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When the "energy crisis" first came in 1973-1974, I was living with my family in a cabin on the edge of an area where deer spend the winter in northern Minnesota, observing the deer as their behavior changed from more activity in summer and fall to less as winter progressed, followed by an increase again in the spring as the snow melted. It was interesting and rather amusing to listen to the advice given on the radio:
1973-1974年間，第一次出現"能源危機"的時候，我正與家人住在明尼蘇達州北部一處鹿群過冬地方的邊緣地帶。我們住在一個小屋里，觀察鹿的生活習性，觀察它們是如何隨著冬季來臨從夏秋的活動頻繁狀態而變得少動的，而到春暖雪融時，他們的活動又是如何增多起來的。當時廣播電臺常告誡我們:
" Drive only when necessary," we were told. "Put on more clothes to stay warm, and turn the thermostat on your furnace down." Meanwhile we watched the deer reduce their activity, grow a winter coat of hair, and reduce their metabolism as they have for thousands of years.It is biologically reasonable for deer to reduce their cost of living to increase their chances of surviving in winter.
"沒有必要不開車，""多穿衣服好保暖，并請調低鍋爐上的恒溫器。"這些話聽起來既有趣又逗笑。因為與此同時，我們一直注視著鹿減少活動，長出越冬的厚毛，并減緩新陳代謝。幾千年來，他們一貫如此。鹿減少生存所需的能耗以增加越冬生存的機會，從生物學角度來看是合情合理的。
Not every winter is critical for deer of course. If the winter has light snow, survival and productivity next spring will be high. But if deep snows come and the weather remains cold for several weeks, then the deer must spend more energy to move about, food will be harder to find, and they must then depend more on their fat reserves to pull them through. If such conditions go on for too long some will die, and only the largest and strongest are likely to survive. That is a fundamental rule of life for wild, free wandering animal such as deer.
當然，對鹿來講，并非每個冬天都處于危難之中。如果冬天雪下得少，存活率和次年春天的繁殖力就高。但如果雪積得深，天氣連續數周寒冷，鹿活動起來就得花費較多的能量，覓食會更難，這時它們就得更多地依賴其脂肪儲備度過寒冬。如果這種情況持續太久，有些鹿就要死亡，只有體型最大最壯的，才有可能存活。對于像鹿這樣四處自由奔走的野生動物來說，這是一條根本的生存規律。
Yes, life - and death, too - is a cycle that goes round and round, and when animals die their bodies become food for other life forms to use by converting them into energy.
的確，生命-還有死亡-周而復始，循環不已。當動物死亡的時候，他們的尸體轉化為能量，變成食物，供其他生命形式使用。
And the cycle continues.
如此循環，永不止息。
