美国国家公共电台 NPR Biologists With Drones And Peanut Butter Pellets Are On A Mission To Help Ferrets

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

In central Montana, drones are dropping peanut butter pellets on prairie dog colonies. As Yellowstone Public Radio's Nate Hegyi explains, it's part of an effort by biologists to save North America's most endangered mammal.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRAIRIE DOGS HOWLING)

NATE HEGYI, BYLINE¹: Under a half-crescent moon, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services biologist Randy Matchett sweeps a spotlight² back and forth³ over a cold, black prairie. Suddenly, a pair of brilliant, green eyes pops out of the darkness.

RANDY MATCHETT: No.

HEGYI: Look at those eyes.

MATCHETT: Don't those eyes look amazing?

HEGYI: They belong to a black-footed ferret, the most endangered mammal in North America.

KRISTY BLY: They're these ferocious⁴, masked bandits of the prairie. They're like these little slinkies.

HEGYI: That's Kristy Bly, a senior biologist with the World Wildlife Fund. She says there's only about 300 black-footed ferrets left in the wild. And they depend almost entirely⁵ on prairie dogs to survive.

BLY: Prairie dogs are Chicken McNuggets of the prairie, where so many species eat them.

HEGYI: But in recent years, prairie-dog towns across the American West have been exposed to a deadly disease called sylvatic plague. While it's treatable in humans, sylvatic plague can wipe out entire prairie-dog towns in less than a month. And that means no more food for endangered black-footed ferrets. So Kristy Bly, Randy Matchett and a team of scientists and engineers have spent this year vaccinating⁶ prairie-dog towns in central Montana against the plague using drones.

BLY: Run, run, run, Forrest, run.

HEGYI: The sun is up now. And a drone named Shep is zooming⁷ over a prairie-dog town. Every 30 feet or so, it shoots out these little blueberry-sized pellets. They taste like peanut butter. Prairie dogs love peanut butter. But they're laced with a live vaccine⁸ that protects these little guys from the plague.

BLY: We have to keep enough alive in enough places to keep ferrets alive.

HEGYI: Bly says if they can stop the plague from killing⁹ prairie dogs, the endangered ferrets population could grow. And using drones like Shep helps that happen faster. In the past, scientists delivered the vaccine baits by hand. Drones cover a lot more ground. But this is only the second year anyone's used one to save ferrets. So there's still a couple of kinks, like when Shep suddenly veers¹⁰ off its pre-mapped path and begins to head home.

KURT KREIGER: It's - I think it's jammed.

HEGYI: Kurt Kreiger, the drone's pilot and engineer, coaxes¹¹ Shep to the ground. The team huddles¹² around it, pulling pieces apart and inspecting the pellet shooter.

KREIGER: I'm frazzled a little bit. But, you know, you have clearer minds going, hey, why don't you just check this? Oh, yeah...

HEGYI: And once they fix the drone, the team refills it with peanut butter pellets...

(SOUNDBITE OF POURING PELLETS)

HEGYI: ...Turns it on.

(SOUNDBITE OF BEEPING)

HEGYI: ...And then the drone takes off.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRONE FYLING)

KREIGER: There it is. Shep's on his way. Do we have pellets dropping? Something just - yep. There they go. Something just shot off the side. Boom. Boom. Look at them go.

HEGYI: By the end of the day, they hope to expose more than 4,000 prairie dogs to the vaccine. In the past, field trials showed prairie dogs living in vaccinated¹³ areas survived waves of the plague. And when the prairie dog can beat the plague, Bly says it's good for everything, including the ferret.

BLY: Without it, do you really have a complete ecosystem¹⁴? You start taking those pieces apart. And it's like a domino effect. When we have ferrets on the landscape, the piece of the puzzle that is the American prairie all fits together.

HEGYI: For NPR News, I'm Nate Hegyi in Montana.

(SOUNDBITE OF LYMBYC SYSTYM'S "SCIENTIFIC ROMANCE")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。

7 zooming   

adj.快速上升的v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去分词 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Zooming and panning are navigational tools for exploring 2D and 3D information. 缩放和平移是浏览二维和三维信息的导航工具。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Panning and zooming, especially when paired together, create navigation difficulties for users. 对于用户来说，平移和缩放一起使用时，产生了更多的导航困难。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 veers   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的第三人称单数 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The car veers out of control. 这辆车失去了控制。 来自辞典例句
• His fondness for his characters sometimes veers towards the sentimental. 他对那位主人公的偏爱有时也稍显矫情。 来自互联网

11 coaxes   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的第三人称单数 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱

参考例句：

• One coaxes, the other coerces. 一个唱红脸，一个唱白脸。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Now the analyzer coaxes the virus into revealing itself. 现在的分析者们会诱使病毒显形。 来自互联网

12 huddles   

（尤指杂乱地）挤在一起的人（或物品、建筑）( huddle的名词复数 )； （美式足球）队员靠拢（磋商战术）

参考例句：

• The little girl huddles herself up. 小女孩把身子缩成一团。
• The child huddles down in the bed, listening to the sound of the storm. 孩子听到雷雨声，就在床上缩成了一团。

13 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

14 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。