I have a wildlife zoo

I wasn't sure if it was because they felt the gaze of the visitors outside or if they just wanted to move around a bit!

Little Roe Deer turned its head and hopped away through the snow.

The other roe deer followed behind, all starting to jump together.

With every leap, their large, wind-catching ears swayed up and down with the movement of their bodies.

They looked just like a group of kindergarten children, innocently chasing and frolicking about, appearing very joyful.

Hopping along the edge of the lake, they made it to the other side and up a small hill where their pace finally began to slow, and they came to a stop after a few short trots.

Amamiya Kokoro and the others followed suit!

The animal keeper was giving a presentation to the visitors, "In the northeast, we have the Four Great Divine Beasts. Does everyone know about them?"

Seeing everyone shaking their heads, the keeper said with a smile, "They are the Silly Roe Deer, the Rolling Calf, the Nonsense Spewing Calf, and the Donkey Cat!"

"Isn't there the Blind Bear, the White-eyed Wolf, and the Bunny Brat?"

Amamiya Kokoro asked curiously, "The Nonsense Spewing Calf, the Donkey Cat?"

"Northeastern dialect, 'nonsense spewing calf' means what the person says is beside the point, the 'donkey cat' actually refers to a mule, used to describe someone as stubborn as a mule, not able to be led back even by ten oxen!"

"Oh~"

Amamiya Kokoro felt she had gained some new knowledge.

A little joke had lightened up the mood.

Seeing everyone laugh, the keeper continued, "When people mention a roe deer, they might need a moment to recognize it, but as soon as you say Silly Roe Deer, it becomes clear. It's an animal often associated with being silly!

How silly are they? When a roe deer encounters a person in the forest, it won't immediately run away. It often freezes for a moment, seemingly slow to react. If you shout 'Don't run,' it might actually stop and turn to look at you.

Sometimes it would spin around on the spot, flapping at the air as though fighting with it. At night, when it sees a car, it will run ahead of the car's headlights.

Furthermore, roe deer are very curious. In the past, hunters would first fire a blank shot. Upon hearing the shot, the roe deer would scatter, but after a while, they would return to check what was going on. At that moment, prepared hunters would take their second shot.

Sometimes, when being pursued by hunters and getting tired, a roe deer would bury its head in the snow, as if by doing so, it would become invisible."

"Cute and silly!"

"So, it really is silly!"

"Ha ha, although silly, it is quite adorable. I think the eyes of the roe deer look beautiful!"

"How could such a silly animal not drive itself to extinction?"

The keeper explained, "Though they may look silly and clumsy, roe deer are actually the most widespread, the most numerous, and have the most varied living environments among the deer family.

Their ability to adapt to different environments is strong; they can endure extreme heat and temperatures dozens of degrees below zero, and they aren't picky eaters.

However, they mainly live in forested areas, particularly dense forests. Within these forests, roe deer can use the terrain to dodge and evade predators such as bears, wolves, and leopards.

Roe deer have a keen sense of smell and hearing. Observe them, and you'll notice they have a pair of large, wind-catching ears that can pick up a lot of faint sound waves. They constantly rotate them to quickly detect any abnormalities.

As herbivores at the bottom of the food chain, they are also very cautious. They usually rest in the woods during the day and only come out to more open spaces to be active in the early morning and evening, carefully checking their surroundings.

To avoid wasting energy, roe deer will not run at every rustle of leaves. While feeding, they periodically stop to listen to their surroundings with their sharp hearing and sniff the air for scents, gauging the level of threat. Only after discerning no danger do they continue to feed.

They can quickly identify typical predators, but humans are unfamiliar to roe deer, which is why they may seem slow to react."

If an abnormal sound stops and it turns back, it may be to more accurately judge the enemy's location, choose a direction to escape, and check for any danger, giving one a sense of curiosity.

However, this tactic of evading other natural enemies works well, but it fails when it comes to humans.

Other carnivorous animals, if they fail in their chase, will give up the prey and continue to seek new ones to avoid too much energy consumption, while humans, accompanied by hunting dogs, relentlessly pursue without rest. The Siberian Roe Deer's habit of running a distance and then turning back to observe noise makes it easier for them to be captured.

Siberian Roe Deer have a relatively small body size and running in thick snow is very energy-consuming. When they collapse from exhaustion and bury their heads in the snow, hunters would mistake them for being stupid.

Siberian Roe Deer also cannot comprehend modern technologies like guns, thinking they have run far enough to be safe, only to be fatally shot. There are also cars; they just think the lights at night make the roads more convenient to walk, and then they get knocked down and killed.

"So that's how it is!"

"Can't help it, humans are just a bug."

"So, Silly Roe Deer isn't actually silly – on the contrary, they are quite wise in survival."

The animal keeper said, "That's right, and Siberian Roe Deer also have a skill unlike any other cervid animal, which is the ability to delay embryo implantation.

Food is scarce in winter, and the running speed of pregnant female Siberian Roe Deer would decrease, making it hard to escape from carnivorous predators. Their fertilized eggs can float freely inside the uterus for four to five months, not implanting until the beginning of January of the following year, which helps them to survive better in the winter.

This is also the reason why their survival ability is strong! However, due to overhunting and loss of habitat, the population of Siberian Roe Deer once decreased dramatically. They are now considered a 'protected species'."

The animal keeper took out a handful of corn from his pocket and scattered a handful into the exhibit!

He called out, "Corn time!"

The roe deer gathered again, eating the corn.

…

Pallas's cat exhibit!

Pallas's cats, originally highland animals, also become more active when it snows.

When Amamiya Kokoro arrived, she glanced inside the glass enclosure and noticed that Pallas's cats didn't seem to be in the activity area!

However, the tourists outside excitedly taking photos indicated that obviously, their observation was not thorough enough.

After looking carefully for a while, she found Sun Dasheng near a rock at the back of the exhibit.

With a coat of gray-white fur, blending with the white snow and gray rocks, it was easy to overlook at a glance.

Sun Dasheng began to patrol the activity area, where now, compared to summer, it had grown much thicker fur, like donning a layer of fluffy down jacket, making it look fatter!

As it walked, it seemed like a moving squishy mochi, its flesh rippling and rolling.

Hugging the rocks and bushes, it moved stealthily, creeping forward.

After taking three steps, its body would freeze as if hitting the pause button, observing its surroundings.

Suddenly turning its head, it gazed at the tourists outside with its large round eyes!

It scrutinized carefully, seemingly having discovered something.

They are spying on me!

Upon realizing its hiding had been compromised, Sun Dasheng switched to a serious expression.

It took two quick steps forward and hid behind a rock.

Poking its head out to look outside, its fluffy short tail twitched rapidly behind it as if it had ADHD!