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Coyotes. In the last two decades they've become common in almost every North American metropolitan area. Stanley Gehrt is a wildlife ecologist at Ohio State University who studies urban coyotes in Chicago. He spoke October 20th at the ScienceWriters2014 meeting in Columbus, Ohio, about why coyotes are so good at adapting to various environments:
在過去20年里，郊狼常常出現(xiàn)在北美各大城市。史丹利·赫特是俄亥俄州立大學的一名野生動物生態(tài)學家，他研究的是芝加哥郊狼。10月20日，他參加了俄亥俄州哥倫比亞舉辦的“2014年科學作者”（ ScienceWriters2014）會議，并解釋了郊狼為什么如此擅于適應(yīng)各種環(huán)境。
"For mammalian carnivores, the 20-kilogram point, 20 to 21 kilograms, is the key here. Because mammalian predators that stay below that number can exist on prey smaller than them. And they're often solitary or they only form small groups. And they can scavenge and be able to meet their energetic needs.
“對于哺乳類肉食動物來說，體重是關(guān)鍵所在，20公斤，或20至21公斤，這是個分界點。因為體重在20公斤以下的哺乳類動物能以追捕體型較小的獵物為生。它們往往獨居，或小規(guī)模群居。它們善于覓食且精力充沛。
"But it they exceed 20 kilograms in body weight, now they have to eat prey that's their size or larger to be able to maintain their energetic requirement. So they often are hunting prey larger than them, which requires often sociality. And so that's why wolves rely a lot on deer, moose, elk, that they have to hunt cooperatively.
“但當它們的體重超過20公斤時，它們得以與自己體型相當或較大的獵物為食，從而滿足自身能量的需求。因此，它們往往捕食體型比自己大的獵物，這就要求群居生活了。這也是狼為什么大多以鹿、駝鹿、麋鹿——這類需要合作來追捕的獵物為食的原因。
"Some of our coyotes get right to that 20-kilogram level, and that's the perfect spot, because what they can do is they can either exist quite well on prey smaller than them, and that's typically what they do, or if they have to, if the conditions dictate it, then they can hunt and consume prey larger than them. So they can do whatever they need to do. As opposed to the others, you'll never see foxes taking down prey that are their size or larger, or rarely will you see that. And you won't see wolves living off of really small prey, rodents, for any length of time, they will temporarily but not for a long time. So this kind of sets the stage for the perfect predator here.
“一些郊狼出生后很快就能長成20公斤，20公斤是最佳體重，因為在這個體重下，他們既可以捕食體型比自己小的獵物——這是它們一貫的作風，能讓它們過得相當好，也可以在被環(huán)境所迫或不得已的情況下追捕或獵殺體型比自己大的動物。也就是說，它們能做任何它們想做的事情。至于其它動物，你是看不到或很少能看到狐貍會捕食體型與其相當或更大的獵物的；你也看不到狼會以小獵物、嚙齒動物為生的，它們只在一段時間后，暫時，但不是長期地以小獵物、嚙齒動物為食。所以，這是為生活在這的完美捕食者打造的舞臺。
"Also, being in the middle means that they are also subjected to predation at times by the larger predators such as wolves and mountain lions, and the occasional bear. So they have to be extra good at hunting their own prey as well as not becoming prey themselves. So it creates a super-smart animal."
“體重在20公斤，這也意味著更容易成為狼、美洲獅、鹿（有時）等大型捕食者的獵物，因此，它們必須非常擅長捕獵，擅長躲避捕食者。這樣一來，它們就成了極其聰明的動物了。
