地平线系列：猫咪观察（1）（2014）

We've set up an experiment to reveal just how
我们设计了一场实验来揭示
our cats' secret weapon works.
猫咪们这一秘密武器的原理
The camera can do in full HD resolution up to 2,700 frames a second.
这摄影机能录下每秒2700帧的全高清分辨率
I would have thought 20 to 30 times will get it.
我预计20 30次就能搞定了
John Bradshaw is hoping these ultra high speed cameras
约翰·布拉德肖希望这些超高速摄影机
will capture this extraordinary sensory organ in action.
能够在实验中拍清楚这一绝妙感官
It really is very, very quick.
过程是很快 很快的
I've seen still photographs of it happening,
我见过那过程的静止图片
but there's nothing like actually seeing the whole motion.
但那毕竟不同于看到整个活动
So I think we got it there. But it is very, very quick.
所以我们能观察到它发生 但它发生得太快 太快了
John's trying to observe the cat's whiskers
约翰想让猫咪作出进攻姿态
as they move forward into the attack position.
然后借此观察他们的胡须
Let's just take the toy away for a second
我们先把玩具拿开一会儿
and let's...
然后...
Can we have a look at what we've just taken?
能不能看下刚才拍到的?
OK, so here we go.
好 来看吧
The cat realises the mouse is within his grasp
猫咪知道老鼠逃不出他手心了
but he wants to know exactly where it is in relation to his mouth.
但他需要知道老鼠距自己的嘴到底有多远
Its eyes give up because they can't focus very close.
眼睛这时就看不清了 因为没法近距离对焦
That's where the whiskers take over.
于是胡须就该上场了
So what we can see here is
我们现在能够看到
the whiskers suddenly being swept forward.
它的胡须突然往前一扫
And now the claws are coming into action.
接着该出爪时就出爪
So what we've got here, look,
我们在这里可以看到
the whiskers are pointing almost directly in front of the cat's nose.
胡须几乎就是直接从猫鼻子往前伸出的
In fact, he's catching them with his claws
实际上 他在用胡须扫试图到老鼠时
as he sweeps round trying to catch the mouse.
同时也伸出爪子去抓了
But the little muscles at the base of each whisker
但胡须根底下的小肌肉
are really tugging hard to swing those forward
其实是很费劲地让胡须向前扫
completely out of the normal position.
胡须完全没了平时的样子了
This is really extraordinarily detailed.
这真是很细致的画面
I'd never expected to see all of this.
我之前都没想到能看到这个
It all seems to take place in about a fifth of a second
这一切似乎都发生在约1/15秒内
which just shows how fast cats' reflexes really are,
这显示了猫的反应究竟有多快
from the point where they sweep the whiskers forward
他们用肌肉控制胡须向前扫
where the muscles contract and then relax back
然后肌肉放松并弹回胡须
and the whiskers spring back again.
一气呵成
The mouse doesn't have a chance.
老鼠只能认命了
Far thicker and longer than normal hairs,
除了比一般毛发要细长
whiskers also sit three times deeper in the skin
胡须还更是3倍深植于皮下
where they attach to nerve endings
直连着神经末梢
telling the cat how far each is being bent back and how quickly.
让猫知道每根胡须弯了多少 弯得多快
Their whiskers are the same width as the cat's body,
猫的胡须和他们的身体宽度一致
so they can navigate the narrowest spaces.
所以他们能探出过得去的最窄空间
Cats also have whiskers above their eyes and on their ankles,
猫咪们在眼睛上方和脚踝处也都有胡须
sending them a constant stream of information
以便一直为他们提供信息
as they sense the world around them.
让他们感知身边的世界
The evolution of superb low light vision and hyper sensitive whiskers
进化有高超的低光视力和高灵敏度胡须
were critical for the cat's role as a supreme predator.
对猫的超级猎手的角色至关重要
But if that's all the cat had in its hunting arsenal,
但如果猫咪们就只有这两样捕猎武器
it would never have survived.
那他们连活都活不了
Mice and other rodents, the cat's main prey,
猫主要捕食的老鼠等啮齿动物
are mostly hidden from view,
多数都是藏身高手
so another sense was just as crucial -
所以另一种感官也是至关重要的
hearing.
即 听觉
Cats are almost completely deaf at birth.
猫在刚出生时几乎就是个聋子
So as a newborn,
由于刚刚出生
all our kitten Monty could hear was a dull buzz around him.
幼猫蒙蒂所能听到的就只有周围闷闷嗡嗡的声音
But by a week old, he was responding to specific sounds
不过一周后 他就能对某些特定声音作出反应了
and by four weeks he could orient himself
4周后 他就能听清
towards the direction a sound was coming from.
声音来自何方了
But back in Brighton, our urban moggies aren't always using
不过回到布赖顿 城里猫蒙蒂可就不像
their hearing in quite the way their wild ancestors would have done.
其野猫祖宗们那样使用听力捕猎了
Tia!
蒂亚
Dinnertime.
