Chapter 178 Making Yourself at Home?
"Director, the meat is here!"
"Okay, open the door over there first."
Fang Ye placed a few small pieces of meat near the lion's adjacent holding room, not far from the service gate. After exiting the holding room, he opened the service gate.
The intermediate service gate could be opened without entering the room, like a wall with rollers and a handle sandwiched between two wall faces, which could be moved. Pulling out the middle wall connected the two rooms.
The two lions, already eager at the scent of fresh meat, saw meat in another compartment. Qiqi hesitated for a moment, then stretched its big head through the service gate and gobbled up a piece of meat from the ground with a grunt.
Just as it was about to retract its head, Fang Ye, standing behind the bars, shook a much larger piece of meat with tongs and said, "Qiqi, look over here!"
After activating his "affable skill," Fang Ye looked much more pleasing to the eye, and coupled with the lure of a large chunk of fresh meat, Qiqi hesitated no longer and strode forward. It approached the bars, opened its mouth, and clamped down on the meat.
Fang Ye took the opportunity to touch Qiqi's nose, "Hmm, not bad at all! See, I'm the one giving you meat. You can't be so fierce with me anymore, understood?"
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Qiqi might have been touched by the animal keepers when it was a cub, but now that it had grown so majestic, there were none bold enough to touch it, even through the bars.
Moreover, for lions, they always try to avoid enemy claws scraping their faces during fights. With a few not-so-prominent but healed scars on its large nose, Qiqi's head instinctively pulled back when it was touched.
Considering the meat, it didn't make much fuss with Fang Ye, glanced at him, and holding the meat in its mouth, sauntered off three steps away to eat.
Kaka peeked its head in the doorway, wondering what its big brother was doing. Fang Ye picked up another piece of meat and beckoned, "Come on, lad, this one's for you!"
Kaka, sensing no danger, entered the holding room. On the other side, Ming saw Kaka's tail come in and promptly closed the two holding room service gates; now they could clean the original holding room.
Fang Ye gently touched Kaka's nose and praised, "Good, very good!"
Seeing that it didn't flinch, he grew bolder and reached in to scratch Kaka's forehead, which felt like a coarse blanket.
Ming, seeing Fang Ye's fingers inside the bars, thought to himself, "Only the director dares to pull off such risky tricks!"
Not worried about a lion biting your fingers off.
Kaka, munching on the meat, gave Fang Ye a puzzled look. What on earth was this about?
But Fang Ye himself was grinning with delight. The sensation was like setting off firecrackers during the Spring Festival; of course, he felt afraid while lighting the firecrackers, but the crackling sound was exhilarating!
Now, he could claim to have stroked not just lions but tigers too.
Yet scratching through the bars still felt somewhat unsatisfactory, like scratching an itch through a boot. If he could stroke the dense mane on a lion's head, that would probably feel amazing.
At that moment, Qiqi finished the meat in its mouth, and its big head came back, growling softly to ask for more meat.
Fang Ye alternately fed meat to the two lions, taking the opportunity to sneak a touch each time he gave a piece of meat. Qiqi initially resisted, but after being touched several times, it gradually got used to it.
After he finished feeding them, the effect of the "affable skill" wore off, but the lions already looked at him much more favorably!
Fang Ye left with a sense of longing, "I'll feed you meat again next time, okay?"
He left the isolation area.
...
He was supposed to spend the morning in his office reading and studying various subjects while casually planning the exhibits!
Now, with some more green leaf coins, and since the reptile house was not very large with plenty of space around to utilize, Fang Ye wanted to build an eco-friendly visitor center next to the greenhouse of the reptile house where visitors could eat, drink coffee, and relax after touring the zoo.
With the construction of the reptile house complete, there was space reserved behind the Predator Gallery in the tour loop envisioned for popular large animals like giraffes, elephants, and hippos.
Once that area was finished, the original zoo exhibits and the newly expanded sections would be nearly complete. Next would be to consider the distant Waterfowl Lake and various themed areas in the different regions.
However, as he was contemplating, his phone rang.
"Is another animal being delivered?"
That's what Fang Ye was thinking, but when he checked his phone, it was He Yifei calling him.
What did He Yifei want? Was the macaw depressed again? Or was there a problem with the peafowl?
He Yifei was the team leader for both of these areas! He was specifically in charge of the birds, and once the tropical rainforest aviary was completed, he would be the chief manager responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of birds.
He picked up the call: "Hello?"
He Yifei's voice sounded odd: "Director, didn't you release a Eurasian eagle-owl on the Peafowl Lawn previously?"
Fang Ye paused, a bad premonition rising in his heart: "Ah, what's up? It was released the night before last; shouldn't the eagle-owl have flown away by now?"
"But the eagle-owl is still perched on that tree! Visitors and our animal keepers noticed and asked about it. I went to check, and no matter what, I couldn't drive it away. When I tried to scare it just now, it just glared at me, flaunting its authority."
"Damn it!"
Fang Ye was puzzled. What was up with this eagle-owl, treating this place like its own home?
When he had seen the eagle-owl on the ground, not moving, he had picked it up and placed it on the branch. Did it fly around for a bit and come back, or had it been there the whole time without moving?
Even in the zoo, it was improbable for it to stay put where it was placed without moving. It would surely change locations, right?
But if it could intimidate He Yifei, it must be quite spirited.
After all, it had been fed plenty of meat during the rain, so it should be fine even if it got hungry for a few days.
He hurried towards the Peafowl Lawn to see for himself.
Around the Peafowl Lawn, some visitors were excitedly discussing!
"Wow, it's actually a real owl! At first, I thought they'd put a stuffed toy up there, it's so still."
"This is my first time seeing a real owl."
"It seems like the animal keepers don't even know what's going on with the owl. Isn't it raised by the zoo?"
Arriving under the tree, He Yifei pointed to a branch: "Look there, Director, it's right there."
Fang Ye was struck dumb!
Not only was it the same tree, but it was also the exact same branch. How could it even be in the exact position where he had placed it? Were its feet glued there?
When the eagle-owl saw him, its eyes suddenly brightened, and it extended its neck forward, hooting at him: "Whoo-hu~ Whoo-hu~"
"Huh?"
He Yifei was baffled as he watched. The eagle-owl had puffed up like a ball and threatened him, but seeing Fang Ye, it seemed as happy as can be.
Was the director really that charming to animals?
Fang Ye was even more dumbfounded!
The eagle-owl was looking at him with such hopeful eyes that it seemed to be begging for food!
Whoo-hu~
Where's the meat today?n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
With so many other animals around the zoo, you're not hunting them, but begging me for meat?