July 26th, the first year after the establishment of the Vine Tribe.
"Chief, the road to the river has been opened."
In the bamboo house, Unteng stood in front of Jiang Xuan and reported to him with great excitement.
More than a month ago, Jiang Xuan asked them to open a road directly to the river and clear all the shrubs, reeds, weeds, etc. on the road.
In fact, when the Vine tribe opened up farmland, they had already left a road about three meters wide in the center of the farmland. Now they just continue to open up along this road.
The reason why a road to the river needs to be opened is because as the population increases, food consumption is also very large, and the fish caught in the creek is no longer enough to meet the demand.
After the road is opened, the Vine tribe can try to fish by the river.
This river is more than 20 meters wide and very deep. Because it has not been fished, the fish resources in the river are very rich.
If the fishing industry can be successfully developed, the fish in this river alone can feed many people.
After Jiang Xuan's order was issued, Undou and five or six people spent a month and a half using digging, chopping, burning and other methods to finally open up the road.
"Thank you for your hard work. Come on, take me to see you."
Jiang Xuan walked outside, followed closely by Uncaria.
Where the bamboo house is located, the terrain is relatively high and the open land is relatively low. From the front of the bamboo house, you can see most of the open land at a glance.
Jiang Xuan looked around, and the first thing he saw was a large pond, and then there were fields arranged in a ladder shape until they reached the open land. They were about thirty acres in size. The crops in the fields were already growing lushly.
It looks very pleasant.
Further forward, there is a large open area in the shape of a half-moon, with a large number of shrubs, reeds, and weeds growing lushly.
In the center of the crop fields and open areas, there is a road about three meters wide, starting in front of the bamboo house and extending hundreds of meters straight to the river.
Although this road is not big, and is even blocked by tall grass and trees in many places, it connects the bamboo house with the small river, which is of great significance.
When the people of the Vine tribe want to go to the river, they no longer have to go through thorns and waste a lot of time. They can just walk along the road.
As the saying goes, if you want to get rich, build roads first. This principle also applies here.
After Jiang Xuan read it, he took Uncaria on this road.
He walked past the pond, walked through the crop fields, and followed the road into a large open field.
The surrounding vegetation is very tall, the road is bumpy and not flat, and there are many tree stumps on the ground, but Jiang Xuan is still very excited.
"Crash"
After walking hundreds of meters of open land and passing through tall reeds, Jiang Xuan and Uncaria finally arrived at the gravel-covered river beach.
Ahead is a small river more than 20 meters wide. The water is running non-stop. The water is relatively clear, and countless fish are swimming in it.
Not far away, there is a group of waterfowl swimming in the shallow water. From time to time they get into the water to eat small fish and shrimps, but they don't run away when people come.
"Hey, that water bird looks...a bit like a duck!" Jiang Xuan exclaimed.
This water bird has a flat beak like a duck, its feathers are colorful, it is big, and it looks fatter.
"Chief, what is a duck?" Uncaria has never heard of this word.
"A duck is..."
Jiang Xuan suddenly didn't know how to explain it, so he said vaguely: "It's a kind of water bird whose meat is delicious and can lay eggs."
"Oh." Undo scratched his head, instinctively feeling that it was not that simple, but he did not continue to ask.
Jiang Xuan's eyes shone when he looked at this water bird, which was much larger than a duck.
After July, although the weather is still hot, the world is entering autumn, because the more than 30 acres of crops planted in the fields are gradually beginning to mature.
At the same time, the caves dug by Dajiao are getting bigger and bigger, and more and more insects are being raised.
Once food is sufficient, the Vine tribe will have the conditions to carry out breeding.
Jiang Xuan has been thinking about which animals should be domesticated by the Vine Tribe.
As for livestock, he first thought of a large bamboo rat in the mountains, because bamboo rats are vegetarian and have a very mixed diet.
It not only eats bamboo, but also reeds, small shrubs, various plant tubers, leaves, vines, etc. Its food sources are extremely wide.
