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They're cute, they're furry and sometimes they like to bringyou dead birds or rodents. That's right, we're talking cats here.
可愛的，毛茸茸的，有時會給你捎來死去的小鳥和嚙齒動物的小家伙—對啦，我說的就是貓咪。
The fact is that free-roaming house cats are taking a toll on our environment.
事實上整天在外頭閑逛的家貓會對我們的環(huán)境造成很大損害。
Studies have shownthat even well-fed cats kill wildlife when given a chance.
研究表明若有機會，被喂養(yǎng)得很好的家貓也會獵殺野生動物。
Not only that, but a particularly skilled cat can kill up to one thousand animals per year.
不僅如此，那些狩獵技術(shù)格外嫻熟的貓咪甚至可以在一年里殺死多達一千只動物。
Even if your own cat isn't a finely honed terminator, with millions of cats on the loose all over theUnited States, even ten animals per cat adds up quickly.
好吧，你說你家的貓咪并不是個技術(shù)精湛的終結(jié)者。但當數(shù)百萬只貓咪在美國各地游蕩時，就算1只貓咪只殺死10只動物，累計的數(shù)量也將是非常驚人的。
What's more, only some of these kills are pests like rats and mice.
而且只有一部分被殺死的動物諸如耗子或是家鼠是有害的。
Others are native songbirds andmammals whose populations are already endangered by habitat loss and other environmentalfactors.
余下的受害者則是該地區(qū)那些因棲息地消失和其他環(huán)境因素已經(jīng)瀕臨滅絕的鳴禽和其他哺乳動物。
Cats also hurt predators like hawks and weasels by beating them to their prey.
貓咪還會搶奪其他捕食者諸如老鷹和鼬鼠的食物，因而威脅到它們的生存。
This problem is exacerbated by the fact that people take pretty good care of their cats.
人們對貓咪的精心照料使得問題更加嚴重。
This means that predators, disease and competition for food don't keep the cat population in check.
這意味著天敵、疾病以及對食物的爭奪都不會影響到貓咪的數(shù)量。
Cats are born hunters—they'll hunt for pleasure even if they're not hungry.
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。
So what can you do to stop the carnage?
那么，你能做些什么來阻止一場屠戮呢？
Do what you can to keep your cats indoors, no matterhow wistfully they stare out the window.
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。
Also, do your share to keep the feline population undercontrol by making sure to spay and neuter your pets.
此外，為你的貓咪做好節(jié)育工作，替貓咪數(shù)量的控制出一份力。
