I have a wildlife zoo

Chapter 492: The Bobble-headed Collared Scops Owlet

Next, Fang Ye made another trip to the rescue center.

He greeted Lin Ying and checked on the recent rescues of a few collared scops owlets.

The little guys were still too young, so instead of placing them in outdoor enclosures, they were being raised in a room inside the animal hospital.

An artificial tree hollow-like nest had been provided for them, lined with dry straw, and they were usually fed after dark, mimicking the nocturnal habits of owls in the wild.

The four collared scops owlets were all bowing their heads and sleeping in the nest.

Sensing the light at the entrance had disappeared, they lifted their heads.

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They discovered a bipedal beast peering at them through the entrance and immediately began to round their eyes nervously, their bodies swaying up, down, left, and right, with their heads circling.

This was their way of deterring enemies!

One was still groggily asleep, and when shaken awake by its buddy beside it, it hurriedly started to sway as well.

All the collared scops owlets widened their eyes and swung their heads in unison, a devilish scene that looked inexplicably comical.

Fang Ye couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth, reminded of the classic Jim Carrey’s head-shaking trio!

Accompanied by music, a very groovy head bobbing, so similar to the little ones’ antics.

"They seem to be in good shape!"

Putting on a bird-head puppet, he used tweezers to clip some tender chicken meat and delivered it to the nest entrance.

The collared scops owlets, seeing the food, cautiously stretched out their heads, grasped the chicken meat, and quickly retracted their heads to eat.

Another piece was offered, and this time a different one poked its head out to feed.

Their wariness and vigilance towards humans suggested they were wild, which would make release back into the wild easier as they grew.

After leaving the room, Fang Ye had a brief meeting with Lin Ying and other veterinarians to discuss the release of the ruddy shelducks.

The ruddy shelducks had recovered some health after some time in captivity and could now flap their wings to fly a distance within the cage.

However, after being previously bred in a farm, their flight ability was much weaker than that of wild ruddy shelducks.

If released abruptly into Linhai’s reservoir, they might lack agility and vigilance, becoming easy prey for raptors within a few days.

After the discussion, they decided to adopt a gentler method of soft release!

This batch of ruddy shelducks would be placed in a several-thousand-square-meter lake located behind the zoo, which was being prepared to serve as Waterfowl Lake.

Now that the surrounding roads, restrooms, and park benches were all set up, and with the introduction of animals like swans, it was ready to be a tourist attraction.

The seedlings had already been pulled out, and the paddy field had been prepared once more.

The activity was scheduled to start at 8:30 in the morning!

Taking advantage of the early time before the sun was fully up and it was still relatively cool, they went down to the fields to transplant.

After the zoo opened, many of the children and their parents participating in the activity arrived at the little ranch area.

Tang Xiaoxin and Qian Keke were among the first to sign up for the farming activity, both assigned to the rice fields.

The two little girls excitedly waved their arms: "Brother Fang Ye!"

Fang Ye smiled and nodded: "Yo, hello there!"

Tang Xiaoxin curiously asked, "Brother Fang Ye, I haven’t seen you the last few times I was at the zoo. Where were you?"

Fang Ye stroked his chin, laughing, "Well, I just took a trip to Qinghai, to see the snow leopards, the Pallas’s cats, the grassland and golden eagles, and such. Rescuing a snow leopard – just some trivial matters."

Tang Xiaoxin’s eyes widened in amazement: "Ah!"

A little chubby boy, overhearing him, was instantly excited: "I know the snow leopard; it is the king of the snowy mountains!"

Even though these children had never heard of animals like the Pallas’s cat or snow leopard, the title ’king of the snowy mountains’ sounded very impressive!

"Brother Fang Ye, does the snow leopard listen to you too? Did you get to touch it?"

"What is a Pallas’s cat? Is it a rabbit?"

They all badgered him with questions!

The parents stood by, watching the scene with smiles on their faces.

Zoo Director Fang was not only popular with the animals but also beloved by the children.

Seeing that things were getting a bit chaotic, Fang Ye hurriedly said, "Ah, that’s a long story, let’s wait until we’re done with the fieldwork. Then, I’ll tell you all about it, okay?"

He looked around, feeling that plenty of people had already arrived, and clapped his hands: "Let’s do a roll call! To see if we’re all here."

With such a fun activity and their admired director present, the children were very eager to participate.

Many had set their alarms early and had been calling on their parents to come over since the morning.

Except for one parent who had mentioned in the group chat that they had to take the day off due to an emergency, saying they had to take their child to see a doctor, the rest had arrived.

Then came the distribution of gear.

You could choose to enter the field barefoot, or wear the waterproof waders and rubber boots provided by the zoo.

Tang Xiaoxin initially wanted to wear the gear, but seeing Qian Keke enthusiastically taking off her shoes, she thought that going barefoot might be more fun and also took off her own shoes.