hsntnovel Chapter 107 Hunting the Sword-faced Antelope
Chapter 107 Hunting the Sword-faced Antelope
Chapter 107 Hunting the Sword-faced Antelope
He had never eaten any raptor meat before, but in the past two days, he has finally tasted raptor meat, having eaten two kinds of raptor in a row.
This fierce eagle only weighs four or five kilograms, which is barely enough to fill Chu Ye's belly, who is a lion weighing over 100 kilograms.
But Chu Ye didn't hunt birds of prey because he wanted to have a full meal; he just wanted to taste their meat.
After eating the eagle, Chu Ye returned to his camp to rest. Although the eagle wasn't enough to fill him up, in this dry season of food shortages, having a bird of prey was already a very good meal.
Chu Ye has only managed to hunt one bird of prey, enough to fill his stomach. Meanwhile, the lions of the Jike pride are all starving!
During this dry season, all the animals are starving. Even the lion, the king of beasts, is no exception; lions can only eat once every few days.
Jike and the two lionesses hadn't caught any prey for three days. The lion cubs in the pride hadn't had any fresh meat for several days either.
Chu Ye is at least able to take care of himself; he no longer needs the lionesses of the pride to look after him. His size is now almost the same as the lionesses', and he can hunt and support himself without needing two lionesses to feed him.
However, Chu Ye has only been hunting small prey these past few days. Although these prey are all very powerful, they are not enough to satisfy his hunger. If he wants to be full, he will naturally need to hunt larger prey.
However, hunting large prey during the dry season is not easy, as large prey is already rare in this area.
Large prey like buffalo have migrated to the vicinity of the Grumedi River. There are no large herbivores on this vast grassland.
Of course, there will also be some herbivores for carnivores to hunt. Without these herbivores, no carnivores would live in this place.
The reason why Jike allowed the pride to live in this place temporarily was because he knew that there were still some herbivores in the area that the pride could live in.
However, these herbivores are relatively few in number. Unlike wildebeest and zebras, which are abundant on the grasslands.
Other herbivores are not particularly numerous, and hunting them is not an easy task, as it is not easy to spot them, let alone hunt them.
After eating two birds of prey, Chu Ye no longer wanted to eat their meat and wanted to try a different kind of prey.
"What kind of prey should I eat next?" Chu Ye was pondering this question.
Chu Ye didn't know what kind of prey he should eat, and he felt he needed to go outside and wander around. Only by going outside would he have a chance to find some prey that he could eat.
That morning, after the two lionesses and the male lion went out to hunt together, Chu Ye also went hunting by himself.
Chu Ye wandered around many places but didn't see any prey he liked. For Chu Ye, he wasn't going to just hunt any prey he saw anymore; he still wanted to eat prey he had never tasted before.
Although it is currently the dry season, many carnivores living here have no right to choose their prey. They will eat whatever they can find, as long as it fills their stomachs.
But for Chu Ye, it's a different story. Although it's the dry season, Chu Ye can still choose the prey he likes to eat.
Chu Ye had just spotted a warthog, which was searching for grass roots to eat in the nearby bushes. If Chu Ye wanted to eat pork, he could have easily run over and caught the warthog.
After all, Chu Ye's hunting ability is much stronger than before. He is now about the same size as an adult lioness, and he can easily subdue an adult warthog.
Chu Ye didn't want to eat pork; he suddenly craved mutton. He felt he had always enjoyed mutton in his previous life. Now reborn on this vast grassland, he still felt a strong urge to eat it.
"There are sheep I can eat there!" Chu Ye looked at the vast grassland in the distance, dreaming of seeing a sheep.
"Have I turned into the Big Bad Wolf? Why do I always think about eating sheep?" Chu Ye was also a little curious about his own thoughts.
Regardless, Chu Ye just wanted to eat a sheep to satisfy his craving. So, Chu Ye began searching for sheep on the vast grassland.
Of course, there are no goats or sheep on the grasslands. There are only antelopes. There are gazelles, oryx, waterbuck, impala, oryx, and many other kinds of antelope.
"With so many antelopes, shouldn't I find one to satisfy my craving?" Chu Ye thought to himself as he started walking away into the distance.
Soon, he arrived at a place with lush vegetation, where many large trees grew, providing shady areas beneath them. In these shady spots, dense grass grew.
Just then, Chu Ye suddenly saw some animals moving around in the grass ahead. He could see that the branches of some bushes were swaying back and forth, clearly indicating that an animal was moving there.
"What kind of animal is it? Could it be my prey?" Chu Ye thought as soon as he saw movement ahead, he slowly crept over.
The animal was lurking in the bushes, completely unaware that a lion was slowly approaching it.
Chu Ye quickly approached a spot about ten meters away from the animal. From this vantage point, he could already see what the animal looked like.
When Chu Ye got a clear look at the animal, he couldn't help but lick his lips a few times. He was very excited, feeling that he would soon be able to eat the mutton he wanted.
"It really is a sheep! This time, I can finally indulge in some mutton." Chu Ye had already spotted it; hidden in the bushes ahead was a prey with long, sharp horns.
Upon seeing the prey, Chu Ye immediately knew its name. He recognized it as a dangerous antelope found on the vast grasslands. Its name was the sword antelope.
Just hearing its name tells you how dangerous this antelope can be. Its ferocity matches its name.
The oryx is a genus of antelope belonging to the family Bovidae in the order Artiodactyla. It contains four species and is the largest antelope species.
