Chapter 830 Gunshots

Another legendary oasis was checked in. Bifang led Alpha along the canyon and continued to move eastward.

The well-fed West African crocodile on the shore lay quietly, lazily opening its mouth, enjoying the warm sunshine. In the water behind it, there were several pigeon-sized birds with black, white, gray and light yellow feathers.

These birds were complex and colorful, and they were very eye-catching from a distance.

They stepped into the water with long feet, creating tiny ripples and catching small fish in the river. Two of them seemed to be unsatisfied. After searching for a while, they set their sights on the West African crocodile on the side. They jumped on the shore, suddenly jumped into its mouth, and pecked at it.

[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, the toothpick bird! 】

【I seem to have seen it in that article. This is eating the meat residue in the crocodile's mouth, which can also help clean the mouth. The two are in 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 Egyptian plover. The statement that it and crocodiles are mutually beneficial comes from the records of an ancient Greek writer named Herodotus, a book called "History."

"This book records what Herodotus heard and saw 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 about what you call the "toothpick bird". The general idea is that according to Herodotus' description, there are Nile crocodiles that will lie on the shore, open their mouths, and let a bird called "trochilus" fly into their mouths to help the crocodiles remove the rotten meat and leeches in their mouths."

" But from a biological point of view, crocodiles do not need to clean their teeth. They are not like mammals that cannot replace their teeth when they are damaged. "

"Each crocodile tooth is composed of three parts: functional teeth, replacement teeth and dental plates, and 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, the spacing between crocodiles' teeth is very wide and cannot be filled with food debris. "

The teeth of crocodiles are cone-shaped, and the gaps between teeth are also cone-shaped. The main function of teeth is to catch and kill animals, and then swallow them whole, rather than chewing them. They will not chew them finely and then swallow them, so there is no meat residue in their mouths, and they will not be stuffed with meat.

"Even if there are still bacteria on the teeth, it is not something that a bird can solve. In other words, birds can basically get nothing out of the crocodile's mouth."

"The most important thing is that no other scientist has observed this phenomenon except Herodotus more than 2,000 years ago."

"The photos of Egyptian orioles picking crocodiles' teeth that are now circulating on the Internet are actually digital reconstructions based on Herodotus' description."

For many years, people have always believed in the toothpick bird 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 doubts. The biggest question is that more and more people are traveling to the African continent now, and there are many photographers or photography enthusiasts among them.

If they see the interesting scene of a bird getting into the crocodile's mouth, they will take this precious shot anyway.

However, there is no such photo.

In addition, many scientists who have visited Africa for research have not seen this strange phenomenon.

"In the more than 2,400 years since Herodotus' death, only two zoologists claimed to have seen the toothpick bird fly into the crocodile's mouth to eat. Unfortunately, the things they described had no specific time and place, no real evidence, and could not convince people."

"Later, in order to uncover this eternal mystery, Mr. Howell, a bird expert at 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 by previous people. 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 roughly said that he had never seen the Egyptian plover catching insects in the crocodile's mouth." I have seen this phenomenon. Some authors in history claim to have seen this phenomenon, but these authors are not particularly reliable. "

"According to his research, even if the story of crocodiles and toothpick birds being good friends recorded by Herodotus is based on facts, it is also a very rare phenomenon. This is definitely not the main food source of birds, so crocodiles and Egyptian magpies are not in a symbiotic relationship."

"That is, it should not be regarded as an example of mutualism between animals."

"This is an individual behavior and cannot be a common feature of a species."

"We are lucky to see toothpick birds enter the mouth of crocodiles."

[It's so hard to see someone I know, but I was slapped in the face by Fang Shen in the end. It's so hard]

[It's so hard to survive in the wilderness. I don't know anyone. I finally know one, but it's still wrong]

Bifang laughed.

[Then why doesn't this crocodile eat toothpick birds?]

[Yes, what is this bird doing in the mouth of a crocodile?]

"Maybe they eat some parasites or something."

Bifang stared at the crocodile for a few seconds.

"All animals have a characteristic, that is, they will stop hunting when they are full."

"When hunting, crocodiles will not lie down with their mouths open, but will float quietly underwater, with only their eyes and nostrils exposed. When they lie down with their mouths open, it means that they are full and will not hunt anymore. Even if the birds jump around their mouths, they will not hunt them."

"This is just like those crocodile performances. People often get applause through such thrilling scenes by putting their hands or heads into the crocodile's big mouth. Before starting such performances, the crocodiles must have been fed well."

"Besides, the crocodiles' reactions and movements are much slower than birds. They can't eat them even if they really want to, so they will let them go, but it is not certain whether they will eat them."

As soon as the voice 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 was bitten without any suspense and swallowed into its stomach in a few bites.

After a successful attack, the West African crocodile quickly turned around and swam into the river, disappearing.

Not long after, everything returned to calm, and the crocodiles on the side were just as they should be, as if nothing had happened.

[Hiss, Fang Shen was right]

[It's true that people die for money and birds die for food]

[Oh my god, it's amazing]

Several toothpick birds pecked at a small fish together.

As they went deeper and deeper, the pollution of the Black Water River began to ease, no longer the original black, but light gray, and fewer and fewer wild camels could be seen, replaced by more West African crocodiles.

