The "chirping" sound was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, and Xu Ying heard despair in it.
She shuddered and quickly followed the sound to find its source.
Following the sound, Xu Ying discovered a large gray-brown furry ball convulsing violently beside a crack in the channel wall, its upright ears swaying like dandelions in the wind.
She recognized it as a desert cottontail rabbit, its body gray-brown, but its tail was a fluffy white ball, resembling soft cotton, hence the name cottontail rabbit.
Adult desert cottontail rabbits are generally smaller than common domestic rabbits, yet this rabbit appeared exceptionally bloated due to an abnormal swelling of its abdomen.
The area around its mouth and nose was covered with white powder, and the fur on its hind legs was matted together with some sticky substance, looking filthy and pitiable.
"Nitrate poisoning."
Combining knowledge of fertilizer pollution and years of diagnostic experience, Xu Ying immediately made the judgment.
