Chapter 826 Gunshot
After checking in at another legendary oasis, Bifang led Alpha and continued to move eastward along the canyon.
A well-fed West African crocodile lay quietly on the shore, opening its mouth lazily and enjoying the warm sunshine. In the water behind it lay several birds about the size of pigeons with feathers in four colors: black, white, gray and light yellow.
These birds are complex and colorful, and are very eye-catching from a distance.
They stepped into the water with their long legs, creating tiny ripples, and caught small fish in the river. Two of them seemed unsatisfied and searched for a while before setting their sights on a West African crocodile nearby. It was hopping on the shore, and they suddenly jumped into its mouth and began to peck at the food.
[What kind of bird is this? It looks so beautiful]
[Hiss, isn't it afraid that the crocodile will eat it? ]
【I've seen this, Toothpick Bird! 】
[I seem to have read in that article that this is eating the meat scraps in the crocodile's mouth, and it can also help clean the mouth. The two have a symbiotic relationship, so crocodiles will not eat birds]
"Uh..." Bifang scratched his eyebrows, "This is probably fake."
【Ah this】
[Is it fake? ]
[It’s over . I’m going to be slapped in the face by Fang Shen]
"The scientific name of the toothpick bird is Cerithidea aegyptiaca. The idea that it and crocodiles coexist in a mutually beneficial way comes from the record of an ancient Greek writer named Herodotus, in a book called History."
"This book records what Herodotus saw and heard during his travels, as well as the history of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. It is the first complete prose work in the history of Western literature."
" There is a record of what you call the 'toothpick bird'. According to Herodotus, a Nile crocodile would lie on the shore, open its mouth, and let a bird called 'trochilus' fly into its mouth to help the crocodile remove carrion and leeches from its mouth."
"But from a biological point of view, crocodiles do not need their teeth cleaned. They are not like mammals where teeth are damaged and cannot be replaced."
"Each crocodile tooth is composed of three parts: functional teeth, replacement teeth and dental plates. The stem cells in the dental plate ridges can develop into new replacement teeth. It is the special structure of crocodile teeth that allows the process of new teeth replacing functional mature teeth to proceed smoothly."
"Secondly, crocodiles have teeth that are spaced too wide to hold food crumbs."
Crocodiles' teeth are cone-shaped, and the gaps between their teeth are also cone-shaped. The main function of their teeth is to catch and kill animals, and then swallow them whole instead of chewing them. They don't chew the animals into small pieces before swallowing them, so there are no meat scraps in their mouths, and they won't be stuffed with meat.
"Even if there are still bacteria on the teeth, it's not something a bird can solve. In other words, the bird can hardly gain anything from being in the crocodile's mouth."
"Most importantly, apart from Herodotus who saw this phenomenon more than 2,000 years ago, no other scientist has observed it."
"The photos of Egyptian orioles picking crocodiles' teeth that are now circulating on the Internet are actually digital reconstructions based on Herodotus' descriptions."
For many years, people have always believed in the Toothpick Bird's statement and regarded the friendship between the Toothpick Bird and the crocodile as an example of mutualism between animals.
But as time goes by, more and more people have raised questions. The biggest question is that more and more people are traveling to the African continent, including many photographers or photography enthusiasts.
If they see the interesting scene of a bird diving into a crocodile's mouth, they will definitely capture this precious moment.
However, there is not a single such photo.
In addition, many scientists who have conducted research in Africa have never seen this strange phenomenon.
"In the 2,400 years since Herodotus' death, only two zoologists claimed to have seen the toothpick bird fly into the crocodile's mouth to eat food. Unfortunately, the things they described did not have a specific time and place, and there was no real evidence, so it was unconvincing."
"Later, in order to uncover this eternal mystery, Mr. Howell, a bird expert from the University of California, USA, made a special trip to the Gambella region of Ethiopia, Africa, and conducted a two-and-a-half-month investigation."
"During the two-and-a-half-month investigation, Professor Howell worked tirelessly, leaving early and returning late, and discovered many interesting living habits of the Egyptian plover, which were never known . But he had never seen the Egyptian plover catching insects in the crocodile's mouth."
"Finally, this biologist, Thomas Howell, wrote a book in 1979, which basically said that he himself had never seen this phenomenon. Some authors in history claimed that they had seen this phenomenon, but these authors were not particularly reliable."
