the Pythons
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Table of Contents Introduction.
导言表。
4 Who Invited That Guy?
4 谁邀请那个家伙的?
5 Threats by the Thousands.
页:1 数千人的威胁。
7 An Everglades Nightmare.
7"Everglades噩梦".
9 Fighting Back.
9反击.
14 Glossary.
14 词汇表。
16 Introduction Slogging through ankle-deep water in the Florida Everglades, the scientists approach their target.
16 佛罗里达州脚踝深水的博客 Everglades 科学家们接近目标
Suddenly, one of the team pounces and grabs the tail of a huge snake.
突然,一个团队扑出并抓住了一条大蛇的尾巴.
Another researcher lunges and grabs the snake behind its head.
另一位研究人员肺部出血并抓住了头后蛇.
Others quickly join the wrestling match between humans and this 16-foot (4.
其他人则会迅速加入人类与这16英尺(4英尺)的摔跤比赛.
9 m), 150-pound (68 kg) Burmese python.
9米),150磅(68公斤)缅甸蟒蛇.
The python finally tires, and they haul it back to the lab for study.
蟒蛇终于有轮胎了 他们把它拖回实验室研究
The scientists win this time.
这次科学家赢了
A bigger battle is underway, though, because Burmese pythons aren’t even supposed to be in Florida.
因为缅甸蟒蛇根本不应该在佛罗里达,
These large snakes are native to the jungles and marshy grasslands of India and other parts of South Asia.
这些大蛇原生于印度和南亚其他地区的丛林和沼泽地草地.
What are they doing in Florida?
他们在佛罗里达干什么?
Burmese pythons were first reported in Everglades National Park in 1979.
缅甸蟒蛇最早于1979年在埃弗格拉德国家公园被报道.
Now they are established both inside the park and in the larger Everglades ecosystem.
现在它们被建立 在公园内部和更大的 Everglades生态系统。
Who Invited That Guy?
谁邀请那个家伙来的?
For millions of years, the movement of animals and plants was limited by natural barriers.
数百万年来,动植物的流动受到自然障碍的限制.
Mountain ranges and deserts separated habitats, so species could not spread.
山脉和沙漠分隔了栖息地,因此物种无法扩散.
Oceans were especially difficult to cross.
海洋尤其难以跨越。
That changed as transportation improved.
随着交通的改善,情况也发生了变化。
By the 1800s, many humans moved to new lands, bringing familiar livestock and plant seeds with them.
到1800年代,许多人类迁入了新的地盘,带来了熟悉的牲畜并用它们来种植种子.
Sometimes animals—rats, lizards, dogs, and cats—crawled onto ships and were carried across the sea.
有时,动物 -- -- 老鼠、蜥蜴、狗和猫 -- -- 爬上船只并被运出海洋。
Today people move farther and faster than ever before.
今天,人们移动比以往任何时候更远、更快。
Whether by human design or by accident, other species move as well.
无论是通过人类设计还是意外,其他物种也会移动.
In their native lands, species usually have competition and predators to keep their numbers in check.
在其原生地,物种通常有竞争和捕食者来控制其数量.
If their new home lacks these challenges, a new species may multiply and take over, thereby becoming an invasive species.
如果它们的新家园缺乏这些挑战,新的物种可能会成倍增加并被接过,从而成为入侵物种.
Kudzu vines from Japan, for example, have choked out other plants in the southeastern United States.
例如日本出产的克祖藤已经将美国东南部的其他植物窒息.
On the island of Guam, the brown tree snake has wiped out much of the bird population.
在关岛岛上,棕树蛇已经消灭了大部分鸟类种群.
As other native species lose a familiar source of food or shelter, the entire ecosystem can suffer.
由于其他原生物种失去了熟悉的食物或住所来源,整个生态系统会受到影响.
No one knows for sure how Burmese pythons got into the Everglades ecosystem.
没有人知道缅甸的蟒蛇是如何进入Everglades生态系统的。
The first invaders may have escaped from Florida pet shops, or maybe some pet owners released their pythons when they grew too big to care for.
最早的入侵者可能已经从佛罗里达的宠物商店中逃脱了,或者也许有些宠物主人在它们长大了太大而无法照顾时释放出他们的蟒蛇.
Once the snakes got loose, they thrived in the heat and humidity, hiding in the tangled underbrush and gobbling up other animals.
蛇一被放出后,就活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活
The invasion of the pythons was underway.
蟒蛇的入侵正在进行
Pythons as Pets Burmese pythons have become trendy pets among some snake fans.
作为缅甸活猫的活猫 在一些蛇迷中已经成为潮流的宠物
They are cheap to buy and are believed to be easy to control.
它们价格低廉,被认为易于控制。
Some owners can be careless about their pets, though.
但有些主人对自己的宠物不小心
They may be unaware of how fast and how huge pythons grow.
