Chapter 50
Leeanne wasted no time. She pulled out her net.
This net was made for catching birds, using it on chickens was way too much.
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She laid out the net, scattered some corn kernels on it, and then hid behind a bush, holding the rope that was attached to the
net.
She’d used a similar method to catch chickens and sparrows when she was a kid, but this net was way bigger and easier to
use.
The chickens looked like they’d never seen people before. They weren’t scared at all, just scratching and pecking at the dirt.
One of them wandered over to Leeanne’s trap, lowered its head to peck at some corn kernels, then looked up and clucked a few times.
Leeanne kept waiting. Her trap doubled as bait, and with such a big net, catching just one chicken would be a waste.
After a few minutes, two more chickens wandered over and stepped onto the net.
Leeanne yanked the rope, and the net dropped down, trapping the two chickens inside, still pecking at the corn. Only the one on the edge managed to escape.
The hens finally realized something was off. They craned their necks and thrashed around, trying to break free. Leeanne chuckled, “Squawk all you want, nobody’s coming to rescue you, even if you shout yourself hoarse!”
She couldn’t help but grin, her playful side shining through.
The two hens freaked out even more, their feet tapping frantically against the ground.
Leeanne grabbed some rope and tied up one leg of each hen, then packed up her net.
The two hens were freaking out, clucking and scratching at the ground nonstop, flapping their wings like crazy as they tried to escape.
Leeanne frowned and thought, “They’re way too noisy, and with all this fuss, they’re losing feathers. If I take them back like this, they’ll need days to recover. They won’t lay eggs for a while.
‘Forget it, this isn’t going to work!
She opened her backpack and saw a bunch of bamboo inside. Her eyes lit up.
‘Hey, this is just what I need! I can put together a bamboo cage, she thought.
Leeanne grabbed a few thin bamboo poles, chopped off the extra leaves, and lashed the sticks together in a crisscross pattern to make a rectangular cage.
It was a simple setup, at the joints, she tied them with bamboo leaves to hold everything in place.
Finally, she made a little door at the top.
The cage was about 3 feet long, and around 2 feet tall and wide.
Leeanne untied the ropes from the hens legs and gently placed them inside through the top door, one by one.
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Chapter 50
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Once they were free, the hens calmed down a bit. They just paced around the cage, looking confused and anxious.
When Leeanne was weaving the cage, she made sure the bamboo at the bottom was packed tight, almost like a solid board, so the hens‘ feet wouldn’t slip through.
She grabbed a corn cob, stripped off a couple rows of kernels, and dropped them into the cage.
Soon enough, the hens settled down, totally focused on pecking at the corn.
Leeanne clapped her hands in satisfaction and thought, ‘Done!‘
But the cage was pretty big, and these hens were on the small side. Only putting two in there seemed like a real waste.
She set the cage down under a tree, picked up her net, and headed off a little ways.
Using the same trick, she caught two more hens and put them in with the others.
But just catching hens wasn’t enough. She was planning to hatch some chicks, so she needed a rooster too.
Leeanne picked out a rooster, set up her net nearby, and finally managed to catch one.
But this rooster put up a real fight, even trying to peck at her with its sharp beak.
Leeanne gave it a solid beating, no mercy for this feisty bird.
A rooster can handle a few bruises. He’s not laying eggs anyway, and a little roughing up wasn’t going to mess with his mojo.
She roughed it up a bit to make sure it’d behave and not bisony the hens in the cage.
Leeanne put the rooster in the cage as well, tying its feet so it couldn’t wander around.
The poor rooster looked pitiful, its feathers all ruffled and messy, bruised and battered, just lying in the corner, licking its wounds alone.
One rooster and four hens were plenty.
Leeanne decided to call it quits on the chicken hunt.
Because there were live chickens inside, she couldn’t put the cage in her backpack. So she just left it here and planned to pick it up on her way back.
She made a few marks so she wouldn’t forget where it was, then continued on her way.
She walked a bit further and spotted a small rabbit. As soon as it saw her, it darted away. Leeanne sprinted after it for several steps, but the rabbit quickly disappeared into a burrow.
Smart rabbits always have more than one escape route, Chasing it is pointless, Leeanne thought to herself.
Leeanne stopped in her tracks.
Rabbit meat was seriously tasty, and rabbits would multiply like mad. They could have three or four litters a year, with six to ten babies each time, and those little ones hit breeding age in just three or four months
So with just one male and one female, she’d have rabbits overrunning the place half a year later.
With that, she would be overflowing with rabbit stew.
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Chapter 50
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Leeanne used to go rabbit hunting with her grandpa, so she tried to remember exactly how they used to catch rabbits.
Sometimes he’d use a snare, other times a net, or even dig a pit trap.
She decided to dig a pit.
She looked around and spotted some rabbit tracks and droppings nearby. This place was definitely rabbit territory. There were probably more than just a couple hopping around.
She pulled out her iron shovel and dug a pit about 6 feet deep and 6 feet wide. Then she covered it up with twigs and grass: to hide it.
For bait, she decided to use strawberries. They were sweet and tart, so rabbits loved them.
Leeanne thought, ‘Good thing I brought all these strawberries just for snacking. Never expected they’d actually be useful.
She placed a few strawberries right on top of the trap, then crouched behind a big rock nearby, staying as still as possible and trying not to make a sound.
Everything was quiet.
Leeanne, feeling bored, opened up the Assault Squad chat.
Danelle: [Guess what I found? Wild oranges. They’re super sweet. I picked the tree clean!]
Rodger: [I took down two big rabbits, cleaned them out for meat and pelts. Looks like we’ll be having rabbit for dinner!]
Danelle: [Hey, how come Leeanne and William are so quiet? How are you guys doing?]
Leeanne: [I’m catching wild rabbits, and once I get them, I’m taking them back to breed.]
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