我着迷于偶然进入动物们的
I’m fascinated by the glimpses we sometimes get
藏身处所时 不经意的一瞥
into an animal’s hidden world.
多年来 我找到各种偷♥窥♥进去的方法
Over the years,I’ve found different ways to peer inside.
常言到 如果你想了解一个人 就走进他的家看看
They say,if you want to understand people,look in their houses.
我想这在野生动物身上同样适用
I think the same may be true for wildlife.
我从未被邀请过
I’ve never been invited in
有时 甚至一点也不受欢迎
and,on occasions,I’ve not been entirely welcome.
我觉得它的意思很清楚 哦 天呐！
I think that was pretty clear. Oh,dear!
尽管有时不顺利 我还是见过技术熟练的建筑者…
Despite setbacks,I’ve seen skilled builders…
我也发现了擅占住房♥者和窃贼…
I’ve discovered squatters and burglars…
我还注意到了内部装饰物…
I’ve noticed interior decoration…
我也找到了贮藏室和空调装置
I’ve found storerooms and air conditioning
甚至成套的卫生间…
and even en-suite bathrooms…
我参观过动物城市
I’ve visited animal cities
和巨大的群体
and huge communities.
野生的操持家务者 是很特别的生物
Wild homemakers are special creatures,
它们和我们一样 尽力地想与外来生物隔开
more like us,trying to keep out the wilder wildlife.
偷♥窥♥进一个动物的家 就能了解很多关于它们的事情
Peering into an animal’s house can tell you so much about them.
这是窥探它们私生活的一个窗口
It’s a window into their private dramas
能了解它们鲜为人知的亲密故事
and the intimate stories we rarely see.
动物建筑师
我们大多数都是室内居住的
Most of us are indoor creatures.
房♥子结束了我们的野生生涯
Houses have ended our wild days.
然而 我们忘记了 动物造的房♥子比我们还多
Yet,we forget that animals build many more houses than we do.
它们造房♥子的历史也比我们长得多
And they’ve been doing it for much longer.
我们以为 只有我们自己创造了房♥屋建造材料
We think we alone invented building materials,
但实际上 动物们也能做到
but animals have done so,as well.
扩大到我们的比例 白蚁土丘相当于一公里半高
Scaled up to our size,termite mounds would be almost a mile high.
动物们有审美眼光
Animals have an eye for beauty
我们也一样
and so do we.
我们的家 展现很多我们的个性
Our homes reveal a lot about us,
但这是关于动物的故事
but this is the animals’ story.
在北美 居住着世界上
In North America lives probably the most ambitious
最具野心的建筑者
animal builder in the world.
距离河面一公里半左右的河堤上 居住着河狸一家
Up to a mile or so of river is taken over by a single family of beavers.
水坝拦住流水 淹没四周
Dams flood the landscape,creating ponds
创造了遍布四野的池塘和沟渠
and canals that cover many acres.
中心就是它们的巢穴 –
At the centre is their lodge –
一个护城渠围绕着坚固的城♥堡♥
a defensive moat surrounds a sturdy castle,
由非常坚固的材料筑成
made of serious building materials.
河狸可以在一、两个小时内 咬断一棵树
A beaver can gnaw through a tree in an hour or two.
它通常在中途停下 让风去完成剩下的…
He often stops halfway and lets the wind do the rest.
它的牙齿因为有铁质加固 而变成了桔色
His teeth are reinforced with iron,which turns them orange.
每天牙齿都要磨损一毫米
The teeth wear down a millimetre a day,
但生长的速度是我们指甲的十倍
but grow ten times faster than our fingernails.
在陆地上 即便是一米长的圆木也难以挪动
Even metre lengths are too heavy to drag over land,
不过有水漫过的地方 河狸可以轻易地移♥动♥圆木
but by flooding the area,the beavers can easily move the logs.
河堤需要50吨♥木头 能有几百米长
Each dam needs about 50 tons and can be hundreds of metres long.
泥是用于封住漏洞的
Mud is used to seal any leaks.
要为冬天做好一切准备
Everything has to be ready for winter.
对于河狸来说 每年这时 大多数都已经离开
Of the beaver’s rural community,most have left or are hidden,
或者隐藏起来足不出户
housebound,at this time of year.
识别出河狸的巢穴唯一的迹像 就是从小烟囱
The only sign is a ripple of heat from a chimney,
冒出的一小团蒸汽
identifying the beavers’ lodge.
在洞内 专用摄像机拍到了新生儿
Inside,special cameras reveal new young,
出生得很早 多亏有由泥土和麦秆
born early,thanks to the protection of metre-thick walls,
筑成的一米厚的墙
sealed with mud and straw.
外面气温已经零下20度了 这里还没有结冰
It’s been minus 20 outside and still didn’t freeze in here.
烟囱开着 现在有点太热了
The chimney is open,as now it gets too hot.
进来和出去的必经之路
The only way in and out
就是得通过游到水里 但这难不倒麝鼠
is to swim underwater,but that doesn’t discourage a muskrat.
田鼠、老鼠和昆虫 也把这里当成避难所
Voles,mice and insects also find refuge here.
这个小屋已经有了住客
The lodge has lodgers.
我们从没见过户主拒绝过麝鼠
We never saw the landlords object to the muskrat,
它们对镜头可就没那么客气
which is more than can be said for the cameras,
它们很快就挡住了镜头
which they soon censored!
