hida's eyes twitched. Although Shamu was her mother, she really wanted to slap her with her claws. Which one? Was this showing off or showing off?! Showing off how many cubs she had?
Okay, Hida admitted, she was indeed provoked. She envied, envied, and hated...
"It's a three-year-old male cheetah named Luo Qiao."
"Three years old, Luo Qiao?" Shamu thought for a while, and said, "I do have two three-year-old sons, but neither of them is called that name."
"But the scent on him is very familiar. I can be sure he is my brother."
"Oh, then maybe he changed his name himself. But why are you asking this?"
Hida looked at Shamu. Shamu's personality had not changed much from back then, so Luo Qiao's specialness was likely unrelated to Shamu.
"He's raising two cubs."
"Oh, raising two cubs, is that worth you..." Shamu's eyes widened instantly, "What did you say?!"
"I said, Luo Qiao is raising two cubs."
Shamu was speechless. "You didn't see wrong? Maybe it's your sister, there was also a female cub born with those two male cubs."
"No. He's raising the two cubs very well, counting, they should be six months old..."
As Hida spoke, she raised her head, and as expected, she saw Shamu looking completely disheveled, as if struck by lightning.
The cheetah Luo Qiao in Hida's words was teaching Luo Sen and Luo Rui hunting lessons.
Parson and Jairo had just finished patrolling their territory and were resting under a tree. The brothers spared no effort in defending their territory and had achieved results.
Some hyena packs directly gave up challenging the owners here, and those who wanted to test the waters were either killed by the brothers or left with injuries.
After several battles, both Parson and Jairo were injured. Although not fatal, it affected the brothers' livelihood. Cheetahs rely on speed to survive.
Before the injuries healed, Parson and Jairo could hardly hunt. Luo Qiao could not hunt enough food for five cheetahs to eat.
By himself, he was not always lucky enough to hunt large antelope. More often, he caught small prey such as small warthogs and rabbits.
After eating rabbits for three consecutive days, Luo Qiao finally couldn't stand looking at the cubs who were so hungry that they were seeing stars.
"Believe me, and we'll have enough to eat!"
Luo Qiao stood in front of Parson, his tone firm, almost waving his claws to increase persuasiveness.
"Okay." Parson was very straightforward.
"No problem." Jairo was even more straightforward.
So, after a round of busy work, Luo Qiao and the Parson brothers set off with newly woven grass ropes. They set their sights on a solitary hartebeest.
Luo Qiao set up a trap with the rope, signaling Jairo to pull the rope once the prey stepped in.
This time, Luo Qiao finally acted like a man, and he and Parson were responsible for driving the prey. Jairo's timing control was very good. The antelope was tripped without suspense.
Luo Qiao was looking around for stones, and Parson had already bitten the hartebeest's neck.
Luo Qiao opened his mouth, looked at the stone in his hand, okay, this was indeed a bit redundant.
Luo Sen and Luo Rui had been hiding in the tall grass not far away, and Luo Qiao called them out. This hartebeest was very heavy, and they could not drag it too far, so they could only find a slightly hidden place nearby.
All five cheetahs were starving, and after dragging the hartebeest into the grass, they immediately began to gobble it up.
Perhaps they were lucky today. Until they were almost full, the vultures appeared, scattered on the grass a few meters away. The marabou storks followed closely behind. Although they were much larger than the vultures, they could not compete with the vultures.
Of course, they could only wait until the cheetahs left.
Finally, all five cheetahs were full. The Parson and Jairo brothers took the lead in leaving, and Luo Qiao also stood up. Luo Sen and Luo Rui's bellies were full, but they still disliked these big birds who were reaping the benefits.
Adult cheetahs knew that there was no need to waste precious energy unless necessary, especially in the dry season when food was scarce. Cheetah cubs, however, would always try to drive them away.
Cheetahs only eat fresh meat. Once full, there was no need to argue with them.
Luo Qiao waited for a while, seeing that Luo Sen and Luo Rui still had no intention of stopping, he simply said, "Luo Sen, stop bothering them and come with me, and you too, Luo Rui, come with me."
The two cubs obediently followed Luo Qiao away, and the vultures, who had been waiting on the side, swarmed up immediately.
After eating their fill, cheetahs would rest at least a few hundred meters away from their prey, which was also to avoid encountering large predators, such as lions and hyenas.
Parson and Jairo had already lain down under a tree, and Luo Qiao took the two cubs over and lay down on the other side. He discovered another benefit of living in a group: he didn't have to constantly worry about whether other predators would come to attack him. The Parson and Jairo brothers had a much sharper sense of danger than him.
"Luo Qiao."
"Huh?" Luo Qiao turned his head and looked at Parson. "What's the matter?"
"...Thank you."
After saying that, Parson turned his head, closed his eyes, and meditated. Jairo winked at Luo Qiao and continued to lick the wound on his front leg.
Luo Qiao tilted his head, twitched his ears, and lowered his head to lick the two sons clinging to his paws. Was this, being thanked?
Nonsense, at least give something substantial, such as catching a rabbit when they are healed...
It's unknown how much hatred Luo Qiao had for rabbits, even though he was full, he still couldn't forget them.
At this moment, Shamu had taken her three cubs to the bank of the Gangsa River. Some narrow sections of the river were almost dry, with only a stream-like flow of water in the riverbed.
However, the riverbanks on both sides were a bit high. Shamu was still considering, she needed to choose a crossing point that was relatively safe for the cubs.
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