开饭啦
Coco!
可可
Eric!
埃里克
Mikey.
米奇
'Cat behaviour expert Dr Sarah Ellis
猫行为专家 萨拉·艾丽丝 博士
'has been studying just how our cats hear the world.'
一直在研究猫是如何感听这世界的
Sarah, clearly cats are intelligent enough
萨拉 很明显猫咪们聪明得能够
to associate certain sounds with the arrival of food
把某些声音同食物到来联♥系♥起来
but how good are they at hearing?
但他们的听觉究竟有多强呢?
Well, really good.
非常地强
One of the things that makes them so good at hearing different sounds
他们能那么厉害地辨别各种不同声音的因素之一
is these huge ears that they have.
是他们有着大瓣的耳朵
These structures are called pinnae and they can use those as amplifiers
这些叫耳廓的结构能让他们用作扩音器
to really boost sound.
来真正提高音量
But also they use them to help locate where the sound is.
这结构还能助他们来定位声源
Our ears are pretty fixed on the side of our head here,
我们的耳朵就死死地固定在脑袋两边
but their ears can rotate independently of one another.
但他们的耳朵能够互相独♥立♥地转动
And those movements can be up to 180 degrees.
180度的旋转都没问题
Yeah, I mean, it's pretty extraordinary, isn't it?
对啊 这真是太不可思议了 是吧
They're constantly listening out for
他们不断地辨听各种
sounds behind them, before them, above them, below them.
在自己前后上下的声音
The ability to rotate their ears is just the first stage
转动耳朵这项能力只是
in detecting where sound is coming from.
侦测声源的第一步
One of the ways is how quickly the sound comes to each ear.
有个问题是 声音到达左右耳分别有多快
So there'll be a time delay... A tiny time delay, though.
左右声音是会有延迟的 但延迟很小
Yep, very, very small,
对 很小很小的延迟
but they have a huge number of neurons that go from the ear
但他们有很多神经元从耳朵
to the brain to decipher that information,
连到大脑来解译信息
more than we do as humans.
比人类的还多
The time delay tells the cat
时间的延迟告诉了猫咪们
whether a sound is to the left or right of them.
究竟声音是在他们左边还是右边
And corrugations inside the ear distort the sound
根据声音是来自上方或下方
depending on whether it's coming from above or below...
耳内褶皱会相应地扭曲声音
..allowing cats to pinpoint a sound's precise location
好让猫咪们精确定位出声源
in just a fraction of a second.
用时仅需零点几秒
Our cats' ears also far surpass our own in the range of sounds
猫咪们的耳朵所能听到的声音范围也远大于人类
they can hear, about 11 octaves in total,
他们总共约能听到11个八度的声音
a wider range than almost any other mammal.
这几乎比其它任何动物都要多了
They can hear, if we think about low frequencies,
他们能听到... 比如说低频音吧
at the same range as us, if you like.
就是我们人类声音的频度
But if we extend up towards the high frequencies,
但就算是高频音
they can hear actually approximately two octaves higher than us.
他们实际上还是能比我们多听得到约2个八度
And that range is what we would call ultrasound.
那种范围的就是我们所谓的超声波了
And that's great because they've adapted really well
这是极好的 说明他们挺能适应
to the sounds that their prey makes,
其猎物会发出的声音
so small rodents such as mice,
比如老鼠这样的小型啮齿动物
the sounds they make will be in that ultrasound range.
它们就能造出超声波范围的声音
This gives our cats access to a whole world of sound
这让猫咪们能听到整个世界的声音
that's completely inaudible to us.
听到我们完全听不到的声音
To see this in action, we've used specialist equipment
眼见为实 我们用了些专门的设备
to transmit ultrasonic calls from mice, rats and bats
来把老鼠 蝙蝠的超声波录下
inside the houses of some of the cats in our study.
放进几只受研究的猫咪们的家里
The sounds are all above 22 kilohertz
这些声音全都是22赫兹以上的
which should be well outside the range of a human ear.
也就是说人类应该是听不到的
Their owners are oblivious.
主人们都一脸茫然
No, I cannot hear any animal noises.
没有 我没听到任何动物的声音
Yeah, can't hear a thing, nothing at all,.
什么都听不到...
not a sausage.
没有声音
But once we let the cats in, it's a different story.
但让猫咪们进来后 可就不一样了
It takes less than a minute for them to locate the source of the sounds.
不到一分钟 他们就定位出了声音来源
It's only by lowering the frequency that we can enter the cat's world
把声音频率降低后 我们才能听到猫咪们所听的
and hear this mouse almost as they do.
这差不多就是他们听到的老鼠声音了
Our cats' well-honed senses evolved to equip their wild ancestor
猫咪们精炼进化而来的感官使其野猫祖先
with the tools they needed to hunt.
有了捕猎所需的工具
We only started treating them as pets around 100 years ago.
约100年前 我们才开始将他们驯养为宠物
In evolutionary terms, that's the blink of an eye
在进化史上 这不过是眨眼之间