Killer Cats and Dogs

錢潤荷

Theyre cute， theyre furry and sometimes they like to bring you dead birds or rats. Thats right， were talking cats here.

可愛的，毛茸茸的，有時會給你捎來死去的小鳥和老鼠的小家伙——對啦，我們正在談論的就是貓咪。

The fact is that free-roaming （adj. 敞養的;散養的） house cats are dangerous to our environment. Studies have shown that even well-fed cats kill wildlife when given a chance. Not only that， but an especially skilled cat can kill up to one thousand animals per year.

事實上整天在外頭閑逛的家貓對我們的環境很危險。研究表明若有機會，被喂養得很好的家貓也會獵殺野生動物。不僅如此，那些狩獵技術格外嫻熟的貓咪甚至可以在一年里殺死多達一千只動物。

Even if your own cat isnt a skilled killer， with millions of cats on the loose （逍遙法外;散漫） all over the world， even ten animals per cat adds up quickly. Whats more， only some of these kills are pests （n. 害蟲;有害生物） like rats. Others are birds and mammals （n. 哺乳動物）.

好吧，你說你家的貓咪并不是個技術精湛的終結者。但當數百萬只貓咪在世界各地游蕩時，就算1只貓咪只殺死10只動物，累積的速度也將是非常快的。而且只有一部分被殺死的動物諸如耗子是有害的。余下的受害者則是鳥類和其他哺乳動物。

Cats in the United States kill up to 3.7 billion birds every year and as many as 20 billion small mammals. Cats also hurt animals like hawks （n. 鷹） and weasels （n. 黃鼠狼） by stealing their food.

在美國，貓每年殺害37億只禽類和200億只小型哺乳動物。貓咪還會搶奪其他動物諸如老鷹和鼬鼠的食物而威脅到它們的生存。

This problem is becoming more serious by the fact that people take pretty good care of their cats. This means that disease and competition for food dont affect the cat population.

人們對貓咪的精心照料使得問題更加嚴重。這意味著疾病以及對食物的爭奪都不會影響到貓咪的數量。

Cats are born hunters—theyll hunt for pleasure even if theyre not hungry. So what can you do to stop them？

然而貓咪卻是天生的獵食者——它們甚至會在食物充足的情況下為獲得樂趣而捕獵。那么，你能做些什么來阻止它們呢？

Do what you can to keep your cats indoors， no matter how wistfully （adv. 惆悵地;渴望地） they stare out the window. Also， do your share to keep the population under control.

首先，無論貓咪望向窗外的眼神有多么充滿渴望，你都要盡一切可能讓它們呆在家里。此外，控制好貓咪的數量。

Cats kill a lot of wild birds and other animals. And dont other pets kills wild animals， too？

貓會殺死許多野生鳥類和其它動物。但是其它寵物就不會殺害動物嗎？

Yes， they do. In fact， after cats， one of the main killers when it comes to harming wildlife is none other than mans best friend—dogs.

是的，其它的寵物也會。事實上，緊隨貓其后，殺死其它野生動物的主犯正是人類最好的朋友——狗。

And many cats roam free while dogs are either kept on leashes （n. 拴狗的皮帶） or in yards. So how can dogs possibly do as much damage as cats？

許多貓行動自由，而狗卻被拴著或是關在院子中。這樣，狗為什么能與貓造成同樣大的破壞呢？

Well， in the United States， dogs dont kill as many animals as cats. But consider that in many other countries dogs are not kept in yards. Experts estimate （v. 估計） that around 75% of dogs around the world are free. And when they are free， they are also killers.

在美國，狗殺死的動物沒有貓殺的多。但在其他許多國家，狗沒有被圈養。專家們估計全球大約75%的狗是自由的。一旦行動自由，狗也是殺手。

For example， in the 1980s researchers found that a single stray （adj. 獨自的;無主的） dog in New Zealand killed as many as 500 birds called Kiwis. In 2006， a small pack of stray dogs on Viwa Island in the South Pacific came close to wiping out （消滅） a species of ground frog.

比如，在80年代，研究人員發現在新西蘭一只流浪狗殺害了多達500只名叫幾維的鳥。2006年，在南太平洋維瓦島上，一小群流浪狗幾乎使一種陸地蛙瀕臨滅絕。

So， in fact， the point is not the killer cats or dogs but how human beings keep the balance of nature.

因此，實際上問題的關鍵不在于殺手貓咪或者狗，而在于人類如何來保持自然的平衡。