The fur covering the body is grayish-brown, but the fur on the face, abdomen, and lower limbs is white. Black fur is distributed on the center of the face, around the eyes and mouth, the throat, the sides of the body between the forelimbs and hindlimbs, the shins of the limbs, and the tail.
Inhabiting arid grasslands and deserts, they are active at dawn and dusk, resting in shady spots during the day when temperatures are higher. They are herbivores, primarily feeding on grass and leaves, and when conditions are harsh, they can use their strong forelimbs to dig up to 1 meter deep into plant roots for sustenance. They live in groups in the deserts and arid plains of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
The genus *Ossiphonus* includes four species: the scimitar, the South African scimitar, the Arabian scimitar, and the East African scimitar. They are robust, standing 102-120 cm tall at the shoulder. They have a mane and hairy tail, black patches on their face and forehead, black stripes on either side of their eyes, and black markings on their body and legs (which vary depending on the species).
The East African oryx and South African oryx have grayish-brown fur, the North African oryx is grayish-white, and the Arabian oryx is white. Both males and females have horns, which are long and pointed, and can be straight or curved.
They are physically strong and have legs adapted for long-distance running. They have four toes on their feet, but the lateral toes are more vestigial than those of deer, which is also adapted for running.
Both incisors and canines are degenerated, but the lower incisors are retained, while the lower canines are incisorized. The three pairs of incisors are tilted forward in a shovel shape. Because they feed on relatively hard plants, the premolars and molars have high crowns with wrinkled enamel. After the crowns are worn down, the surface forms complex tooth patterns, which is suitable for eating grass.
The stomach has four chambers and a well-developed rumination function. Both adult males and females have a hollow horn, which is a symmetrical bony branch derived from the protrusion of the frontal bone. It is not branched, hollow inside, and covered with a detachable horny sheath that covers the bony horn core (bone core), and expands as the bone core grows.
There are no nerves or blood vessels in the horn, and once the horn is removed, it cannot grow back; it usually stops growing after reaching a certain size and does not replace the horn sheath.
They live in groups, with each group ranging from 6 to 40 individuals, averaging 14 individuals, and a record of over 300 individuals. The herd is led by an adult male antelope, several females, and young antelopes, and the territory covers an area of about 25 square kilometers. Adult males will leave the group to live alone.
They are active at dawn and dusk, and rest in the shade when the temperature is higher during the day. Their main food is grass and leaves. When conditions are harsh, they can use their strong forelimbs to dig out plant roots up to 1 meter deep underground to fill their stomachs.
Several species of antelope in this genus are highly drought-resistant. Living in hot, dry environments year-round, the oryx has evolved various physiological adaptations to the desert, allowing it to go without water for several days at a time.
To conserve its precious body water, it can raise its body temperature from 35.7°C to 45°C. This temperature would be fatal for other mammals, reducing the temperature difference between its body and the external environment, thus minimizing heat absorption. It is highly adapted to survival in the desert.
Chu Ye was quite familiar with this animal, recognizing it as a large antelope. Catching such a large antelope was quite difficult.
Of course, if the hunt is successful, such a large antelope would be enough for Chu Ye to have a good meal. Not only would it be enough for Chu Ye, but it would also be enough for the other lion cubs of the Jike pride.
"What should I do? Should I hunt this sword antelope?" Chu Ye looked at the strong sword antelope in front of him, and he was actually a little scared.
Although Chu Ye was already a lion whose size was close to that of an adult lioness, his mental age was still that of a cub. He felt like a seven- or eight-month-old cub, unable to compare himself to an adult lioness.
Faced with this strong sword antelope, Chu Ye dared not make a rash move. Although he really wanted to taste the sword antelope meat, he just didn't dare to pounce on it and grab it directly.
"What should I do? Should I call the two lionesses over and ask them to help me hunt?" Chu Ye looked at the strong antelope, feeling a little apprehensive. His apprehension wasn't about the antelope's strength, of course. It was about the two swords protruding from its head.
The horns on the head of the oryx are truly terrifying. The two sword-like horns on the head of an adult male oryx can each be up to a meter long.
The oryx uses its two long horns to protect itself and attack enemies. Many predators have been disemboweled by the oryx's long, sharp horns while hunting it.
Especially for hunters like cheetahs, whose bodies aren't particularly strong, hunting oryx is extremely dangerous. Many cheetahs have perished under the oryx's long antlers while hunting it.
Looking at the two long horns of the sword antelope, Chu Ye felt a little scared and dared not rush over to hunt it.
But then Chu Ye thought, he was already a huge lion, almost the size of an adult lioness. Did he really expect to rely on two lionesses for help when hunting?
"No, I can't call the lionesses for help this time. Last time I needed their help because I was hunting a huge okapi. But this time, I'm not hunting a large prey like an okapi; I'm only hunting a oryx. So I don't need two lionesses to help me. This time, I'm going to fight the oryx alone."
After much deliberation, Chu Ye decided that he would challenge this sword-faced antelope alone this time. If he could hunt down this antelope, it would prove that Chu Ye's combat strength was already extremely powerful.
"How am I supposed to hunt? I'm in the shadows, while this oryx is in the open. If I can pounce on it and bite its neck, I can quickly subdue it."
Chu Ye knew that if he couldn't hit the target's vital points with a single blow, it would be quite dangerous. The long horns of this sword-faced antelope weren't just decorations; they were its powerful weapons.
Therefore, Chu Ye decided to choose his attack point carefully; he had to pounce on the antelope in one swift motion and bite its throat directly. Only in this way could he defeat the antelope quickly.
If that weren't the case, it would be difficult to defeat this oryx. And if the oryx had a chance to fight back, it would likely be in danger.