他们可能不知道蟒蛇的生长速度和大小。
In a couple of years, a 2-foot (.
几年后,一尺二寸(.
6 m) snake can grow to 12 feet (3.
6米)蛇可长到12英尺(3.
7 m).
(7米长)
Also, snakes are escape artists that will squeeze their way out of cages or aquariums that are not carefully locked.
另外,蛇是逃跑的艺术家,他们会挤出不小心被锁入的笼子或水族馆.
Now and then, large pet pythons have attacked and even killed people.
偶尔,大型宠物蟒蛇会攻击甚至杀害人.
In 2012, the U.
2012年,获U.
S.
师曰.
Fish and Wildlife Service banned bringing new Burmese pythons into the United States.
鱼和野生生物局禁止将新的缅甸蟒蛇带入美国.
Owners must also insert a microchip into pet pythons to make them easier to trace.
拥有者还必须将一个微芯片插入到宠物蟒蛇中,以方便追踪.
A man holds his pet Burmese python.
一个男人抱着他的宠物缅甸蟒蛇。
Threats by the Thousands The first Burmese python was reported in the Everglades in 1979.
千人的威胁 1979年在Everglades报道了第一种缅甸蟒蛇.
Another sixteen years passed before the next one was found.
又过了16年才找到下一个
Since 2000, though, python reports have grown more and more common.
不过自2000年以来,蟒蛇报告越来越普遍.
When a nest of python eggs was discovered, it confirmed what wildlife biologists feared: Burmese pythons were breeding in the wild.
当发现一窝蟒蛋时, 缅甸蟒蛇在野外繁殖.
Pythons reproduce rapidly.
活体繁殖迅速.
Females usually lay more than fifty eggs a year, and within three years of hatching, young pythons themselves are ready to breed.
雌鸟通常一年产卵50多枚,孵出后3年内,幼蟒自己也准备繁殖.
The result in the Everglades has been a population explosion as, year after year, more pythons lay eggs and more pythons survive.
Everglades的结果是人口爆炸,年复一年,更多的蟒蛇产卵而活活.
Pythons hatch from their eggs ready to slither away and start eating and growing, reaching adult size in only four years.
Pythons从蛋里孵出 准备割去并开始吃和生长 仅仅在四年之内就达到了成人大小
Burmese pythons average about 12 feet (3.
缅甸蟒蛇的平均高度约为12英尺(3.
7 m) in length, but the largest may stretch more than 20 feet (6.
长度为7米),但最大可长达20多英尺(6.
1 m) and top 200 pounds (90 kg).
1米)和前200磅(90公斤).
Creepy to some, beautiful to others, the way Burmese pythons kill is the stuff of nightmares.
缅甸蟒蛇的杀人方式是恶梦般的东西。
Pythons belong to a class of snakes called constrictors.
活蛇属(学名:Contractors)是蛇目蛇科下的一个属.
These snakes track down live animals using their sense of smell and ability to sense heat.
这些蛇利用嗅觉和感能来追踪活生生的动物.
They then surprise their prey, latching on with a broad mouth lined with sharp teeth.
然后,他们惊奇他们的猎物, 紧紧地咬住一个宽口 并有锋利的牙齿。
Once the animal is caught, the python coils its muscular body around it and squeezes until its victim suffocates.
一旦被捉住,蟒蛇会将它的肌肉圈住,并挤压到被害者窒息.
Finally, the snake swallows its prey whole, stretching its jaws to gulp down animals as much as five times larger than its own head.
最后,蛇吞噬了整个猎物,将下巴伸到比自己头部大五倍多的倒下动物上.
Scientists have yet to get a true count of how many pythons live in the Everglades today.
科学家们还没有真正统计出今天 Everglades 有几只蟒蛇
They estimate the python population to be anywhere between 5,000 and 100,000.
他们估计蟒人人口在5至10万之间。
In 2012, researchers captured the biggest Burmese python found so far in the Everglades.
2012年,研究人员捕获了迄今为止在Everglades发现的最大缅甸蟒蛇.
She was 17 feet 7 inches (5.
她身高17英尺7英寸(5.
4 m) long, and inside her were 87 eggs ready for laying.
长了4米,在她体内有87个鸡蛋准备下蛋。
Python Removals in and Around Everglades National Park An increasing python population was probably only one factor that led to the dramatic rise in captures.
Everglades国家公园内和周围的Python清除 越来越多的蟒蛇种群可能只是导致捕获量急剧上升的一个因素.
An Everglades Nightmare The Everglades—nicknamed the River of Grass—is one of the most unusual ecosystems in North America.
An Everglades Nightmare The Everglades——昵称"草地之河"——是北美最不寻常的生态系统之一.
A region of wetlands in southern Florida, it consists mainly of marshes, swamps, and grasslands.
