Chapter 43 Trimming the sheep’s hooves 1
"Woof woof woof!!"
"Woof!"
"Woof woof!"
Lawrence was surveying the environment near the mountain forest. The three sled dogs that ran out seemed to have discovered something and kept barking.
The sound didn't sound like he was in trouble. Lawrence held a stick in one hand and pushed aside the obstructing branches with the other to get closer.
"Woof woof! Oooh..."
Lawrence came out of the forest and saw Tim and the rabbit surrounded by three sled dogs in a place with small trees, dead grass and vines.
This white rabbit was trembling on the spot motionless. It was fat and naive.
I estimate it weighs seven or eight pounds.
Lawrence walked over the rocks and tree roots, squatted down slowly when he was close to the rabbit, and raised the stick in his hand.
boom!
The fat rabbit quickly kicked his legs and lay down on the ground. Lawrence saw this and quickly made up for it a few times.
"Good job." Lawrence praised softly, quickly picked up the rabbit with bleeding mouth and stood up, "I will give you broth to drink tonight."
"Maybe there should be an extra piece of meat, no more."
Lawrence showed a satisfied look and continued walking outside. He also said to the three cheerful dogs, "I'm lucky today."
"You have to know that after winter, rabbits will hide in their holes and not come out. Although I don't know why this rabbit came out, this kind of thing doesn't happen often."
"Hunting is a matter of luck. If you can catch a deer, you can certainly eat it all winter long, but you have to take into account that there are often no harvests."
“The colder it is in winter, the easier it is to get hungry and the faster energy is consumed, and it’s easy to have problems just eating meat.”
Lawrence was talking to the sled dogs. Although the three dogs didn't understand what Lawrence meant, both sides were thinking about the same problem.
Food issues.
These days, I also caught small animals such as squirrels and mice. While eating, Lawrence discovered a key problem.
Fat.
Without enough fat, it is actually very difficult to accumulate fat if you just eat lean meat.
The energy consumed by going out for hunting, coupled with the energy loss accelerated by the cold in winter, if the final harvest is some lean meat and fat-free fish, then you will only become leaner and leaner as you eat.
The fat and calories of fish are much lower than other meats. It is okay to eat as a side dish, but it is troublesome to eat it as a staple food.
"If we can't get additional prey, then Andrew's way of survival is more advanced."
Andrew's way of survival is to live an honest life, not catching fish, relying only on traps for hunting, farming and breeding for staple food, and collecting protection fees from the mountains.
In this way, unnecessary energy loss and risks can be reduced, and more energy can be accumulated steadily.
Lawrence spent some time surveying the surrounding terrain, and then took the three dogs to the stone house on the mountain.
Today's work is to fill the holes and stabilize the foundation with stones.
Lawrence picked up suitable stones from the ground nearby and carried one stone after another to the edge of the pit.
These stones will not be thrown in directly. When the time comes, they will be piled up like a puzzle according to their shape and size.
The three sled dogs had long been accustomed to everything around them. While Lawrence was working, the three sled dogs lay down on the grass to sleep and rest.
The exercise of going up and down the mountain is enough to consume the strong energy of these sled dogs.
Mechanical labor is torture for these sled dogs.
But Lawrence was busy from morning to afternoon, collecting and moving stones.
When he was tired, he would sit down to rest and carve his own survey map on the smooth wooden board.
"If a mountain road is built, the time it takes me to go up and down the mountain can be shortened by more than half, and I will have more time to do other things."
"But building a mountain road is much more troublesome than building a house, and it won't be completed within a few years."
"There are no farm buildings or anything like that here. Before, I just walked wherever I could, and gradually I got used to the same road."
"Now we can plan a shortest road specifically based on distance and terrain. If we keep walking from here in the future, we can create a solid road by stepping on it. There is no need to sacrifice the near for the far."
In the absence of timing tools, it is difficult to distinguish which of two roads is closer.
But if you have a map, you can break out of your habits and work out a shortcut scientifically.
These things were not difficult, and Lawrence deliberately took a new path as he descended the mountain.
When encountering dense grass piles at the foot of those hillsides, Lawrence would throw a stone tied with wool.
The sound of stones falling to the ground means that the place under the cliff is safe for stepping on.
The stone fell and the rope was tightened, which meant that the grass was deeper than what he saw!
The detection range of the wooden stick is limited, so Lawrence needs to use flying rocks to determine the path ahead.
As he walked down the mountain, he pulled back the flying stones in his hand and threw them into the dense grass.
When a house appeared in the field of vision, the road became much easier. Lawrence approached the wooden house with three excited big dogs who were eager to go home.
"Owner!"
Sofia, who was shepherding sheep, spotted Lawrence and waved happily to say hello.
Lawrence found that he came back earlier today, probably an hour earlier than usual.
Sophia had already run over, and became even more happy after seeing the rabbit in Lawrence's hand.
"Master! Did you catch the rabbit?"
Lawrence smiled and said: "Of course! I'm lucky today!"
In fact, you can put the rabbit in the basket behind you, which saves time and effort.
But Lawrence's vanity made him willing to suffer more, and he walked for a long time carrying an eight-pound rabbit with one hand.
The hard work was worth it. Seeing the cute little girl looking up at him with excited eyes, Lawrence walked out happily.
"The fur of this rabbit will be used by you, Sophia. I will make you a pair of rabbit skin gloves. If you are rich, I can make a pair of socks to protect your little feet."
Sophia followed Lawrence toward the house and asked with concern: "Master, don't you keep it for yourself?"
Lawrence said confidently: "I will catch more rabbits. Rats and squirrels are also good, their skins can be used."
"Master is so awesome!" Sophia praised Lawrence with admiration, and quickly took out an iron object from the pocket of the apron in front of her, "Master, I picked up this object when I was herding sheep today!"
"Did you pick up something again?" Lawrence looked at Sophia curiously.
After taking the thing handed over by Sophia, he said casually: "Oh, it's a sheep's shoe. I won't use this thing for the time being. I'll keep it for now. I'll take it to the blacksmith shop to exchange for something the next time I go to town. Bar."
What Sophia picked up was a rusty sheep shoe, which must have been left nearby when Dom the sheep ran around.
People of this era have mastered the technology of nailing foot irons to sheep's and cattle's hooves, so this thing is very common in many places, but this kind of rusty one is of little use.
"Hmm!" Sophia also felt that this thing was of no use. Seeing Lawrence arrive at the door, she said, "I'm going to herd the sheep."
"good."
Sophia soon ran back to herding the sheep.