Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

Feeding the cheetah, Day Three.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Bi Fang arrived on time at the enclosure to feed the cheetah.

After two days and more than a dozen reinforced memories, the cheetah had developed a considerable recognition of its new "Breeder."

Scent, appearance, physique, the animal had become thoroughly familiar with all aspects. So much so that before Bi Fang even reached the enclosure, Cheetah Harley had already stood up.

Unlike its previous cautious behavior, one could tell from its constantly swinging tail that the animal was not startled but rather displaying a happy mood.

Cheetah Harley was looking forward to its second meal of the day.

The audience in the livestream had flocked in early, and for good reason. The night before, right after the last feeding, Bi Fang had informed them that today he would attempt to make some physical contact and simple interaction with the cheetah.

Although nothing expected happened after the first feeding at six o'clock, leaving the audience somewhat disappointed, when Bi Fang clearly stated that the contact would happen during the second feeding, the viewers who felt they had been "stood up" still showed up as promised.

[Is the big moment coming?]

[I woke up at three in the morning and saw nothing, now it's six o'clock, I won't be stood up again, right?]

[Dude, where are you from with such a crazy time difference?]

[Aren't you afraid of dying suddenly from staying up like that?]

[Tough guy]

[To be a man, you have to be fierce!]

"I had always intended to schedule the contact for the second feeding session, and I made it clear yesterday. It's you who didn't listen carefully."

Bi Fang inserted the key into the lock, turned it twice with some effort, and unlocked it.

The lock, having been exposed to wind and rain for a long time, had become a bit rusty, and it always took several tries to open it.

"The reason I specifically chose the second feeding time is actually quite deliberate."

After pulling out the chain, Bi Fang pushed the door open and stepped inside, while Harley's tail wagged even faster.

[Deliberate? What's so deliberate about it?]

[Definitely another little detail I don't know.]

[Hurry up and enlighten me.]

Bi Fang arrived next to the food bowl, picked out the dry twigs and leaves, and wiped it down briefly before saying,

"I feed Harley every three hours. After the first two feedings, its hunger would be limited for the next few sessions. But if it's the second feeding of the day, that's precisely when its hunger is at its peak."

[Ah, why is that?]

[Why would the hunger be limited?]

After wiping the food bowl clean, Bi Fang poured all the meat from the bag into it. At this point, Harley's tail was wagging so fast it nearly left an afterimage.

Starving, it couldn't wait for Bi Fang to leave so it could start eating.

However, Bi Fang's next move took Harley by surprise; he didn't leave immediately but stayed in place.

For a moment, Harley grew impatient, but Bi Fang calmly engaged in conversation with the audience.

"I wonder if anyone has had this experience: if you play with your phone while eating, do you find that your appetite is somewhat smaller than usual?"

```

[Eh, I've never noticed.]

[Really? I haven't felt that at all.]

[I guess there's a little bit, when I eat takeout at the office, if I play with my phone while eating, sometimes I might have a bite or two of rice left over?]

[Shh, hearing the person before me say that, it seems I might have a bit of that too.]

```

"One reason for this is that looking at your phone while eating can keep the brain excited, and this excitement tends to inhibit the movement of the stomach and intestines, reducing the secretion of digestive fluids and affecting the digestion and absorption of food."

"However, that's not what I'm going to talk about today. The other reason I want to discuss is that by extending the time you spend eating, you will feel full more easily."

"A feeling of fullness is a sensation controlled by the hypothalamus in the human body; when we eat to a certain point, the satiety center is stimulated, sending signals to the brain that we no longer want to continue eating, and we don't feel hungry."

"But if you eat quickly, food will accumulate in the stomach in a short period of time, and the nerves in the stomach won't have time to report to the brain, leading to overeating."

"Nowadays, most people at work or school aim for quick meals, which often leads to fast eating and, consequently, overeating. However, if you're distracted while eating, the process naturally extends, and you're more likely to experience that feeling of fullness."

"In fact, cheetahs are the same, consuming five kilograms of meat each day. Whether they eat it in five servings or in one go completely changes the impact."

"By the fourth or fifth feeding, the cheetah is already not very hungry. The food is fatty inner organs, so Harley gets plenty of energy, and the brain doesn't send strong signals to continue feeding."