In addition, bamboo rats are less likely to get sick, are easy to feed, have strong reproductive capabilities, and have a lot of meat, making them a very good breeding target.
As for poultry, Jiang Xuan first chose a kind of pheasant in the bamboo forest. Some time ago, he also caught a few cubs and raised them.
But what is very embarrassing is that the young ones were very fragile after being separated from the mother bird, and they were accidentally raised to death. This also declared the first breeding failure of the Vine Tribe.
Now, Jiang Xuan is eyeing this kind of water bird that looks like a large wild duck.
Compared with pheasants, waterfowl obviously have a wider range of food habits, are more resistant to diseases, and can go to the water to forage independently.
As long as the water area is wide enough, they can feed themselves in the water without even feeding them much food.
"Find a way to catch a few and try to breed them!"
Jiang Xuan licked his lips. If this kind of water bird really has similar habits to a duck, he is very confident that he can tame it.
Even if the first generation cannot be tamed, they can be tamed into poultry by locking them up, allowing them to breed into the second generation, and raising them from an early age.
Of course, there will definitely be difficulties in this process, which need to be overcome with patience.
"Wow..."
A ferocious big fish in the water unknowingly approached the group of water birds, and suddenly rushed out of the water, opening its huge mouth, trying to bite one of them.
"Quack..."
These waterbirds were very alert. When the big fish broke out of the water, they had already taken off and screamed in panic.
The big fish took a hit, flicked its tail, and swam quickly to the deep water area. The duck-like water birds fled into the reeds, obviously surprised.
Their sounds are really like the quacking of ducks, and their feet are also webbed, which makes Jiang Xuan even more excited.
"Let's go back."
Jiang Xuan planned to go back and call Chi Shao. It would be difficult to catch such a water bird alive, and Chi Shao was relatively familiar with it.
Jiang Xuan and Uncaria immediately returned to the Teng tribe. Later, Jiang Xuan told Chi Shao about his idea of ​​catching waterfowl alive.
"Since that kind of waterbirds got into the reeds, it means they usually live in that place."
Chi Shao thought for a while and said: "Generally, birds eat bugs. Let's go to Dajiao to get some bugs. We will set up some noose traps in the reeds and try to catch them alive."
Uncaria was very interested in catching waterfowl, and he said excitedly: "I'm going to get bugs."
After saying that, Uncaria ran away to the place where the insects were raised in Dajiao.
Chi Shao said: "I'm going to get some ropes and branches."
Soon, Uncaria came back with more than a dozen fat white bugs, while Chi Shao prepared some ropes braided from bark and tough branches.
Taking these things with them, the group came to the river again, preparing to set up lasso traps to capture the duck-like waterfowl alive.
Chi Shao walked along the river beach covered with sand and gravel to the reeds where the water birds were hiding.
She observed on the ground and found a lot of footprints and feces, and under the reeds, there were also some paths that water birds often drilled.
"The reeds are too dense and it is difficult to place the noose, but we can put it in places where water birds often move, and the effect will be the same."
Next to the red peony reed bush, outside the path that water birds often drill, first insert a thick and tough branch, then tie it with a rope, and carefully arrange a noose trap.
Then, she placed two crushed large insects in the middle of the noose trap.
To be on the safe side, Chi Shao placed a total of three lasso traps, all on the paths frequently traveled by waterfowl.
"Okay, now let's hide aside and wait for these waterfowl to come out."
Chi Shao, Jiang Xuan, and Uncaria returned to the road and waited quietly.
Hunting is a job that requires a lot of patience, and if you want to catch prey alive, you need enough patience.
If they don't stay here, but choose to go back and wait.
Then, the noose trap may catch the waterfowl's neck and hang it up. By the time they come over, the waterfowl will either be dead or eaten by other predators.
Therefore, they can only wait patiently.
While waiting, Jiang Xuan continued to observe the river. He found that some fish in the river were ridiculously large and swam in the river from time to time. Only a large black shadow could be seen from the water.
These big fish are very ferocious. They not only eat small fish in the river, but even birds that forage by the water are sometimes eaten by big fish.
To be continued...