在室外 无家可归和流浪的动物
Outside,the itinerant and the homeless
一定期望着它们 能够待在温暖而安全的地方
must wish they were somewhere safe and warm.
坚固的墙和位于水下的门
Solid walls and underwater doors
不是唯一的阻止外来者的途径
are not the only ways to try and keep the outside out.
草原犬鼠居住在地下 叫做犬城的一个聚居区
Prairie dogs live in an underground colony called a dog town,
犬城在地平线上伸展开来
which can stretch over the horizon.
小城依照家庭为单位 分散成若干个小圈子
The town is divided into coteries,extended families,
它们居住在火山形的前门后面
living behind a volcano-shaped front door,
依靠一亩左右的草坪来提供食物
and with an acre or so of manicured lawn to provide food.
草原犬鼠自身看起来像肥肥的素食海岛猫鼬
Prairie dogs themselves may seem like fat vegetarian meerkats,
但它们事实上是属于松鼠一类…
but they’re actually squirrels…
还会吠叫
that bark.
它们不喜欢来访者
And they don’t like visitors.
父亲掌握着家政大权
There’s a father in charge,
几个妻子 还有几代幼崽
several wives,and different generations of youngsters.
每个家庭极少穿越花♥园♥界限
Each family rarely goes beyond their garden boundaries,
都在房♥子里一起工作
and they all work together on their house.
靠做家务琐事和家庭改造 来消磨时间
Time is spent on home improvements and household chores.
被筑高的入口就作为瞭望塔
The raised entrances are watchtowers,
也是烟囱 为地洞换取空气
but are also chimneys,and draw air through the burrows.
低处的孔洞是新鲜空气的入气孔
The lower-level holes are fresh air intakes.
在洞内每家都有约三十米长地道
Inside each family home may be 30 metres of tunnelling
有很多房♥间
with many different rooms.
它们冬季的大部分的时间 都在卧室里度过
There are sleeping chambers,where they spend most of the winter.
有的甚至还有一个邻近的卫生间
Some even have an adjacent lavatory room.
有防洪功能的贮藏室
There are storage rooms,anti-flooding features,
和逃生舱
and escape hatches.
这里冬暖夏凉
It’s warm in winter and cool in summer.
真是房♥产中介的梦想
It’s an estate agent’s dream.
只有几天大的幼兽长得极小 而且又秃又盲
The pups,at a few days old,are tiny,bald and blind.
它们的母亲会和它们待在一起 给予特别的照顾
Their mother will stay with them in a special nursery,
喂养它们 整理寝具
feeding them and sorting out bedding.
即使刚出生草原犬鼠 已经展现出建筑者的特性
Even at birth,prairie dogs are clearly builders,
铲形的头 圆柱形的身体
with shovel-shaped heads,cylindrical bodies,
还有挖掘机一样的爪子
and digger’s claws.
因为有这么多的走廊
With so many corridors,
很容易就误入邻居的房♥子
it’s possible that one might lead by mistake into a neighbour’s house,
邻居很可能就是穴鸮
and the neighbours could be burrowing owls.
在黑暗中
In the dark,
受惊吓的穴鸮 发出像极了响尾蛇的声音
the startled owls give a good impersonation of a rattlesnake.
穴鸮也有孩子
The owls have young,too,
在草原犬鼠的废弃洞穴里孵化
hatched in an abandoned part of the prairie dog burrow.
它们实际上是无害的擅占住房♥者
They are,in effect,harmless squatters.
犬城总有不少吃白食的
The dog town is full of freeloaders.
野兔和蛇在这个混居区里 找到了自己的家
Hares and snakes find homes in this mixed neighbourhood.
危险的角色 像黑腿白鼬
Dangerous characters,like black-footed ferrets
和草原狐住在老的洞穴里
and swift foxes,live in old burrows.
总的来说 动物们在哪建家园 哪里野生动物数量就增长
Overall,wildlife increases wherever animals build homes,
不管建造者是否喜欢
whether the builders like it or not.
也许这也是因为
Maybe as a response,
草原犬鼠有完善的社区警务系统
prairie dogs have a community police service.
家庭成员轮流防范掠食者
Family members takes turns watching out for predators.
一只草原犬鼠在喊“老鹰”！
A prairie dog calls “Eagle!”.
800米范围内的家庭成员 都赶快躲了起来
Families for up to half a mile around run for cover.
整个邻里都受益
The whole neighbourhood benefits.
草原犬鼠甚至对不同的掠食者 有不同的呼唤方式
The prairie dogs even have different calls for different predators.
“郊狼”是让它们下到洞里去
“Coyote” sends them down their burrows,
但如果是呼唤“獾” 就需要不同的应对方案
but calling “Badger” needs a different response,
因为獾能够打洞
as badgers can dig,
所以犬鼠们焦急地在地表面看着它们
so the dogs watch them nervously from the surface.
它们的叫唤可能包含着指示大小
Their calls may include information on size,
方向和速度、甚至颜色的信息
direction and speed,even colour.
这是人类研究过、最为复杂的动物语言之一
It’s one of the most sophisticated animal languages ever studied
是随着被家园吸引来的掠食者
and has arisen in response to the predators
而逐渐产生的