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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:
在过去20年里，郊狼常常出现在北美各大城市。史丹利·赫特是俄亥俄州立大学的一名野生动物生态学家，他研究的是芝加哥郊狼。10月20日，他参加了俄亥俄州哥伦比亚举办的“2014年科学作者”（ ScienceWriters2014）会议，并解释了郊狼为什么如此擅于适应各种环境。
"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.
“对于哺乳类肉食动物来说，体重是关键所在，20公斤，或20至21公斤，这是个分界点。因为体重在20公斤以下的哺乳类动物能以追捕体型较小的猎物为生。它们往往独居，或小规模群居。它们善于觅食且精力充沛。
"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.
“但当它们的体重超过20公斤时，它们得以与自己体型相当或较大的猎物为食，从而满足自身能量的需求。因此，它们往往捕食体型比自己大的猎物，这就要求群居生活了。这也是狼为什么大多以鹿、驼鹿、麋鹿——这类需要合作来追捕的猎物为食的原因。
"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长成20公斤，20公斤是最佳体重，因为在这个体重下，他们既可以捕食体型比自己小的猎物——这是它们一贯的作风，能让它们过得相当好，也可以在被环境所迫或不得已的情况下追捕或猎杀体型比自己大的动物。也就是说，它们能做任何它们想做的事情。至于其它动物，你是看不到或很少能看到狐狸会捕食体型与其相当或更大的猎物的；你也看不到狼会以小猎物、啮齿动物为生的，它们只在一段时间后，暂时，但不是长期地以小猎物、啮齿动物为食。所以，这是为生活在这的完美捕食者打造的舞台。
"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."
“体重在20公斤，这也意味着更容易成为狼、美洲狮、鹿（有时）等大型捕食者的猎物，因此，它们必须非常擅长捕猎，擅长躲避捕食者。这样一来，它们就成了极其聪明的动物了。