"But the first three feedings, especially the second, are when the cheetah's hunger signals are at their strongest."

"At this time, after a whole night of digestion and an empty stomach, plus the first meal awakening their desire to eat, it's like opening a bag of chips, then remembering your weight. You tell yourself just a few bites will do, but once you start, it's rare to stop before the bag is empty."

[I glanced at the corn flakes beside me and sighed with relief, at least it's not chips (Dog's head)]

[It's me in person.]

[(Annoyed to anger)!]

[Starting today, diet!]

Bi Fang stood by Cheetah Harley's food bowl and didn't move away, which made Harley hesitant to approach, pacing around four or five meters away.

Many viewers watched with cold sweats.

For felines, this distance is just a leap away.

Especially since Bi Fang was crouching, making it difficult to exert force or dodge, the situation seemed particularly dangerous.

"My goal is to get Harley to approach me voluntarily, use its appetite to boost its initiative and necessity for food while reducing the threat I pose in Harley's eyes by adopting a crouch position that's ineffective for quick movements."

"You may have noticed that cats tend to favor people who are afraid of them or keep a distance."

"It's because they don't feel threatened by these individuals."

"For cats, humans are too large, and approaching them too quickly often overwhelms them, making them uncomfortable."

"Moreover, cats conduct a scent investigation before approaching something unfamiliar. If you're too eager to approach them, you skip this process, and the cat might perceive you as dangerous and avoid you."

"It's better to pull back to advance; cats might approach you out of curiosity."

"Cheetahs are similar to domestic cats, so the techniques are alike. After two days of feeding and getting acquainted, I've successfully made Harley familiar with my scent, and today it's time to see the results."

The audience in the live broadcast were taken aback.

[Wow, this is top-tier strategy.]

[Petting a big cat, so much thought goes into it.]

"Is this what you call confronting?"

"Learned it, now I'm going to confront the stray cats in the neighborhood!"

"Alpha: He's so gentle, I'm crying."

"Naked Choke followed by a throwing hug, a combo of moves, right?"

Bi Fang chuckled, "The situation is different, Harley has been raised by humans from birth and has a foundation of affection. If we use a gentle approach, we can quickly close the distance."

"But if we treat him like we would an Alpha, it would actually prolong the time it takes for us to get to know each other."

In front of the feeding bowl, Bi Fang intentionally avoided timing with Harley, focusing only on Harley's paws with a slightly distracted gaze.

He even slightly shifted his body, not facing the cheetah directly.

Seeing this, the initially hesitant Harley felt a boost of courage. "When not familiar with an animal, don't keep staring at it; they see that as a threat, remember what I've told you before? If you encounter a wild predator, don't panic, the first thing you do is to lock eyes with it, that's the reason."

"Staring into the eyes is a self-protective behavior, it means 'I know you've seen me, you'd better find another prey if you think of hunting me.'"

"Among predatory animals, besides cheetahs that rely more on pursuit, most rely on surprise attacks."

"While they might not fail to catch their prey head-on, the success rate of hunting drops significantly. For predators, a few failed hunts may leave them without the energy to hunt again; if they're lucky, they might survive on carrion or berries, if unlucky, they might get injured while scavenging leftovers and possibly meet their end."

"So for most predators, if their prey is aware of them, they need to reassess whether continuing the chase is worth it."

"So when animals face potential attackers, if they are not confident they can win or escape, they often wait for the other to back down through eye contact."

"This is why many outdoor guides will tell you to keep eye contact with a lone predator, remain vigilant, and not make sudden movements."

"If the wild animal isn't certain or desperately hungry, it's more likely to back off — after all, there aren't many animals that have attacked humans. The animal doesn't know how likely it is to get hurt if it attacks you."

"Some hats used in the wild have patterns in the shape of eyes painted on the back of the head with reflective paint, which can also lower the chance of being attacked by a wild predator."

"But right now, our goal is to get closer to them, naturally we have to do the opposite."

Crouching down, avoiding eye contact, turning sideways, and combining the familiar scent with profound memories laid the groundwork for the cheetah Harley, who had been raised by humans since birth. Driven by his hunger and tempted by food, he finally began to attempt to approach.

