Chapter 753: Chapter 752: The Story of the Mallard Chapter 753: Chapter 752: The Story of the Mallard Fang Ye said, “This kind of landscape pool is of no use to birds or other small animals.
With just a little modification of the pool, lowering the edge or creating a small slope, and adding so small protrusions for footholds inside, small animals could drink here and perhaps have a greater chance of survival.”
A girl in Nanjing set up two infrared caras next to a small puddle ford after rain in a little grove near her ho.
People who had lived there for five or six years said there were hardly any wild animals around, at most so mice and snakes.
But after the caras were installed, they captured long-tailed shrikes, azure-winged magpies, Oriental turtle doves, Asian barred owlets, and dozens of bird species coming here to drink, bathe, frolic, and court. A Siberian weasel ca to hunt, and months later returned with its family. In the dead of night, there were hedgehogs foraging in the soil.
Right by the noisy streets, with just the shelter of a few trees and a bit of rainwater, so many small animals struggle to survive.
“Although the scale of these urban ponds and green spaces is small, the scale of many wild animals is also quite small.”
“I’ve seen this news too! Never knew there were so many wild animals in the city.”
“With the pandemic, I started taking photos with my cara around the green areas outside my neighborhood and captured more than thirty kinds of birds! I never imagined that in a bustling big city, there would be so many natural spirits.”
“There used to be a small puddle like that near my ho, a paradise for butterflies, bees, toads, and many other animals, but it’s been less lively since they paved over it.”
“Actually, the city doesn’t have to be so neat and trim, with straight lines everywhere. A sloping edge around a pond, so stones…such vibrant ecological pools would be much better, both in terms of landscape effect and ecological value, than the rigid landscape pools.”
“We have light-vented bulbuls and Oriental magpies in our neighborhood. Sotis they rest on the air-conditioning unit outside the window, so I put out a bowl of water for them, and I found down in it. Birds really do co to drink.”
Netizens watched the birds drink their fill and fly away contentedly, and the discussions beca lively.
Fang Ye continued, “This is a story that Teacher Wang Yan told, happening at Peking University’s campus.
A young mallard mother, with her newborn chicks, crossed the campus to beco familiar with the environnt and go swimming in the pond.
In the pond, the ducklings had their first swim and played happily.
But after half an hour, when the mallard mother was ready to return to the shore, she realized sothing was wrong.
Because she could fly up, but the chicks hadn’t learned to fly yet. They were also frail with little strength.
The mallard mother swam around the edge of the pond again and again, quacking anxiously, with the little ducklings following in circles.
If they couldn’t get back to shore, these little ducklings might die from exhaustion shortly after birth.
Teacher Wang Yan, seeing this, decided to give them a hand.
If they tried to catch them with a net, the ducks wouldn’t understand it was for their help, and maybe they would panic and flee, using up even more energy.
So, by the pond, they lowered a ladder into the water.
The mallard mother and her chicks kept their distance, very wary, but as soon as the ladder was in place, she quickly ca over to inspect it.
Then they modified the ladder a bit, adding plywood and felt, to make it more ‘duck-friendly.’ After two hours, when the sun was almost setting, a brave little duckling finally took the first step.
Afterward, the brood of ducklings followed each other up the ladder and left the pond.”
“Wow, I’m so touched!”
Protecting wildlife might sound grand, but it doesn’t necessarily require earth-shattering actions.
Simply creating a few favorable conditions can lead to significant changes, and cities too can beco more ecologically natural.
Next to , the display boards showed comparative diagrams of two different types of ponds, highlighting their differences and impacts on animals.
Spreading outward from the ponds were so tall trees, with undergrowth and high grass clusters beneath them, all native plants.
Vegetation with varying heights increases the abundance of insects and provides food for birds, offering good cover for the transition from dense plant areas to open spaces; small animals like common raccoon dogs, Siberian weasels, and otters can rest during the day in the dense grass.
These trees and shrubs are ideal habitats for birds to rest, sing, nest, and breed—far from buildings, close to water sources, with plenty of food and water. The leaf litter beneath the trees is left undisturbed to slowly decompose and turn into humus that nurtures life.
In the greenbelts of the neighborhood, there are also walls made of hollow bricks, draped with green vines; the cavities in the walls serve as nests for bats and birds.
Between the green spaces and the roads, there are no stone curbs, so small animals won’t be obstructed when migrating across the roads.
In the corners, there are benjeshecken, essentially piles of rocks and wood filled with soil mixed with seeds of native plants, and planted with thorny, climbing protective plants. Such structures have many crevices, offering natural shelters for small animals.
Fang Ye was walking and giving the introduction!
All the neighborhood’s greenbelts are arranged in this way.
Indeed, such an environnt has attracted many small animals, and you could hear the pleasant chirping of birds as they flitted between the bushes and leaves.
Walking further, there is a small plaza for visitors to rest, furnished with benches and trash cans.
Catching the eye here are several cat statues in various poses.
So are curled up, lying beside flower beds, lazily basking in the sun; so stand on tiptoe, paws on the edge of the trash can, as if looking for food inside; so poke their heads out from the bushes, looking around.
Netizens asked curiously, “Is this a the for stray cats?”
Fang Ye said, “That’s right! Speaking of urban animals, we must ntion stray cats.
So people say that cats eat mice, so having stray cats is a good thing, as they can help eliminate rodents. But in fact, cats are opportunistic predators—they eat rodents, pikas, small birds, frogs, anything of the right size, not specifically targeting mice.
Researchers have specifically docunted the diets of stray cats, with birds comprising about 20%-30%; the diet varies by region, but there’s no doubt that they hunt birds.
To a cat, any rare bird is just a piece of at, not as safe and harmless as many people believe.”
So argue, what about other animals that eat birds?
But dostic cats co from the dostication and crossbreeding of different kinds of wild cats, bred to serve humans as pets, and have stepped out of the natural realm.
When they return to nature, they are not viewed as wildlife but as invasive species, the sa as common plecos and red-eared sliders.
Wild animals eating birds don’t disrupt the natural balance, but stray cats do, and the impact is considerable.”
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