"According to his research, even if the story about crocodiles and Egyptian orioles being good friends as recorded by Herodotus is true, it is a very rare phenomenon and it is definitely not the main food source of the birds, so crocodiles and Egyptian orioles are not in a symbiotic relationship."
"That is, it should not be seen as an example of mutualism between animals."
"This is an individual behavior and cannot be regarded as a common trait of a species."
"We were lucky to see the toothpick bird enter the crocodile's mouth."
[I finally saw someone I knew, but in the end, I got slapped in the face by Fang Shen. It was so hard]
[It's so hard to survive in the wilderness. I don't know anyone. I finally know one, but it turns out to be wrong.]
Bifang laughed.
[Then why doesn't the crocodile eat the toothpick bird?]
[Yeah, what is this bird doing in the crocodile's mouth? ]
"Maybe it ate some parasites or something."
Bifang stared at the crocodile for a few seconds.
"All animals have one characteristic: when they are full, they stop hunting."
"When hunting, crocodiles do not lie down with their mouths open. Instead, they float quietly underwater, with only their eyes and nostrils exposed. When they lie down with their mouths open, it means they are full and will not hunt anymore. Even if a bird jumps around their mouth, they will not eat it."
"It's like those crocodile shows, where people often put their hands or heads into the crocodile's big mouth to get applause through such thrilling scenes. Before starting such a show, the crocodile must have been well fed."
"Besides, crocodiles' reactions and movements are much slower than birds'. They can't eat them even if they really want to, so they just let it go. But we're not sure whether they will eat it or not."
As soon as the words fell, everyone heard a loud sound of teeth colliding.
The West African crocodile, which had been motionless, suddenly closed its upper and lower jaws. Only one of the two toothpick birds escaped, and the other one was bitten without any suspense and swallowed into its stomach in a few bites.
After the successful attack, the West African crocodile quickly turned around, swam towards the river and disappeared.
Before long, everything returned to calm, and the crocodiles nearby were doing their normal business, as if nothing had happened.
[Hiss, Fang Shen was actually right]
[It is true that people die for money and birds die for food]
[Oh my god, it's amazing]
Several toothpick birds are pecking at a small fish together.
As we went deeper and deeper, the pollution level of the Blackwater River began to lessen. It was no longer the original black color but a light gray. There were fewer and fewer wild camels to be seen, and instead there were more West African crocodiles.
The densely packed crocodiles on the shore made the audience's scalps tingle, especially when Bifang almost brushed past them, which reached its peak.
Why do I feel like there are more and more crocodiles?
[This is almost a dead end]
[Scared, too scary]
[Fang Shen is too brave]
"This is a normal phenomenon. Strictly speaking, the overlap between the lives of West African crocodiles and camels is not high. West African crocodiles do not survive by eating camels, but mainly by eating fish. Therefore, the fewer camels there are, the more crocodiles there will be, because there are more fish where there are fewer camels."
Bifang looked at the river and gave a brief explanation.
Too much pollution would make fish in the river scarce, reducing the food supply for the crocodiles, so they would not go near gathering places where the river water has turned black due to camel feces pollution.
This situation is not uncommon in Africa. For example, the Mara River is one of the waters where hippos gather. During the dry season, many hippos will crowd into small lakes.
They excrete 8.5 tons of feces every day, and the accumulation of so much feces makes the environment of these small lakes extremely harsh.
It's not so bad in the dry season because the area of water is not large and only affects the surrounding area. But in the rainy season, the water area becomes one and becomes a big river. The feces that have not had time to be completely decomposed by microorganisms will be washed to other places by the river and float everywhere.
[I feel a bit sick]
[Too heavy is]
【I want to go and see】
【A bit hanging】
What is a manure making machine?
Feces that accumulate at the bottom of the water for a long time will produce gases such as methane, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia through fermentation by microorganisms, which will lead to a significant decrease in the oxygen content in the water, thereby causing a large number of fish deaths in the river.
When the rainy season comes, many dead fish appear on the surface of the Mara River. These fish that are suffocated to death have become a rather special phenomenon.
