10 貓和灰熊(doc)
10. The Cat and the Grizzly “ Another box of kittens dumped over the fence, Dave,” one of our volunteers greeted me one summer morning. I groaned inside. As the founder of Wildlife Images Rehabilitation1 Center, I had more than enough to do to keep up with the wild animals in our care. But somehow, local people who didn't have the heart2 to take their unwanted kittens to the pound3 often dumped them over our fence. They knew we'd try to live-trap them, spay4 or neuter5 them, and place them through our network of approximately 100 volunteers. 　　That day's brood6 contained four kittens. We managed to trap three of them, but somehow one little rascal7 got away. In twenty-four acres of park, there wasn't much we could do once the kitten disappeared-- and many other animals required our attention. It wasn't long before I forgot completely about the lost kitten as I went about my daily routine. 　　A week or so later, I was spending time with one of my favorite “ guests”--a giant grizzly8 bear named Griz. 　　This grizzly bear had come to us as an orphaned cub six years ago, after being struck by a train in Montana. He'd been rescued by a Blackfoot Indian, had lain unconscious for six days in a Montana hospital's intensive care unit,and ended up with neurological9 damage and a blind right eye. As he recovered, it was clear he was too habituated to humans and too mentally impaired10 to go back to the wild,so he came to live with us as a permanent resident. 　　Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures. Except for when they mate or raise cubs, they're loners. But this grizzly liked people. I enjoyed spending time with Griz, giving him personal attention on a regular basis. Even this required care, since a 560 pound creature could do a lot of damage to a human unintentionally. 　　That July afternoon, I approached his cage for our daily visit. He'd just been served his normal meal--a mix of vegetables, fruit, dog kibble11, fish and chicken. Griz was lying down with the bucket between his forepaws, eating, when I noticed a little spot of orange coming out of the blackberry brambles12 inside the grizzly's pen13. 　　It was the missing kitten. Now probably six weeks old, it couldn't have weighed more than ten ounces at most. Normally, I would have been concerned that the poor little thing was going to starve to death. But this kitten had taken a serious wrong turn and might not even last that long. 　　What should I do? I was afraid that if I ran into the pen to try to rescue it, the kitten would panic and run straight for Griz. So I just stood back and watched, praying that it wouldn't get too close to the huge grizzly. 　　But it did. The tiny kitten approached the enormous bear and let out a purr14 and a mew15. I winced16. With any normal bear, that cat would be dessert.Griz looked over at him. I cringed17 as I watched him raise his forepaw toward the cat and braced myself for18 the fatal blow. 　　But Griz stuck his paw into his food pail, where he grabbed a piece of chicken out of the bucket and threw it toward the starving kitten. 　　