松鼠依賴鳥類讓它們知道什么時候出去是安全的

松鼠依賴鳥類讓它們知道什么時候出去是安全的

Never underestimate a squirrel's survival skills.

永遠(yuǎn)不要低估松鼠的生存技能。

Gifted acrobats, they trampoline from tree to tree, always a step ahead of danger. They've even been known to gather old rattlesnake skins and rub the scent on their fur to create a kind of predator repellant.

有天賦的雜技演員，他們從一棵樹跳到另一棵樹，總是走在危險的前面。人們甚至知道它們會收集舊的響尾蛇皮，把氣味涂抹在它們的皮毛上，制造出一種捕食者驅(qū)蟲劑。

Photo: KellyNelson/Shutterstock

And now, a newly published study in the journal Plos One suggests squirrels rely on social media to figure out when it's safe to leave home: they read tweets.

現(xiàn)在，發(fā)表在《公共科學(xué)圖書館•綜合》(Plos One)雜志上的一項最新研究表明，松鼠依靠社交媒體來判斷什么時候離開家是安全的:它們會閱讀推特。

As in, actual chirps and chatter from songbirds in the neighborhood.

就像附近鳴禽的叫聲一樣。

No, for all their incredible abilities, squirrels don't actually speak the language of birds. Rather, researchers from Ohio's Oberlin College suggest, they keep their ears to the ground — and try to get the gist of a conversation.

不，盡管松鼠擁有令人難以置信的能力，但它們實際上不會說鳥類的語言。相反，來自俄亥俄州奧伯林學(xué)院的研究人員建議，它們保持耳朵貼近地面，努力抓住談話的要點。

What's all that chirping about outside, a wary squirrel might ask himself? Did someone just say, "red-tailed hawk?"

一只警惕的松鼠可能會問自己，外面到底在唧唧叫些什么?是不是有人說"紅尾鷹" ?"

Better to curl up in the burrow until things settle down out there.

最好蜷縮在洞穴里，直到外面的一切都安定下來。

"This study suggests that eavesdropping on public information about safety is more widespread and broader than we originally thought," study co-author Keith Tarvin tells The Guardian.

“這項研究表明，竊聽有關(guān)安全的公共信息比我們最初認(rèn)為的更廣泛，范圍更廣，”研究合著者基思·塔文告訴《衛(wèi)報》。

Indeed, songbirds don't owe grey squirrels anything. Neither species is dependent on the other, the researchers note, and they move from place independently, But when squirrels happen to have birds as neighbors, they make savvy use of their chatter.

事實上，鳴禽并不欠灰松鼠任何東西。研究人員指出，這兩種動物都不依賴于另一種，它們從一個地方搬到另一個地方是獨立的，但當(dāng)松鼠碰巧有鳥類為鄰時，它們會巧妙地利用它們的叫聲。

"It may not require tight ecological relationships that allow individuals to carefully learn the cues provided by other species," Tarvin adds.

“它可能不需要緊密的生態(tài)關(guān)系，讓個體仔細(xì)學(xué)習(xí)其他物種提供的線索，”塔爾文補充說。

For the study, researchers looked at a 67 grey squirrels going about their nut-gathering business around the city of Oberlin. After observing them for a period, the team played a short clip of a red-tailed hawk's call. Predictably, the squirrels got really nervous, freezing in place — a typical defense strategy among rodents — and looking up to the sky for signs of dive-bombing death.

在這項研究中，研究人員觀察了67只灰松鼠，它們在奧伯林市周圍從事采集堅果的工作。在觀察了一段時間后，研究小組播放了一段紅尾鷹叫聲的短片段。不出所料，松鼠變得非常緊張，原地不動——嚙齒動物的典型防御策略——它們抬頭仰望天空，尋找俯沖轟炸致死的跡象。

Then the scientists played a clip of songbirds chatting normally. And sure enough, the squirrels went back to their foraging ways — as if to say, if it's safe enough for birds, it's safe enough for us.

然后，科學(xué)家們播放了一段鳴禽正常交談的視頻。果然，松鼠們又開始了它們的覓食之路——仿佛在說，如果對鳥類來說夠安全，對我們來說也夠安全。

The findings seem to be in keeping with a squirrel's abiding philosophy of letting others do most of the work for them. By letting birds shoulder all the anxiety of a potential threat, squirrels can focus their energy on their one great obsession: nut acquisition.

這一發(fā)現(xiàn)似乎符合松鼠一貫的哲學(xué)，即讓別人為自己做大部分工作。通過讓鳥類承擔(dān)所有潛在威脅的焦慮，松鼠可以把它們的精力集中在它們最大的癡迷上:獲取堅果。

"Recognition of bird chatter as a sign of safety is likely adaptive, as squirrels that can safely reduce their vigilance level in the presence of bird chatter presumably are able to increase foraging success," the researchers noted in the study.

研究人員在研究中指出:“將鳥類的鳴叫作為安全信號的識別可能是適應(yīng)性的，因為在鳥類鳴叫的存在下，松鼠可以安全地降低警惕水平，這可能會提高覓食的成功率。”

Indeed, life in the forest, or even the lone tree in your backyard, isn't all nuts and honey. Snakes, coyotes, hawks and owls are constantly on the prowl for wayward rodents. And constantly fretting about them can be taxing on a squirrel.

事實上，森林里的生活，甚至是你后院唯一的一棵樹，并不都是堅果和蜂蜜。蛇、土狼、鷹和貓頭鷹一直在尋找任性的嚙齒動物。對松鼠來說，不停地為它們煩惱是一種負(fù)擔(dān)。

Best, it seems, to let birds handle the Neighborhood Watch.

最好的辦法似乎是讓鳥類來處理鄰里監(jiān)督。