地平线系列：猫咪观察（2）（2014）

because not all hunting attempts end in a kill.
因为也不是每次捕猎都能成功的
'Back at the farm, John Bradshaw has asked the farmer
在农场 约翰·布拉德肖请农场主
to give his cats a rare treat
给了猫咪们一次少有的待遇
'- a rabbit they haven't had to catch themselves.
一只不用他们自己捕来的兔子
'He wants to show me the wild carnivore hidden inside every cat.
他想向我展示每只猫都有野性肉食动物的一面
'First at the table is Black And Ginger -
先下嘴的是黑黄猫
'the mother of two-week-old kittens.'
她是一堆2周大幼猫的妈妈
And all the other cats, are they waiting their turn?
剩下的猫咪们 他们是在等轮到自己吗?
Are they that patient?
他们就那么耐心?
They probably wouldn't normally be that patient,
他们一般可能不会那么耐心
but, as you can see, like just then,
但是 你看到没 刚才那下
the mothers are really motivated to eat.
猫妈妈确实很需要进食
They're needing a lot of calories at the moment.
她这时需要大量的卡路里
The other cats,
而其它的猫咪们
they know they're going to get some of it later on
他们知道自己稍后也能分到一些
and they're just not so motivated to go in,
所以他们就没那么急迫地要掺进去
they don't want to risk getting a cuff from her.
他们可不想冒险被她打到
Ohh! She told Mr Fluffy,
哇 她告诉毛绒先生
"Back away from my rabbit."
离我的兔子远点
'Mothers like Black And Ginger with kittens to feed
像黑黄猫这样有孩子要喂的妈妈
'will fight for the biggest share of a feast -
会为了得到最大一份食物而战斗
'and for cats, a meat source like this one is all the more important.
对猫来说 像这样的肉类来源是很重要的
'They're one of only a handful of mammals
只有少数的哺乳动物如猫
'that must eat it to survive.'
必须靠吃肉来生存
They need a lot of protein, first of all, because,
首先他们需要大量的蛋白质 因为
unlike you or I, or indeed a dog,
跟你我 甚至跟狗不一样
they can't switch off breaking down protein.
他们无法停止分解蛋白质
So they literally have to take in protein every day
所以他们必须每天摄入蛋白质
just to get enough calories.
才能保证足够的卡路里
But they also need animal protein,
但他们也需要动物蛋白
because for a start they've got quite short guts
首先是因为他们的胆很短小
that don't digest protein very well,
无法很好地消化蛋白质
but also they need some amino acids that we don't need,
他们还需要一些我们不需要的氨基酸
and the key one is one called taurine,
其中关键的一种叫做牛磺酸
which is essential for their health.
这对他们的健康至关重要
Now, we make as much taurine as we need to in our own bodies,
我们在身体里产生了足够量的牛磺酸
and cats can't do that.
但猫做不到这样
So one of the things they need to get from animal protein, from meat,
所以他们需要从动物蛋白 从肉中获取的东西之一
is that essential amino acid taurine.
就是这一必要的牛磺酸氨基酸
'Along with taurine, there are 18 other nutrients
除了牛磺酸还有其它18种营养成分
cats can only obtain from meat,
是猫只能从肉中获取的
'while we humans - and even dogs -
而我们人类 甚至是狗
'can get them from vegetables.'
都能从蔬菜中获取这些
It doesn't seem like a great evolutionary strategy, in a way?
这在某种程度上看来并不是很好的进化策略吧?
No, it's something that the ancestor of the whole cat family
对 这是整个猫科祖先
many millions of years ago lost,
在几百万年前丢失的
the ability to live on plant protein,
获取植物蛋白的能力
and once lost that kind of ability never reappears,
一旦失去后 这种能力就无法重得
so this is true of the whole cat family,
所以整个猫科都这样了
they're all basically locked into eating meat.
他们基本上都只能吃肉了
'Cats don't waste any of their prey.'
猫咪们从不浪费自己的猎物
So, are they going to absolutely polish off that entire animal,
所以他们要完全吃干净整只猎物
bones and all?
骨头也不放过了?
I'm sure between them they will, yes, indeed,
我相信他们会这样做的 且实际上
and the carcass will give them all sorts of nutrients.
骨架能给他们提供各种营养
It'll give them calcium, from the way they're crunching up the bones,
他们把骨肉咬碎就能获取到钙
and it will also give them water.
还能获取到水分
Cats are notorious for not drinking very much,
猫的喝水是出了名的少
and in fact, evolutionarily speaking, they'd have got
事实上 从进化上来讲 他们多数的
most of their water from the flesh that they ate,
水分摄取都是从吃肉里来的
and they wouldn't need to drink at all.
他们完全不需要喝水的
'Our cats' wild ancestors could survive only on fresh meat.
猫咪的野外祖先只能靠鲜肉存活
'They even evolved more efficient kidneys,
他们甚至还进化出了更高效的肾脏
'so they could get all the water they needed from the prey they ate.
所以他们能从吃的猎物中取得所需的全部水分
'This wild hunting heritage is present in every cat,
这种野外狩猎遗传在每种猫身上都有体现
'from the largest tiger to the smallest moggy.