Moreover, this phenomenon is a vicious cycle. The death of fish in the river will aggravate the accumulation of decaying matter, resulting in the river's purification capacity being unable to keep up with the speed of pollutant production, causing it to be further polluted and becoming increasingly unsuitable for the survival of organisms.
If the Nile crocodiles there had not survived by eating fish like the West African crocodiles, they would have almost become extinct.
However, animal feces are not all bad. If the amount is appropriate, it will increase the number of organisms in the river and provide nutrients.
"We are at a suitable level here. It is not polluted too much, so the number of fish is guaranteed, and there are naturally more crocodiles."
The tall camels disappeared, and even though there were crocodiles on the ground, the entire canyon looked a lot emptier.
The canyon was so empty that an echo gradually appeared.
When Bifang passed by leading a huge camel, the West African crocodile did not move, but startled a flock of birds.
The bird circled in the sky for a while, waiting for Bifang to leave, and then returned to the ground after a while, continuing to look for its lunch in the river sand.
This canyon is not made up of numerous tall rocks, but a rift valley with rock walls on both sides tens of meters high, and natural arched stone bridges can occasionally be seen overhead.
Looking at the magnificent spectacle that looked like the gate of the gods, the audience in front of the screen were amazed , and even Bifang himself was refreshed.
"Looking at the magnificence of nature can broaden your mind. If you feel that life is too tiring, go traveling, go to the desert, the Gobi, the grassland, the forest, look at the starry sky, and look at the giant trees."
Bifang let out a long sigh, smiling, obviously in a very good mood.
[No money]
【Fangshen Sponsor】
【Open a travel foundation】
【Wish you a happy life】
[I think Fang Shen’s next step should be the universe. I heard that rockets have been commercialized. With Fang Shen’s current wealth, he should be able to afford a ticket, right?]
[Sprinkle some water, if it’s not enough, we’ll make up for it! 】
【Add one, collect money to send Fang Shen to heaven! 】
【God! 】
Bifang joked a few words with the audience and was about to say something when a gunshot interrupted all subsequent conversation.
The sound of gunfire was loud and echoing over the canyon. All the birds that had just stopped flying were startled and flew away, overlapping in the canyon.
What’s happening! ?
Everyone was shocked.
Having watched Bifang’s live broadcasts so many times, the audience is very familiar with this sound.
Gunshot!
Why are there gunshots?
Bifang swallowed the rest of the words back into his throat and pulled the frightened Alpha to be alert.
Animals are naturally wary of strange and loud noises, especially herbivores, which are easily frightened.
Just now Alpha almost jumped up, but fortunately he was pulled down in time by Bifang, and quickly pulled under the rock wall, close to the stone wall to minimize the exposed surface.
"Up there."
Bifang knew the direction and origin without any identification. He was hiding in the shadow of the rock, and his face did not look good.
To exaggerate a bit, with Bifang's current physical fitness and condition, he is not afraid of anyone in hand-to-hand combat, but he still remains vigilant enough when it comes to powerful weapons like guns.
But before Alpha could stand firm, the second gunshot rang out above the canyon. Judging from the sound, the distance did not get closer, so two shots should have been fired from the same location.
What are you hitting?
Bifang thought quickly in his mind and tried to identify the type of gun from the sound.
The sounds of different guns are completely different, and many experienced gunners can roughly identify the type of gun from the sound.
For example, the sound heard when a pistol is fired is similar to that of firecrackers.
The "bang, bang, bang" sound of bursts of fire is crisp and rhythmic, and it must be an automatic rifle.
The continuous "da da da" sound that seemed to be close at hand must be from a submachine gun.
To be more specific, for example, the M249 saw sounds like an explosion, and the mg42 sounds like scissors cutting through oilcloth pants.
But now the gunshots sounded very dull, and for a moment Bifang couldn't tell what it was.
But soon Bifang realized that he didn't need to think so much.
Not long after the second gunshot, Bifang, who was looking up and staring at the top of the canyon, saw with his own eyes an animal with sharp horns and shaped like a big deer falling from the edge of the cliff.
Bifang's strong dynamic vision and nerve reflexes also allowed him to clearly see the bright red blood on the animal's abdomen.
But no matter whether the wound was fatal or not, when Bifang saw it falling from a cliff tens of meters high, he knew that the gazelle was dead.
