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| 2014/01/25 23:20:09瀏覽4304｜回應0｜推薦4 | |
閱讀暖身
許多人家裡都有貓，更多人愛貓。網路上從來不缺各種可愛小貓的影像或影片，貓的相關商品與形象，也都會成為熱賣的焦點。在家裡，有時我們會情不自禁地把貓當成自己的寶貝，覺得自己就像是小貓的媽咪或爹地，我們也都有那些把貓當成孩子寵愛的朋友們。但是，如果從貓的角度看世界，也許我們會得到一些新的觀點。
進入本文前，請先想想以下單字中文怎麼說比較好：
(A) 馴養的
(B) 揉捏 (C) 叱罵
If you own a cat, you probably identify as something like its mother, albeit a human version, who feeds it, entertains it, and licks its fur to keep it clean (hopefully not). Unfortunately, your cat sees your pet-owner relationship much differently, according to the new book Cat Sense by English biologist Dr. John Bradshaw. It actually thinks you’re a “larger, non-hostile”cat.
如果你有隻貓，或許你會認定自己就像牠的媽媽（儘管是人類版的）：餵養牠、娛樂牠，舔牠的皮毛保持清潔（希望還不至於到這一步）。很遺憾地，根據英國生物學家約翰布萊蕭博士的新書《貓的感受》，你的貓可能不這麼認為，其實牠認為你是一隻「更大的，不具敵意的」貓。
Bradshaw, who has been studying the behavior of (A) domesticated animals for over 30 years, reveals some fascinating explanations for why cats (1) act the way they do around humans. For one, since cats have never been bred for a specific function other than looking nice, they’re ultimately less domesticated than the dog breeds humans have designed for (2) chasing down game and helping around the house. Given that 85 percent of cats breed with feral tomcats, according to the book, the species has also stayed relatively wild. The animals’ interactions with their owners are driven less by learned behavior than by pure instinct.
布萊蕭研究馴養動物行為30多年，他的書透露了一些貓為什麼在人類周圍行為反應的原因。例如，人們養貓只是因為長得可愛，牠們不像狗，可以追來追去，還可以幫忙顧看家。這本書發現，85%的貓都由兇猛的雄貓播種，整個種族都還保留野性。這種動物與飼主的互動，比較不是來自學習，而是純粹的直覺。
When a cat (B) kneads your body or the surface of a bed, it’s a behavior that’s (3) meant for its mother’s belly, a message to keep milk flowing. Rubbing up against a human leg or hand is a way of treating you as another cat, “the clearest way cats show their affection for us,” Bradshaw explains. Leaving dead rats around the house isn’t a way of “feeding” their owners, but rather, the cats want a safe place to eat their kill. When they actually take a bite of the victim, they realize their normal human-delivered cat food tastes way better. And if you’ve ever seen a rat in any major city, this should be obvious. 當一隻貓揉捏你的身體或床面時，牠其實以為那是貓媽媽的肚子，揉著揉著，貓媽媽的奶水就會湧出。揉擦人的腿或手是把你當成另一隻貓，如布萊蕭所說，這是「貓向我們表達愛意最清楚的方式」。把死老鼠留在房子裡，不是牠們想「餵食」主人，而是貓咪想要有一個安全的地方吃他們殺了的獵物。咬一口獵物，貓們便會了解人類餵牠的食物更好吃。而如果你在任何一個大城市裡見過老鼠，應該很清楚這一點了。 So next time you call your cat your “baby” or (C) chide it for being annoying, just remember―it thinks of you as a fairly pleasant roommate that just happens to be freakishly large for reasons it can’t comprehend. 所以下次你稱呼貓是你的「寶貝」或因為牠惹人煩厭而叱罵牠，請謹記著──牠其實把你當成是一個因為不明原因變得異常巨大，卻也還不算討厭的室友。
參考來源：覺得自己是貓媽咪？其實你更像是牠的室友，只是大得很詭異。
TIME Newsfeed:Consider yourself a kitten's mommy? You're actually more like its freakishly large roommate.
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