Become a Cheetah
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After living with Shamu for a few days, Luo Qiao realized that he was beyond lucky to have raised the two cubs to six months old.
"You fed them ostrich eggs and land turtles?"
Shamu lifted Luo Rui with an incredulous expression, shook him, then lifted Luo Sen, shook him again.
Looking at the cubs obediently not moving, well, it was a miracle they were alive.
Five days ago, Shamu broke into Parson and Jairo's territory, fought with the territory's owner Parson, and took Luo Qiao and the two cubs he was raising.
Shamu learned from Gamma that Parson and Jairo were not good cheetahs. Her stupid son dared to live with them without an alliance. If he was eaten clean, he would have no place to cry.
As for Parson and Jairo's opinions, they were completely ignored by Shamu. In the world of big cats, strength determines everything.
Want Luo Qiao to stay? Okay, fight again.
Parson naturally didn't want to fight with Shamu again. Whether he won or lost, the result would not be what he wanted. Who would want to waste more energy? So, Luo Qiao took the two cubs and obediently followed Shamu away from Parson's territory.
For the first two days, Parson and Jairo followed them until they left the border of the territory and entered the Hosby lion pride's territory, and then the cheetah brothers stopped.
"Brother, not following?"
"Not following, let's go back."
Jairo always had no objection to Parson's decision. Parson looked at Luo Qiao from afar. Shamu couldn't live with him for a long time, she would leave sooner or later...
"Although they invited you, there is no security guarantee for male cheetahs without an alliance."
Shamu walked to the termite mound, Luo Qiao and the five cubs followed her, squatting beside her.
"You all have to remember that the alliance of blood brothers is the strongest, and it's best to stay away from cheetahs with ulterior motives!"
Luo Qiao lowered his ears and dared not say a word.
Shamu walked and re-instilled these knowledge into Luo Qiao. She understood that her stupid son couldn't be educated! It didn't matter if he grew up crooked, the key was that he was still raising two cubs!
In just five days, Luo Qiao learned a lot from Shamu, including how to better hide himself, track prey, and avoid danger.
Shamu practiced Spartan education.
Luo Qiao was slapped a lot in the past few days, but looking at the obedient Luo Sen and Luo Rui, Luo Qiao felt that it was worth it to learn these things, even if he was beaten with bumps on his head.
Everything for the sons, shake hands!
Shamu didn't doubt that Luo Qiao's core had changed.
Luo Qiao's clumsiness was not surprising. Many cubs were killed by other predators because they lacked experience after leaving their mothers, or they starved to death because they couldn't catch prey.
Luo Qiao was able to feed himself and two cubs, which was already very remarkable.
Of course, if there were brothers and sisters, the situation would be much better, especially blood brothers, who often accompany each other for life.
Female cheetahs only live with their brothers for a few months, and then leave alone, which is for the need of reproduction.
If she stays with her brothers all the time, she will not be able to give birth to other male cheetah cubs, and may even breed inbreeding.
The most typical example is the lion pride. Once the male cubs grow to a certain age, they will be driven away by their fathers, and the time that male lions rule a lion pride is often limited.
Luo Qiao also had a brother of the same age, perhaps he was lost, or perhaps he was dead. Shamu didn't ask, maybe she didn't want to hear an answer she didn't want to accept.
Nature provides everything necessary for survival for these big cats in its own unique way, but also uses its rules to restrain and test them. All animals that fail the test will be eliminated, and only the strong will survive.
Shamu was one of the best. Following her, Luo Qiao benefited a lot.
"To be honest, I was surprised to see the two cubs you raised."
Shamu lay on the grass, watching the five cubs chase and play together. It was hard to imagine that these two six-month-old cubs would be so healthy. The one who raised them was a three-year-old male cheetah!
"I know, I'm a male..."
"Not just that."
Shamu put her head on her front legs, squinting slightly.
"You've seen Hida, right? She's eight years old this year and has only raised one female cub. For cheetahs, raising cubs is really too difficult. Lions, hyenas, leopards, baboons, eagles, and even inconspicuous jackals can easily kill cubs"
" Every female cheetah tries her best to protect her children, but it's really too difficult... You have eleven adult siblings, which is already a miracle."
Shamu's tone was a little sad, and it was the first time Luo Qiao saw Shamu like this. Hida had also said similar things.
Luo Qiao didn't want to say that he could fully understand the sadness of the female cheetahs, but compared to other male cheetahs who left after mating, he personally experienced the difficulties of the female cheetahs.
Thinking like this, the male cheetahs represented by Parson and Jairo were really not ordinary scumbags...
Sure enough, there are no good men in the world!
Luo Qiao had transformed into a friend of women, completely unaware that he had scolded himself as well.
Shamu's words continued.
"In the rainy season, you can't let the children get rained on too much, it will make them sick. Cubs are very fragile, and a serious illness will take their lives"
"In the dry season, you have to try your best to find prey to maintain their physical strength."
Shamu paused, raised her head and looked at Luo Qiao.
"So, I said, I was surprised to see these two cubs. An average female cheetah may not do better than you."
Luo Qiao was suddenly stunned, unable to react for a long time. He scratched the ground with his paw, was he being praised?
"But don't be too proud, you know, the days ahead will be tough for you, their appetite will grow bigger and bigger. When I was raising six cubs, I had to hunt almost every day. After finishing one meal, I had to think about when to eat the next meal. For more than a year, those six cubs made me dream of chasing gazelles while sleeping."
Luo Qiao nodded solemnly, he was taught a lesson.
