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(shí)會(huì)給你捎來死了的小鳥或老鼠的小家伙——對(duì)啦，我們正在談?wù)摰木褪秦堖洹?/p>

The fact is that free-roaming （adj. 敞養(yǎng)的；散養(yǎng)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(shí)上整天在外頭閑逛的家貓對(duì)我們的環(huán)境構(gòu)成威脅。研究表明若有機(jī)會(huì)，吃得好的家貓也會(huì)獵殺野生動(dòng)物。不僅如此，那些狩獵技術(shù)格外嫻熟的貓咪甚至每年可以殺死多達(dá)一千只動(dòng)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(dòng)物）.

好吧，你說你家的貓咪并不是個(gè)技術(shù)精湛的殺手。但當(dāng)數(shù)百萬只貓咪在世界各地游蕩時(shí)，就算1只貓咪只殺死10只動(dòng)物，累積的速度也會(huì)是非?？斓?。而且只有一部分被殺死的動(dòng)物諸如耗子是有害的。剩余的受害者則是鳥類和其它哺乳動(dòng)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(dòng)物。貓咪還會(huì)偷食其它動(dòng)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(duì)貓咪的精心照料使這個(gè)問題更加嚴(yán)重。這意味著疾病以及對(duì)食物的爭(zhēng)奪都不會(huì)影響到貓咪的數(shù)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?xí)谑澄锍渥愕那闆r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(shù)量。

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

貓會(huì)殺死許多野生鳥類和其它動(dòng)物。但是其它寵物就不會(huì)殺害野生動(dòng)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(huì)。事實(shí)上，緊隨貓其后，殺死其它野生動(dòng)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(dòng)自由，而狗卻被拴著或是關(guān)在院子里。這樣，狗為什么能與貓?jiān)斐赏瑯哟蟮钠茐哪兀?/p>

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(jì)） 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(dòng)物沒有貓殺死的多。但在其他許多國家，狗沒有被關(guān)在院子里圈養(yǎng)。專家們估計(jì)全球大約75%的狗是自由的。一旦行動(dòng)自由，狗也是殺手。

For example， in the 1980s researchers found that a single stray （adj. 獨(dú)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(fā)現(xiàn)在新西蘭一只流浪狗殺害了多達(dá)500只幾維鳥。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(shí)際上問題的關(guān)鍵不在于殺手貓咪或者狗，而在于人類如何保持自然的平衡。