佛罗里达州南部是湿地的一个区域,主要由沼泽地,沼泽地和草地组成.
Few hills and fewer buildings rise on the broad, flat landscape, but it is rich with plant and animal life and is an important home for many native insects, fish, mammals, and other animals.
在广阔平坦地貌上起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起起
The American alligator is perhaps the most familiar Everglades native.
美国鳄鱼也许是最熟悉的Everglades本地人.
This leathery reptile can grow up to 16 feet (4.
这种皮质爬行动物可长到16英尺(4.
9 m) long and is a fierce predator.
9米)长而凶猛的捕食者.
Rarer is the Florida panther—only a few dozen of these big cats still roam in the wild.
仅数十只大猫还在野外游荡。
The Everglades is also home to many smaller mammals and is a paradise for birds, including the bald eagle, great egret, roseate spoonbill, and many other wading birds.
Everglades人也是许多较小的哺乳动物的栖息地,也是鸟类的天堂,包括秃鹰,大黑鹰,玫瑰花汤匙活,以及许多其他花鸟.
Burmese pythons will gulp down any animal they can catch.
缅甸的蟒蛇会捕到任何动物
In fact, they have been called “eating machines.”
事实上,它们被称为“吃肉机”。 “
In the Everglades, researchers discovered a python that had killed and swallowed an 80-pound (36 kg) deer.
在Everglades中,研究人员发现了一头蟒蛇已经杀死并吞下一头80磅(36公斤)的鹿.
In another case, they found a dead python with a 6-foot (1.
在另一个案例中,他们发现了一只有6英尺(1英尺)高的死蟒.
8 m) alligator in its mouth.
8米)口腔有鳄鱼.
The two animals had killed each other in a life-or-death struggle.
两只动物在生死搏斗中相杀.
Worried that pythons might wipe out some of Florida’s native animals, one research team set out to discover whether this might be the case.
担心蟒蛇会消灭佛罗里达的一些原生动物,
In areas with large numbers of these snakes, the researchers studied the populations of small mammals, such as marsh rabbits, raccoons, bobcats, and opossums.
在这些蛇数量多的地区,研究人员研究了小型哺乳动物的种群,如沼泽兔,浣熊,花鼠等.
They looked at animal counts along roadways from 1996–1997, before pythons became common, and then examined the same data for more recent years.
他们研究了1996 -- 1997年蟒蛇出没前沿路的动物数量,然后研究了近年来的相同数据。
What the team found was shocking: The populations of all these mammals had crashed.
团队发现的令人震惊: 所有这些哺乳动物的种群都坠毁。
There were no signs of marsh rabbits or foxes at all.
根本没有沼泽野兔或狐狸的迹象.
Yet where pythons were rare or absent, populations were unchanged.
然而,如果蟒蛇很少或没有,人口则保持不变。
Many scientists think pythons are responsible—either they ate all these animals or wiped out the smaller animals that are food for bobcats, foxes, and other predators.
许多科学家认为蟒蛇是负责的,要么他们吃掉了所有这些动物,要么消灭了作为野牛、狐狸和其他食肉动物食物的较小的动物。
With jaguars and pumas gone from Florida, the only big cat left there is the panther.
美洲豹和美洲狮从佛罗里达州消失 只剩下豹了
Its population is tiny.
它的人口很少。
Threatened and Threatening Even as they threaten native animals that are endangered in the United States (eating the Florida panther’s prey, for instance, or simply eating wood storks), Burmese pythons are endangered in South Asia.
威胁和威胁 即使它们威胁着在美国濒危的当地动物(例如吃佛罗里达豹的猎物,或者只是吃木鹳),缅甸的蟒蛇也在南亚濒危.
Their numbers have been shrinking there because of the destruction of their habitat.
由于栖息地被破坏,它们的数量一直在减少。
Also, they are hunted for their skins and meat, as well as captured and sold as exotic pets.
此外,他们还被猎取皮肤和肉类,以及被捕获并被作为异地宠物出售.
The number of nesting wood storks has risen since it was listed as an endangered species in 1984.
自1984年被列为濒危物种后,筑巢木鹳的数量也有所增加.
Habitat protection has helped; pythons may not.
生境保护有所帮助;蟒蛇可能不会。
Pythons also eat birds in the Everglades.
活佛还吃活佛格拉底的鸟.
In one study, researchers found that birds make up 25 percent of a python’s diet.
在一项研究中,研究者发现鸟类占蟒类食物的25%。
The feathers and bones of rare and endangered species, such as the wood stork, have been found in pythons’ bellies.
稀有和濒危物种的羽毛和骨骼,如木鹳等,已出土于蟒贝.
How do scientists know what the pythons are eating?
科学家怎么知道蟒蛇在吃什么?
In most cases, they do a necropsy, slicing open dead pythons and studying the dead animals they find in their stomachs.