The dense crocodiles on the shore made the audience's scalp numb, especially when Bifang almost brushed past them, it reached its peak.

[Why do I feel that there are more and more crocodiles]

[There is almost no place to stay]

[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 basically rely on eating fish. Therefore, the fewer camels, the more crocodiles there will be, because there are more fish where there are fewer camels."

Bifang looked at the river and explained it briefly.

Too much pollution will make the fish in the river scarce, reducing the food supply of West African crocodiles. Naturally, they will not approach the gathering places where the river water is black due to the pollution of camel feces.

Such a situation is not uncommon in Africa. For example, the Mara River is one of the waters where hippos gather. In the dry season, there will be many hippos crowded in small lakes.

They excrete 8.5 tons of feces every day. Too much feces accumulation makes the environment of these small lakes very bad.

It's okay in the dry season, because the area of ​​the water is not large, and it only affects the surrounding area, but in the rainy season, the water area is connected and becomes a big river. The feces that have not been completely decomposed by microorganisms will be washed to other places by the river water and float everywhere.

[Feel a bit disgusting]

[Too heavy is it]

[Want to see]

[A bit cool]

[What kind of feces machine]

The feces accumulated at the bottom of the water for a long time will produce methane, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and other gases through microbial fermentation, resulting in a significant reduction in the oxygen content in the water, which leads to the death of a large number of fish in the river.

When the rainy season comes, many dead fish bodies will appear on the surface of the Mara River, and these suffocated fish have become a relatively special phenomenon.

And this phenomenon is also a vicious cycle. The death of fish in the river will increase the accumulation of decayed materials, which will cause the purification capacity of the river to fail to keep up with the speed of pollutant generation, and it will be further polluted and become less suitable for the survival of organisms.

If the Nile crocodiles in it were not like the West African crocodiles, they would almost be 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 nutrition.

"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 camel disappeared, and even though there were crocodiles on the ground, the whole canyon looked a lot emptier.

The canyon was too empty, and gradually echoed.

When Bifang led the huge camel past, the West African crocodile did not move, but startled a flock of birds.

The birds circled in the sky for a while, waiting for Bifang to leave, and returned to the ground after a while, continuing to look for their lunch in the river sand.

This canyon is not composed of many tall rocks, but a rift valley, with rock walls on both sides as high as tens of meters, and occasionally you can see a natural arched stone bridge above your head.

Looking at the magnificent spectacle like the gate of the gods, the audience in front of the screen was 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, look at the giant trees."

Bifang let out a long sigh, smiling, obviously in a very good mood.

[No money]

[Sponsored by Fang Shen]

[Open a travel foundation]

[You wish]

[I think Fang Shen's next step should be the universe. I heard that rockets have been commercialized, right? 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 collect it! ]

[Add one, collect money to send Fang Shen to heaven! ]

[Go to heaven! ]

Bifang joked with the audience for a few words, and was about to say something when a gunshot interrupted all the following words.

The gunshots were loud and echoed over the canyon, and all the birds that had just stopped were startled and flew away, overlapping in the canyon.

What's going on! ?

Everyone was shocked.

Having watched Bifang's live broadcasts many times, the audience is very familiar with this sound.

Gunshots!

How could there be gunshots?

Bifang swallowed the rest of the words back into his throat and pulled the frightened Alpha to be alert.

Animals are naturally alert to strange and loud sounds, especially herbivores, which are easily frightened.

Alpha almost jumped up just now, but fortunately Bifang pulled him down in time and quickly pulled him under the rock wall, close to the stone wall, and minimized the exposed surface as much as possible.

"Up there."

Bifang knew the direction and source without identification, hiding in the shadow of the rock, his face was not very good.

To exaggerate, with Bifang's current physical fitness and conditions, he is not afraid of anyone in hand-to-hand combat, but he still has enough vigilance for weapons like guns.

But before Alpha could stand firm, the second gunshot sounded above the canyon. Judging from the sound, the distance was not shortened, and two shots should have been fired at the same position.

What was he shooting?

Bifang thought quickly in his mind and tried to distinguish the type of gun from the gunshot.

The sound of different guns is completely different. Many experienced veterans can roughly identify the type of gun from the gunshot.

For example, the sound heard when a pistol is fired is similar to firecrackers.

The "bang, bang, bang" sound of bursts, crisp and rhythmic, must be an automatic rifle.

The "da da da" sound of continuous firing that seems to be close at hand must be a submachine gun.

More specifically, for example, the M249 saw is like a blast, and the mg42 is like the sound of scissors cutting oilcloth pants.

But now the gunshots sounded very dull, and Bifang couldn't tell what it was for a while.

But soon Bifang knew that he didn't need to think so much.

Not long after the second gunshot, Bifang, who raised his head and stared at the top of the canyon, saw with his own eyes a deer-like animal with sharp horns falling from the edge of the cliff.

The strong dynamic vision and nerve reflex also allowed Bifang to clearly see the bright red blood on the belly of the animal.

But no matter whether the wound was fatal or not, when Bifang saw it fall from a cliff tens of meters high, he knew that the gazelle was finished.

"This is the Fourth Disaster" Introduction: There are four major disasters in this world, the weirdness entrenched in the abyss, the intelligent machine race that executes the extinction program, the indescribable gods... and the Luo Fei family called [Player].