Forest Ranger: Starting with a Giant Panda Mom Clinging to Me - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Digging a Burrow and Uncovering a Pangolin

The viewers were in stitches watching Panda Mom’s hilarious antics.

Lin Tian sighed.

Forget it. Getting upset with a panda wasn’t worth it.

It was just a pity. He’d been looking forward to eating roasted rabbit for lunch, but the Chinese Alligator and panda mom each caught one, while he got nothing.

At that moment, Panda Mom, holding the wild rabbit in her mouth, didn’t eat it. Instead, she nudged it toward Lin Tian.

“Ying ying~”

(Roast it, smells good~)

It seemed Panda Mom had no intention of eating it raw—she wanted roasted rabbit too.

Lin Tian didn’t refuse.

After all, Panda Mom’s teeth weren’t as sharp as the alligator’s, and raw rabbit with all that fur would be tough to handle.

“Alright, wait there.” Lin Tian found a spot away from dry leaves and grass, surrounded by stones. He built a simple campfire with the stones, near a water source and with no flammable materials around, ensuring no risk of starting a fire.

“When you’re out in the wild, try to avoid starting fires. If you must, make sure you’re far from dry, flammable stuff. A wildfire is no small matter,” Lin Tian explained to the live stream audience while setting up the fire.

The viewers quickly chimed in.

> “Got it, got it! Set fire to the mountain, and you’ll sit in prison forever!”

> “Arson gets you serious punishment.”

> “Our village has signs everywhere banning mountain fires. We’ve known this forever.”

> “I saw that big fire in Sichuan on TV last time—it was terrifying. Gotta be careful.”

…

It seemed the forest fire prevention campaigns had done their job, sinking deep into people’s minds.

Lin Tian glanced at the comments, relieved.

Meanwhile, he skinned and cleaned the rabbit, then set it to roast over the fire.

On the other side, the Chinese Alligator, having devoured a rabbit in one gulp, saw Lin Tian roasting and got greedy. It scampered over with a slap slap of its feet.

But before it could get close, Panda Mom pinned it down with one paw.

“Roar roar.”

(Mine!)

“Hiss!”

(Stingy!)

Panda Mom wouldn’t let the alligator near, and the alligator let out a disgruntled hiss. But being smaller than Panda Mom, it could only wag its tail and retreat. However, it didn’t give up. It went back to guarding a rabbit burrow, clearly planning to catch another one.

Lin Tian glanced at their little squabble but didn’t intervene, continuing to roast the rabbit.

Once the fire was going, he turned the rabbit, roasting it evenly by flipping it to the other side when it was nearly done. For Panda Mom, the rabbit didn’t need to be fully cooked—about seventy or eighty percent was enough.

It didn’t take long to finish.

He handed the roasted rabbit to Panda Mom and glanced at the alligator. The Chinese Alligator was still patiently squatting by the burrow entrance.

But Lin Tian doubted there were any rabbits left inside.

“Croc, switch to another burrow. That one’s probably empty,” Lin Tian called out.

The alligator froze but trusted Lin Tian. It soon found another burrow nearby, one twice as large as the previous one.

“Hiss ha.”

It seemed to think that a bigger burrow meant bigger rabbits would come out.

If Lin Tian knew what it was thinking, he’d probably burst out laughing.

A burrow that big likely wasn’t for rabbits—it might even be a snake den.

But Lin Tian didn’t pay it much mind. Even if it was a snake, it wouldn’t be a match for the alligator.

He found a spot to rest.

Meanwhile, Panda Mom suddenly ran over, holding a piece of roasted rabbit leg she’d torn off, seemingly offering it to Lin Tian.

This warmed Lin Tian’s heart. The kid’s grown up. She knows to share food with Dad now.

Lin Tian, touched, wiped a tear from his eye, then firmly rejected the rabbit leg covered in panda mom’s drool.

“You eat it yourself.”

Lin Tian waved it off. The roasted rabbit, unseasoned without salt, wasn’t even that tasty.

Seeing Lin Tian refuse, Panda Mom excitedly stuffed the rabbit leg into her mouth. Then, she trotted back to the burrows. Mimicking the alligator, she found another burrow to guard, apparently wanting to catch another rabbit.

Lin Tian glanced over but didn’t think much of it.

He found a tree, climbed up with his bamboo basket on his back, and leaned against it to take a short nap.

…

> “Brother Tian! Wake up! Something’s happened!”

> “Brother Tian, stop sleeping! Your panda mom’s caused trouble!”

> “Hey, get up!”

Lin Tian had barely closed his eyes for a moment when he heard a commotion below.

It was a shrill cry, like a baby’s wail.

—Squeak squeak squeak!

Lin Tian’s heart jolted, and he snapped his eyes open to look down. What he saw made his heart skip a beat.

Panda Mom was pawing at a scaly animal curled into a round ball. The creature’s back was covered in tough, brown scales. It was these scales that kept it safe from Panda Mom’s bites. She was pawing at it but couldn’t find a way to bite it.

If Lin Tian wasn’t mistaken, this scaly creature, resembling a large lizard, was a pangolin—a national first-class protected animal! A species nearly eaten to extinction by humans.

“Panda Mom, stop!” Lin Tian hurriedly jumped down from the tree and ran toward her.

Panda Mom, frustrated from being unable to bite the pangolin, froze at Lin Tian’s shout, her paws hovering in midair.

Lin Tian rushed over, checked the pangolin, and sighed in relief when he saw no obvious injuries.

Thank goodness, it wasn’t hurt.

The live stream audience, seeing Lin Tian arrive, also breathed a sigh of relief.

> “Phew, good thing Brother Tian got there in time, or the pangolin would’ve been done for.”

> “Pangolins are even rarer than pandas. We can’t lose one like this.”

> “Yeah, they’re so cute too.”

> “The panda was supposed to catch rabbits—how did it dig up a pangolin?”

> “Talk about bad luck for the pangolin.”

…