The little cat pounced on it and carried it quickly into the bushes to eat. 　　I breathed a sigh of relief. That cat was one lucky animal! He'd approached the one bear of the sixteen we housed that would tolerate him-- and the one in a million19 who'd share lunch. 　　A couple of weeks later, I saw the cat feeding with Griz again. This time, he rubbed and purred against the bear, and Griz reached down and picked him up by the scruff20 of his neck. After that, the friendship blossomed. We named the kitten Cat. 　　These days, Cat eats with Griz all the time. He rubs up against the bear, bats him on the nose, ambushes21 him, even sleeps with him. And although Griz is a gentle bear, a bear's gentleness is not all that gentle. Once Griz accidentally stepped on Cat. He looked horrified when he realized what he'd done. And sometimes when Griz tries to pick up Cat by the scruff of the cat's neck, he winds up grabbing Cat's whole head. But Cat doesn't seem to mind. 　　Their love for each other is so pure and simple; it goes beyond size and species. Both animals have managed to successfully survive their rough beginnings. But even more than that, they each seem so happy to have found a friend. 貓和灰熊 夏天的一個早上，我們的一名志愿者問候我時說道，“戴夫，又有人往籬笆墻里扔了 一盒小貓仔?！蔽衣犃藘?nèi)心一陣痛苦。做為野生動物康復(fù)中心的創(chuàng)建人，我照顧野生動物 的事多得做不完?？墒钱?dāng)?shù)乜傆行┤瞬蝗绦陌巡灰呢堊兴偷焦僭O(shè)動物收容站，于是經(jīng) 常把這些小東西從籬笆外面扔進(jìn)我們的庇養(yǎng)園里，他們知道我們會想辦法誘捉它們，為 它們做絕育手術(shù)，然后再通過我們大約100名志愿者的網(wǎng)絡(luò)體系為它們找一處安身地。 　　這一窩貓有四只。我們成功地誘捉了三只，另一只小搗蛋鬼卻跑了。庇養(yǎng)園占地24 英畝，貓跑了我們也無能為力。另外，還有許多別的動物需要我們照管。我忙于日常工 作，沒多久那只貓的事也就忘得干干凈凈了。 　　大約一個星期之后，我正跟一只叫格利茲的大灰熊待在一起，它是我最喜歡的“客人 ”之一。 　　六年前，當(dāng)這只灰熊被送到我們這兒的時候只是一只小孤熊，它在蒙大拿州給火車 撞了之后，被一個黑足部落的印第安人救了下來。在蒙大拿一家醫(yī)院的特別護(hù)理室昏迷 了六天，最終還是留下神經(jīng)損傷和右眼失明的后遺癥?；倚苤饾u康復(fù)，但很明顯它已經(jīng) 十分習(xí)慣和人生活在一起，而且神經(jīng)損傷過大，也不適宜再回到野外生活。因此，它成 了這兒的一名永久居民。 　　一般說來，灰熊不是社交型動物。除了在交配和哺乳期，它們都獨來獨往?？墒沁@ 只灰熊卻喜歡人。我喜歡跟格利茲在一起，經(jīng)常給它特別照料。即使這樣做也需要小心 謹(jǐn)慎，要知道一只560磅重的家伙可在無意中給人以很大傷害。 　　7月的一天下午，我走近格利茲的籠子，作每日例行看望。它剛喂過，吃的是蔬菜、 水果、狗食、魚和雞混在一起的雜拌?；倚苷芍?，前爪抱著桶吃著東西，我突然看見 有一個桔黃色的東西從黑刺莓灌木叢里閃出，鉆進(jìn)了灰熊的籠子。 　　正是那只丟失的小貓?，F(xiàn)在可能有六周大了，體重絕超不過十盎司。平常的話，我 會擔(dān)心這樣小的動物會不會餓死?？墒沁@只貓卻犯了個嚴(yán)重的錯誤，恐怕它要厄運(yùn)臨頭 了。 　　我該怎么辦?我擔(dān)心要是進(jìn)籠子去救它，那貓會受驚嚇而朝灰熊徑直跑去。于是我就 原地不動，靜觀事態(tài)發(fā)展，暗暗祈禱它別靠那龐大的灰熊太近。 　　可是事與愿違，那貓卻走近體大腰圓的灰熊，沖它“喵嗚”，“喵嗚”地叫著。我嚇得 閉上了眼。對任何正常的熊來說，那貓會成為餐后的甜點?；倚芮浦?。我看著它朝貓 舉起前爪，不禁倒吸了口氣，隨時準(zhǔn)備看那貓挨上致命的一巴掌。 　　可是灰熊卻把爪子伸進(jìn)了食桶，抓出一塊雞肉，朝饑腸轆轆的小貓扔去。 　　小貓竄上去，叼著它迅速鉆進(jìn)了灌木叢去吃。 　　我如釋重負(fù)地嘆了口氣。那貓真走運(yùn)!在我們庇養(yǎng)的16只熊中，它碰上了一只能容忍 它的熊，一只絕無僅有的能與它共享午餐的熊。 　　幾周后，我又看見貓在分享灰熊的食物。這一回，小貓在熊身上蹭，“嗚嗚”地叫， 格利茲彎下身來，把它舉起放在頸背上。打那以后，它們的友誼迅速發(fā)展了。我們管小 貓叫“貓貓”。 　　這些日子貓貓總是和灰熊一起進(jìn)食。貓貓順著熊身往上蹭，用小爪子拍它的鼻子， 從隱處襲擊它，甚至和熊睡在一起。雖然格利茲是只性情溫和的灰熊，但熊的溫和并不 都是那么輕柔的。有一回格利茲不小心踩了貓貓。它知道自己做了什么時，顯得很害怕 。有時候灰熊叼住貓貓的頸背，要把它舉起來，可卻叼住了貓貓的整個腦袋。不過貓貓 似乎并不介意這些。 　　貓貓和灰熊之間的愛是那么純真和簡單，不受物種和大小的約束。它們都成功地度 過了困難的初識階段。但遠(yuǎn)非如此，它們?yōu)檎业礁髯缘呐笥讯械綗o比高興。 1.rehabilitation[5ρι:(η)Ε7βιλι5τειΦΕν]n.康復(fù) 2.havetheheart[美口](常用于祈使句)發(fā)慈悲，做好事 3.pound[παυνδ]n.(走失或無執(zhí)照家畜的)認(rèn)領(lǐng)欄 4.spay[σπει]vt.切除(雌畜)的卵巢 5.neuter[5νφυ:τΕ]vt.閹割 6.brood[βρυ:δ]n.一窩 7.rascal[5ρΒ:σκΕλ]n.淘氣鬼，搗蛋鬼 8.grizzly[5⊥ριζλι]n.=grizzlybear灰熊 9.neurological[νφυΕρΕυ5λΧδ
10 貓和灰熊(doc)