Okay, half-grown children can eat their parents poor. This is a golden rule for any species.
At noon, Shamu and Luo Qiao took the five cubs into an acacia forest. Shamu found a dwarf antelope in the acacia forest. This kind of antelope is not common in this season.
Shamu carefully observed the surrounding environment. She wanted to tell Luo Qiao how to teach the cubs to cooperate in hunting.
Luo Qiao took Luo Sen and Luo Rui and hid in the tall grass about fifty meters away from the dwarf antelope. Shamu stared at the prey, observing its every move, slowly approaching it, until the distance between them was less than thirty meters, and suddenly jumped out of the grass!
Although Luo Qiao often used this method to hunt, Shamu's movements were more clean and neat, and she could accurately judge the direction of the antelope's turns, which the inexperienced Luo Qiao could not do.
The dwarf antelope suddenly turned around and ran towards Luo Qiao. Luo Qiao made a decisive decision, jumped out of the tall grass, tripped the prey with a paw, carefully dodged the dwarf antelope's hooves, and Luo Qiao bit the dwarf antelope's neck.
The five cubs took in the hunting just now. The only female cub, Xi Lan, paid more attention to Shamu's skills in tracking prey, while the four male cubs learned how to cooperate in hunting.
Of course, they will be stronger and more powerful than female cheetahs when they grow up. Now, they can only wait obediently for Shamu and Luo Qiao to drag the prey in front of them.
Shamu let Luo Qiao and the cubs eat first, and she stood guard on the side. Luo Qiao enjoyed this kind of treatment for the first time, and couldn't help but sigh, it's really good to have a mother!
A dwarf antelope is not big, barely enough for seven cheetahs to eat, but the noise of hunting still attracted coveters. The first to arrive were not vultures, but two jackals.
The jackals didn't get too close. Their shrill cries quickly attracted hyenas. The male lions of the Hosby lion pride tried their best to drive them away, but two hyena clans still settled here.
Three hyenas lined up in a team, their thick necks swinging up and down, threatening the two adult cheetahs. Shamu and Luo Qiao had to leave with the five cubs, they couldn't take risks.
The hyenas didn't rejoice for too long either. The arrival of Felix and Ero forced them to escape with their tails between their legs.
During this time, Nas had been busy "communicating feelings" with the lionesses in the pride, while Felix and Ero took on the responsibility of patrolling the territory. Although they were somewhat dissatisfied with Nas's behavior, the brothers did not intend to conflict with him.
"Look, patrolling the territory is not without its benefits."
Felix walked to the dwarf antelope's corpse. The cheetahs had eaten a hind leg, and the rest was not enough for two lions to eat, but it was better than nothing.
However, when did cheetahs come to their territory?
Well, anyway, they won't be more annoying and difficult to deal with than hyenas.
The cheetahs worked hard, but the prey went into the lions' mouths. Living on the savanna, this is nothing unusual.
Shamu didn't care about this, and Luo Qiao was used to it. Only the five cubs were still hungry, and they still needed to hunt. In the afternoon, Luo Qiao and Shamu cooperated again and captured a just-adult male warthog. This warthog was enough to feed them all.
This time, no other predators came to disturb them. Except for the late vultures, the cheetahs were all full.
Leaving the warthog's corpse, Luo Qiao and Shamu discussed whether to leave here and go further away.
"Stay here for the time being today, I will leave here tomorrow."
"What?"
Luo Qiao was a little surprised, Shamu's words were too sudden.
"What's so strange, I have my own territory, I have to go back sooner or later. Besides, I have taught you almost everything I should teach you, I can't stay with you anymore."
"Oh."
Luo Qiao's mood was obviously a little low. Luo Sen and Luo Rui stopped playing with Shamu's cubs, but came over to rub Luo Qiao, comforting their obviously depressed father.
That night, several cheetahs found a high grass with a wide view to rest. Luo Qiao found several bushes of thorns with anesthetic effects in the grass and told Shamu about their use.
Shamu had seen these plants, but had never paid attention to their use. When Luo Qiao arranged the thorns he found around the cubs, Shamu nodded.
It seemed that her idiot son could raise two cubs, not entirely by luck.
Shamu and the three cubs fell asleep together, but Luo Qiao hugged Luo Sen and Luo Rui without any sleepiness. He had to think clearly about what to do next.
He couldn't go back to Parson and Jairo, and the Oros lion pride's territory was even more dangerous. Thinking of the territory the two cubs mentioned, shouldn't he go there to see?
In any case, it's always good to have your own territory.
The next day, Shamu took the three cubs and parted ways with Luo Qiao. Before leaving, Shamu repeatedly told Luo Qiao to be more careful, and if he really couldn't live here, he could go to Hida on the other side of the Gangsa River.
"Hida is much more reliable than you."
Shamu licking Luo Qiao, and when Luo Qiao enjoyed the rare maternal love, she added,
"Stay away from those two cheetahs, if you are caught, you will be in pain for several days."
Luo Qiao blinked, and didn't realize what Shamu's last sentence meant until Shamu took the two cubs a long way.
He couldn't help but lower his head and glance at a certain part of his body, and was immediately petrified. With such a powerful leopard mother, he really felt a little overwhelmed.
Being patted by the cub's paws, Luo Qiao came back to his senses. Regardless of whether he could handle it or not, the most important thing was to find a place to stay first.
"Sons, come and tell Dad about your mother's territory..."
After the three cheetahs left, the leopard Monty walked out of the tall grass and turned to look in the direction where Shamu left. Did she finally leave?
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