Seeing Harley slowly move in, Bi Fang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief while also ceasing to talk, avoiding any unexpected effects from his voice.

Animals are different from humans.

Humans have rational thinking, and therefore, personal experiences can have a significant impact on personality.

On the other hand, for animals, learned experience makes up only a small part, many behaviors are instinctive, and acquired behaviors are not easily changed.

Just like what the breeder said yesterday, leopards are naturally nervous and aggressive, which is not something that changes by raising one from youth.

Their nature and learned experiences compared, it's mostly the instinct that takes the lead.

It's these characteristics that make predicting animal behavior easy for humans, allowing a general behavior trend to be set for most animals.

For example, cobras are aggressive, even if their opponents are much larger.

Big-eared foxes are naturally timid, even if they face only a small mouse.

Feline species like hunting and find it hard to resist attacking a creature with its back turned.

Under such general tendencies, the right approach can work wonders.

However, this rule isn't always correct; even if acquired influences are minimal, they do have an effect and sometimes animals can be an exception.

Experienced hunters never leave everything to the instinct of the animals.

Fortunately, Harley wasn't the exception. It had followed every step Bi Fang had anticipated, averting many unnecessary troubles.

Under the tense gaze of the audience, Harley slowly, repeatedly, and hesitantly, reached less than a meter in front of Bi Fang.

From this position, both the food bowl and Bi Fang's throat could be hooked by the cheetah's paw if it wanted to.

Bi Fang slightly lifted his eyelids and shifted his gaze to Harley's chest, a spot where he could clearly see the cheetah's muscle movements to predict its possible next actions.

A half-meter distance seemed to be Harley's limit.

For a while, the two were at a standoff.

Even with Bi Fang crouching down, it was a bit too much pressure for Harley.

If it had been another breeder making the exact same movements as Bi Fang, they might have already been in close contact with Harley, but with Bi Fang, it just wasn't quite there.

Having spent a long time in the wild interacting with various wildlife, Bi Fang's presence was drastically different from that of ordinary people.

It was a rather vague concept, but it certainly existed.

Just like two people who have spent a lot of time together, one can somewhat sense whether the other is feeling down or excited, without even looking at their expressions.

Especially for sensitive animals like Harley.

Harley repeatedly lowered its head and then raised it again, its nose twitching slightly as it captured scent molecules, yet it couldn't bring itself to take any further action.

Outside the iron fence, a crowd had gathered unnoticed.

They surrounded the scene, watching the interaction between man and beast, not even daring to swallow their saliva for fear of disturbing the tableau and undoing all the progress.

Separated by the wooden bowl filled with bloody food, Bi Fang and the cheetah faced each other, the smell of blood dispersing in all directions with the wind, a difficult-to-describe atmosphere constantly evolving.

In the midst of the standoff, a finger tapping at the edge of the food bowl, emitting a clear sound, broke the silence.

Startled, Harley shrunk its head and leaned back, but its limbs were firmly planted on the ground without moving.

Bi Fang's index finger rested on the edge of the bowl, pushing it forward slowly but forcefully until it finally stopped after dragging about ten centimeters across the ground.

This move calmed the reclining Harley, who, now looking at the food bowl so close at hand, felt an even stronger surge of curiosity and appetite.

The atmosphere shifted once again.

Just when everyone was on edge, the cheetah finally lowered its head and approached to sniff Bi Fang's finger.

"Here it comes!"

Barry outside the fence was somewhat excited at this sight.

In the world of felines, nose to nose is a form of greeting.

As humans, one can extend a single finger to lightly touch a cat's nose as a way of saying hello, then leave the finger still.

If the cat approaches to sniff or even lick the finger, it indicates a willingness to interact more with people.

Conversely, if it just sniffs and then retreats, it means the cat is still quite unfamiliar with humans and needs more time to accept them.

The cheetah paused for a moment, as if contemplating several times, and finally extended its tongue to lick, then retracted it like lightning, focusing more of its attention on the chunks of meat.

Soon, the sounds of sharp teeth chewing on flesh began.

A large hand also pressed onto the cheetah's head, gliding along the fur down to its neck.

The cheetah seemed to be preoccupied with its meal, not noticing at all, with no sign of resistance.