HLM – Chapter 988 Patting the Fierce Dog’s Rear

Once winter arrived, even with the support of the Rancher’s Heart, the growth rate of the pasture slowed down to its lowest point of the year. During this season, the grass was entirely living off its reserves—it could no longer produce seeds or regenerate.

Under such circumstances, Wang Bo believed the ranch’s primary task was to reduce grass consumption, especially to minimize the damage some animals caused to the pasture.

For example, the grassland possums—these rodents loved to eat grass roots and were excellent at digging underground tunnels, resulting in significant pasture damage every winter.

Wang Bo mentioned this, and the cowboys nodded. Peterson said, “Yes, this is a problem all ranchers dread. But what does this have to do with the kea?”

“Of course it’s related. We’ve observed that keas are fierce, capable of flight, highly mobile, and have a strong predatory instinct.”

“So… could we tame these keas and have them hunt the possums for us? If they have food, they naturally won’t attack our sheep.”

Keas are highly social birds and prefer to live in groups—a factor that could work to their advantage against the possums.

The possum population was too large for just a few keas to make a dent, and taming only a few keas wouldn’t be worth Wang Bo’s effort.

“That’s an interesting idea,” Cousins nodded. “These birds are opportunists. When they’re hungry, they’ll ambush small animals with agility like a fierce hawk. Using them to tackle possums could really give the possums trouble.”

In fact, research showed that keas didn’t initially attack sheep. After all, sheep were newcomers to New Zealand, while the keas were native.

Before sheep arrived in New Zealand, they carried numerous parasites—one of the keas’ food sources. The keas would peck at the sheep to eat the parasites.

By chance, they discovered the sheep’s flesh while pecking through the hide and found it tastier than parasites. Gradually, their diet shifted.

It was precisely this research that gave Wang Bo the idea of training them to hunt possums.

Obviously, the keas’ diet could be changed—and quickly. Once they discovered possums were excellent food, they would actively hunt them.

Wang Bo’s task was to make the keas feel that possums were a better meal than sheep.

Peterson didn’t entirely agree and shook his head. “You might not know, boss, keas are nomadic. They wander around in search of food—they won’t stay in one place.”

“No, my friend. They will stay. Keas aren’t dumb. Sunset Town has beautiful scenery and friendly people. Once they find ample food here, why would they leave?”

Peterson laughed, “You’re overestimating the intelligence of these little birds.”

Wang Bo just smiled. He was absolutely confident, because he still had an unused Bird Nest Heart in the Box of Hearts.

At the southeastern edge of the ranch, there were a few hills. Every year, Sunset Town celebrated Arbor Day, and trees had been planted there—previously barren hills now had cedar and pine trees.

He took out the Bird Nest Heart and placed it in the center of the hill cluster.

Once attached to the land, the Bird Nest Heart expanded, covering the entire hill.

It could have extended further into the ranch, but two Territory Hearts couldn’t overlap. Ultimately, the Bird Nest Heart controlled the hills and the adjacent grasslands.

Next, they had to capture the keas and train them to hunt possums.

Seeing Wang Bo’s determination, Peterson shrugged. “Alright, boss. You’re the leader. Let’s try it. Maybe we can train them into expert possum hunters.”

Cousins didn’t approve. “I think it’s better to mobilize the townsfolk. When I worked at a ranch in Corried, that’s how they dealt with possums.”

“Perhaps we can do both,” Wang Bo smiled.

Peterson rubbed his hands. “Alright, let’s get to work. The first step is to capture the keas.”

Cousins said, “This isn’t difficult. Driving keas away is hard, but catching them is easy. These little fools are naturally curious. Anything new, they’ll come to investigate.”

This was the keas’ nature—always alert for potential food.

Wang Bo nodded. “Then let’s decorate the hill a bit, put some food there to lure them in. Maybe they’ll start to like this place.”

“Boss, you’re too idealistic,” Peterson laughed.

This wasn’t mere idealism—Wang Bo’s plan was feasible. Keas were fierce, though also a bit foolishly cute.

The sheep, without resistance, had encouraged the birds’ audacity. They scattered across the ranch, chasing panicked, fat sheep everywhere.

Because the autumn had just passed, the sheep had thickened up. They were slow, unable to shake off the little birds.

The keas didn’t even need to fly—their short legs and strong claws were enough to keep up.

To Wang Bo, these birds were perfect tools against the possums.

But they were a bit too arrogant and blindly confident. While running around, a kea collided with Crown Prince patrolling the ranch.

The princes had been carefully trained—they didn’t hunt indiscriminately unless it was wild rabbits or rodents. Keas weren’t on their list of targets.

So although they noticed the birds early, they didn’t attack.

But in the kea’s eyes, the Crown Prince was just a black quadruped. Quadrupeds? Food!

Seeing the Crown Prince blocking its path, the kea leaped onto its back with lightning speed, aiming straight for its rear.

The Crown Prince, still trying to figure out what this thing was, was stunned by the sudden bite—it hurt a lot!

Rottweilers were famous for being fierce dogs, and the Crown Prince was extremely ferocious. With a shake of its body, it threw the kea off.

Then, turning around, it lunged—jaws wide, baring teeth, exuding murderous intent!

The kea was terrified by the sudden aggression, staring with its cute wide eyes. If it could speak, Wang Bo guessed it would say, I’m so adorable, would you really eat me?

The Crown Prince certainly would, but he held back—letting out a loud command instead: “Crown Prince, come back!”