Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 418: Chapter 258: There’s a Trick to Chumming (Part 2)

Of course, the roasted meatballs would be even more delicious with some sauce, cumin, and chili powder.

After preparing all the meatballs, wrapping them in banana leaves, and placing them in the root cellar, Lin Chen shouldered the bamboo basket filled with Green Iguana remains and set off for the Mangrove Forest area.

He had just arrived near Erica’s shelter when the light from his Hat Lamp quickly caught her attention.

Her eyes lit up, and without another word, she rushed straight over, immediately spotting the basket on his back, stuffed full of iguana heads and skeletons.

"My God, how many Green Iguanas did you kill? It was a disaster for them to cross your path."

Although she didn’t know how Lin Chen had managed to capture so many iguanas in a single day, she wasn’t surprised, considering the modern materials he possessed.

"Are you heading to the Mangrove Forest now? Getting started already?"

"No," Lin Chen shook his head. "I’m going to run an experiment first, to see if I can lure the crocodiles ashore. It’s hard to set traps in the water, and I wouldn’t dare go in at night."

"Besides, if I set the traps in the water, any crocodile that gets caught will just be devoured by the others. That’s why this experiment is necessary."

"That makes sense. Come on, I’ve got nothing better to do, so I’ll tag along and have a look. Besides, I just saw Andre wandering around the Mangrove Forest earlier."

’So he’s already started!’

Whether he was already hunting or just scouting like him, Lin Chen would only find out once he got there.

"So, are you nervous?"

Erica strolled leisurely beside him, hands clasped behind her back. Her clear, glass-like eyes were fixed on the side of his face, full of anticipation.

"What’s there to be nervous about? They’re the ones who should be nervous."

He pointed toward the Mangrove Forest. His face showed not a hint of anxiety or fear. He simply radiated confidence.

"Have you ever eaten crocodile meat?"

"No," Erica shook her head. "It’s not like that’s a normal thing to eat, right?"

"It’s delicious. It’s similar to iguana meat, a bit like a mix of chicken and fish in texture, but the color is like beef. The skin is especially good—incredibly satisfying after it’s been stewed until tender."

"You’ve eaten crocodile???"

"You know how it is. We Da Xia people just love to eat. Over thousands of years, we’ve tried everything, edible or not. Only the tasty things were kept, and the bad-tasting ones were weeded out long ago."

"Crocodiles might not be that numerous, and they’re lethally aggressive, but there are still dedicated crocodile farms. For some other rare and protected animals, there are also farms that raise them specifically to supply restaurants."

"You can farm protected animals to eat them?? Why not release them back into nature? Wouldn’t that increase their population?"

"It doesn’t work that way. Rare animals are rare for a reason—they struggle to survive in the wild. Farm-raised animals lack natural predatory instincts. They’d die for sure if you released them."

While they were talking, the two of them reached the area near the American Crocodile lair.

Andre was standing not far from the shore, his headlamp shining directly onto the water’s surface.

He heard their footsteps but didn’t turn around. Instead, he raised a finger in a gesture for them to be quiet.

Lin Chen’s eyes swept over him. He saw no weapons, nor any traps nearby, and formed a rough hypothesis.

He didn’t linger, continuing on for a few dozen more meters until he reached the spot where the American Crocodiles usually sunbathed during the day.

Due to the high tide, the area was now submerged. Under the beam of his headlamp, he could occasionally see small fish and shrimp darting past.

He swept his light around and soon spotted several ’logs’ floating on the surface. They were moving across the water at an incredibly slow pace.

If you didn’t stare right at them, you wouldn’t even notice they were moving.

"Do you know what crocodiles like to eat?"

He hadn’t redeemed the complete guide to amphibians, so he wasn’t sure about the American Crocodiles’ preferences. All he knew was that they definitely ate meat.

As for whether they preferred mammals, amphibians, seafood, carrion, or birds, he had no idea.

"Live prey," Erica blurted out. "They enjoy the thrill of the hunt. They love ambushing their prey, dragging them into the water while still alive to either drown them or bite them to death."

"As for taste, they’re not picky. They’ll eat anything that flies, runs, or swims. They even eat their own kind. When there’s nothing else, they’ll eat carrion. I’ve even seen them being fed apples and carrots at the zoo. They’re probably omnivores."

"You sure know a lot."

"Of course!"

Erica puffed out her chest. "I’m a forest guide, after all. I’m supposed to know this stuff!"

"Although you don’t really find crocodiles in most of North America, they do exist in the southeastern wetlands. It’s mostly smaller alligators, and then there are these, the American Crocodiles."

"Impressive!"

Lin Chen gave her a thumbs-up.

Although it sounded like praise, it gave her a strange feeling, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on what was odd about it.

"Since they eat carrion, they should eat this stuff too, right?"

He put down the bamboo basket, casually grabbed a Green Iguana head, and tossed it into the water.

SPLASH.

It sent water splashing everywhere.

Far from startling the American Crocodiles, the huge commotion seemed to trigger something in them, and they all turned in unison, swimming rapidly in his direction.

The closest American Crocodile quickly found the half-floating iguana head, and without even sniffing it, opened its jaws and chomped down.

’That easy??’

Lin Chen’s mouth hung slightly open, clearly not having expected that the process of chumming would be even easier than he imagined.

After a moment’s thought, he realized he might have accidentally triggered their predatory instincts.

A silent bait might not have been very attractive to them, but something that made a big splash like that probably looked like fresh, live prey falling into the water.

To them, it was no different from a free meal, so of course they would rush over to fight for it.

’If that’s the case...’

He took out another iguana head and tossed it a little closer this time.

SPLASH.

The three American Crocodiles still lingering in the area were startled again and scrambled over one another as they moved in that direction.

They nearly started fighting over the single piece of food, each opening its jaws wide to reveal a mouthful of sharp teeth as if to threaten the others.

"Come on. Let’s find another spot."

Lin Chen didn’t throw any more food. He just turned and left.

"Huh? You’re done feeding them already?"

"Have you ever heard of scarcity marketing?"

"What’s that?"

"A product’s value isn’t determined by how good it is or how much of it is available, but by its rarity."

"It’s human instinct to fight over rare things. Of course, that’s assuming the product itself has desirable qualities to begin with."

"Take these iguana bones, for example. If I only toss in a few pieces, can the crocodiles get full? Of course not. So they’ll keep lingering around here, looking for more prey to fall from the sky, and they’ll also become more wary of each other."

"But what would they do if I fed them until they were full all at once?"

"Uh..."

Erica held her chin in thought for a moment before it dawned on her. "Go home and sleep?"

"Exactly."

"The principle of chumming is to attract your target, but you can’t let them get full. Once they’re full, they lose their drive. Keeping them hungry is the most important part."

They hadn’t walked far when he spotted two more American Crocodiles. Without a word, he took out two more iguana bones and tossed them over.

After making a full circle and setting up five chum spots, he returned to where he had first thrown the bait.

The three American Crocodiles had spread out, but they hadn’t moved far from one another, still wary that one of the others might snatch the food before they could.

He didn’t rush to throw more bait into the water. Instead, he started placing pieces of bait on the ground every few meters, creating a trail that led about ten meters away from the shore before he finally stopped.

Moving to the side, he took out an iguana head and tossed it into the water not far from the bank.

SPLASH.

Hearing the familiar sound, the three American Crocodiles reacted instantly, shooting toward the shore with lightning speed.