从最大的老虎到最小的猫咪均不例外
'Our cats' hunting instinct may never completely go away,
猫咪们的狩猎本能可能永不会消失
'but it's possible that in the future their hunting drive
但有可能他们的捕猎欲望在将来
'could diminish.'
会有所减弱
As recently as 30 years ago,
在最近的30年里
our cats had no choice but to hunt to stay healthy,
猫咪们别无选择只能通过捕猎来保持健康
because pet foods didn't contain all the nutrients they needed.
因为猫粮没法涵盖他们所需的全部营养
But now that we understand just what specialised meat eaters they are,
但现在我们明白了他们是怎样的专门食肉动物
and we provide everything they need in their food,
我们在他们的猫粮中提供了他们所需的一切
does this mean that in, say, another 30 years,
这是否意味着 再过个30年
they will hunt less?
他们会减少捕猎?
It's just one way living with us in our 21st-century world
这只是在21世纪和人类一起生活
could tame our cats' wild side.
从而驯化猫咪狂野一面的一种方式
We're halfway through our month-long study,
我们为其一月的研究已进行了一半
so what have our cats been up to?
那么我们的猫咪们到什么地步了呢?
The GPS tracking results show that, in the city,
GPS轨迹显示 在城里
cats like Paddy and Sparky
帕迪和斯帕奇这样的猫
rarely travel more than 50 metres from home.
很少走到离家50米以外的地方
The village cats go a bit further,
乡下猫则走得更远点
with some like Sandwich exploring over 300 metres from her house.
像三明子就探索到了距家300米外的地方
And the farm cats go the furthest,
而农场猫则走得最远
with Black And Ginger and Growler
黑黄猫和格劳勒
ranging over a kilometre from the farm.
活动到了距农场1千米的地方
The distances they cover may be very different in the three environments,
这三种环境下的距离范围可能大不相同
but there's one similarity.
但仍有一个共同点
All our cats seem to be treading well-worn paths,
我们所有的猫咪们似乎都走着固定的路线
following the same routes again and again.
总是一次又一次地走同一条路线
What's the time frame here, is that in a day, or what's going on?
这图的时间范围是多少 是一天的 还是什么东西
So that's several days' data combined together now.
那是好几天的数据叠加起来的
And what's most striking to me about this is
它最使我震撼的是
that the colours are going out in the same direction every day,
每种颜色每天都照着同样的路线出发
so each cat has a routine.
可见每只猫都有固定路线
It actually has a preferred hunting route,
他们实际上有着自己的最爱捕猎路线
which it does day after day after day after day.
然后每天都走同样的那条路
'By sticking to the same tracks,
由于有着固定的路线
our cats are staying off each other's turf,
猫咪们互不侵犯对方的地盘
'dividing up all three sites into separate territories.
把全部三块地分成了单独的领地
'And in the city, where space is tight,
而在城市里 空间狭小
'they have developed an even more sophisticated way of sharing it.'
他们发展出了一种更为复杂的方式来分享空间
So, if we look at the cats here,
看看这边的猫咪们
you can see they are separated into separate areas geographically,
他们被分入了不同的地理区域
and they may also be separated in time.
他们在时间上也是分割的
So it's mine in the morning and it's yours in the afternoon,
就像早上是我的领地 下午就成了你的领地
so if we have a sort of time sharing,
所以这就有了时间上的分享
especially if they start having a high density in a certain area,
当某区域猫的密度过大时更会如此
then are those territories overlapping?
那么这些领土是否互相重叠呢?
No, because they're separated in time.
没有 因为它们在时间上是分割的
Territory is incredibly important to cats.
领地对于猫是极其重要的
Dividing up their space means they can avoid meeting each other.
分割了空间后意味着他们不会碰上对方
And, crucially, if they don't meet, they won't have to fight.
并且重要的是 见不到对方就不会互相掐架了
Generally, if you're a cat, you don't want to have a fight,
大体上讲 如果你是猫 你是不会想打架的
because it's costly for you - you may well get injured,
因为打架代价高昂 你很可能会受伤
you might get killed.
你可能会被杀死
So, it's more about drawing up the boundaries and subdividing the terrain
所以最好还是划分好边界 细分地带
so that you don't meet the neighbouring animals.
这样你才不会碰上隔壁的邻居
We've seen how similar our cats are physically to big cats...
我们已经见过猫咪和在生理上和大猫有多相似
..and there are also surprising similarities
不过在巡逻领地问题上
when it comes to patrolling their territories...
他们也有惊人的相似处
..according to big cat expert Teague Stubbington.
大猫专家 蒂格·斯塔宾顿 说道
Tigers need to establish a territory in which to live.
老虎需要建起生活的领地
What we usually end up with is a situation where one male tiger
我们经常看到的局面是一只雄性老虎
will have a territory that overlaps several females',
的领地与几只雌老虎重叠了
so they don't compete too much but they're aware of each other.
他们不会竞争得太激烈 但还是会意识到对方的存在
Tigers lead solitary lives,
老虎过着单独的生活
and claim their territory by marking it with scent.
他们用气味标记来宣示领土