在多数情况下,它们都会做坏死活,切开活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活
The remains have mostly been of mammals, but birds that live in or near water are also at risk of being eaten.
遗迹多为哺乳动物所为,但生活在水中或水下附近的鸟类也有被食用的风险.
Vanishing Mammals Scientists compared mammal numbers in Everglades National Park before 2000 with numbers from 2003–2011.
2000年之前Everglades国家公园的哺乳动物数字与2003-2011年的数字相比较。
With the rise of pythons, native mammal numbers have crashed.
随着蟒蛇的兴起,本土哺乳动物数量也相继崩溃.
Part of why native animals may be so helpless against pythons is because these snakes are newcomers.
部分的原生动物对蟒蛇如此无助的原因是因为这些蛇是新来的.
Native species have evolved together, adapting to one another in order to coexist.
原生物种共同进化,相适应以相并存.
For 16 million years, no snakes in Florida have been big enough to prey on many of these animals.
在1600万年的时间里,佛罗里达州没有一条大蛇能够捕食到许多这些动物.
The natives may not know how to protect themselves or their young from this invasive predator.
当地人可能不知道如何保护自己或他们的年轻人免受这种入侵性掠夺。
What’s more, the ecosystem lacks any way to keep the invader in check.
此外,生态系统缺乏控制入侵者的任何方法。
Burmese pythons live at the top of the Everglades food chain.
缅甸蟒蛇生活在Everglades食物链的顶端.
Alligators will eat them if they can, but once a python gets big enough, it will even attack alligators.
鳄鱼会吃它们,如果它们可以, 但一旦一个蟒蛇变得足够大, 它甚至会攻击鳄鱼。
Fighting Back Finding pythons in the Everglades is tough.
在Everglades打回找回蟒蛇很艰难
The landscape makes it easy for pythons to hide—and hard for humans to find them.
地貌使得蟒蛇容易躲藏——人类很难找到它们.
Burmese pythons may hide in the grass and brush, and they can stay underwater for up to thirty minutes.
缅甸的蟒蛇可能躲入草地并刷子,它们可以在水下停留长达30分钟.
Still, Florida workers and volunteers are taking action to try to bring pythons under control.
尽管如此,佛罗里达州工人和志愿者正在采取行动,试图把蟒蛇置于控制之下.
At Everglades National Park, they track down and capture the snakes when possible— almost 2,000 in recent years.
在Everglades国家公园,他们追踪并尽可能地捕获了蛇——近年近2000只.
Hunters are also allowed to capture the snakes or kill them for their skins and meat.
猎人还被允许捕捉出蛇来或为取出皮和肉来而杀死.
Unfortunately, hunters sometimes mistakenly kill small native snakes, thinking they are baby pythons.
不幸的是,猎人有时误杀小型本土蛇,认为它们是活生生的蟒蛇.
One way researchers track pythons is by using radio transmitters.
研究人员追踪蟒蛇的方法之一是使用无线电发射机.
They insert the device into a live snake and release it, and that snake might lead them to other pythons.
他们将装置插入活蛇并放出,而活蛇可能引导它们去其他活蛇.
A researcher inserts a radio tag into a live Burmese python.
一名研究人员将无线电标记插入缅甸活生生的蟒蛇中。
Skip Snow, a biologist at Everglades National Park, pulls a bird from a python’s stomach.
Everglades国家公园的生物学家斯诺斯基(Skip Snow),
Burmese pythons live at the top of the Everglades food chain.
缅甸蟒蛇生活在Everglades食物链的顶端.
New laws have been put in place to prevent pet pythons from joining those in the wild.
新的法律已经出台,以防止宠物蟒蛇加入野生的.
Still, most experts believe it is already too late to stop the python takeover of Florida.
多数专家认为阻止蟒蛇收购佛罗里达已经为时已晚。
Wildlife biologists today fear that Burmese pythons may invade other parts of the country.
野生动物生物学家今天担心缅甸蟒蛇会侵入该国其他地区.
They can swim to new territory and survive in most places where winters don’t get too cold.
他们可以游到新地盘,
Many southern states could be at risk, from South Carolina all the way to California.
从南卡罗来纳州一直到加利福尼亚州,许多南部州都可能面临危险。
Scientists continue to investigate the role that pythons play in the changing Everglades ecosystem.
科学家继续调查蟒蛇在变化中的Everglades生态系统中起的作用.
Until they learn more, they are careful about putting all the blame on pythons.
在他们学到更多之前,他们要小心地把所有的责任都归咎于蟒蛇.
Still, what we learn about these snake invaders in Florida may keep them from making their way across the country.
然而,我们所了解到的佛罗里达州这些蛇入侵者的情况,可能使他们无法穿越整个国家。
A Burmese python released by its owner heads off into rural Florida.
一只缅甸蟒蛇被船主放入佛罗里达州农村