【文稿】英语词汇小百科：流浪猫到底是stray cats还是feral cats？

Xiaohua: Hello and welcome to Roundtable’s Word of the Week. Today we’re talking about stray cats as the Hangzhou government is spending a lot of money, trying to help sterilize these cats. John: And not just stray cats, but also feral cats, because there is a difference between feral and stray. So let’s start by talking a little bit about feral. A feral animal is an animal living in the wild but descended from domesticated animals. And the word “feral” comes from the Latin, fera, which means a wild beast. Xiaohua: Feral是指野生的、没有经过驯化的动物，但是它们是由家养的动物生下来的。 John: Other definitions of a feral animal define them as one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild, natural, or untamed. Common examples include horses, dogs, goats and cats. Xiaohua: 对feral这个词的另外一层理解就是，曾经是家养的动物，但是后来又逐渐回到野生。 John: And now we come to the important difference between, for example, a feral cat and a stray cat. A stray cat is a pet cat that has been lost or abandoned, whearas feral cats have never been socialized. Xiaohua: stray cats是流浪猫，一般是指从家里逃出来的或者是被遗弃的家猫。而feral是指在野外长大的猫。So I’ve always confused the two as the same. John: Yeah, they are very different. So usually a feral cat is descended from a stray cat. So for cats, it’s really important, the socialization process when they are very young. If they are not exposed to humans in the wild, then they’ll not learn to trust them; they’ll never learn to actually form an attachment with them. Xiaohua: 所以 feral cats很可能是由流浪猫所生的，但是因为它们没有被社会化的过程，所以很难与人类亲近。 John: So usually feral cats are born and live outdoors, without any human contact or care. However, they have been shown to be adoptable and can be tamed by humans, provided they are removed from their wild environment before the feral behaviors are established. Xiaohua: 即使是野生猫，也还是有可能被人类驯化的。 John: Looking, for example, at Hangzhou, what they are doing is a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program which involves volunteers trapping feral cats, sterilizing them by spaying or neutering, and then returning them to the place where there were originally captured. . Xiaohua: Trap-Neuter-Return实际上是指先诱捕这些流浪猫或野猫，为他们做绝育（neuter），然后再把它们放回原地。 John: So looking at other animals that can go feral. For example, the goat is one of the oldest domesticated creatures, yet readily goes feral and does very well on its own. Xiaohua: 好吧，所以山羊尽管是最早被人类驯化并且家养的动物，但是山羊很快就会回归到野外生活当中。 John: Another animal that goes very readily to the feral state is the dromedary camel, as well as pigs. Xiaohua: 另外骆驼和猪也是很早就被人类驯化、但是非常快就会被野化的动物。 John: Actually interestingly enough, sheep, because they are so related to goats, you would think that they would return a feral state very easily. But in fact, they do not, mostly because it’s very easy for them to be eaten, and killed by natural predators. Xiaohua: I see, 绵羊是一种不太容易回归野外的动物，主要可能是因为太容易被吃掉了。 John: So interestingly enough, there is also a specific term used to refer to cattle, called a maverick. And this term actually came into use in the United States when raising cattle on the open range was very common. So basically it refers to any cow or cattle that does not have a brand. Xiaohua: 说到maverick，可能很多人会想到达拉斯小牛队，但是maverick其实是指在美国开放农场上没有被打上烙印的牛。 John: If you look at the term for maverick, it comes from one specific person who is well-known for not branding his cows. And his name was Samuel Maverick. Xiaohua: I see; that’s very good to know. And that’s all we have for Roundtable’s Word of the Week.