澳洲干旱 蟒蛇鉆進(jìn)馬桶尋水

Thirsty snakes are moving into north Queensland homes with two pythons recently found in toilets.
口渴難耐的蟒蛇正溜進(jìn)澳大利亞昆士蘭（Queensland）北部的民宅。近日，先后有兩條蟒蛇在當(dāng)?shù)孛裾鸟R桶里出現(xiàn)。

Snake catcher Elliot Budd spent 15 minutes removing a 2.4-metre carpet python from a Townsville U-bend on the weekend, a week after he released a three-metre beauty found coiled in a toilet by tradesmen.
上周末，捕蛇手埃利奧特?巴德（Elliot Budd）花了15分鐘，將一條2.4米長(zhǎng)的地毯蟒從湯斯維爾（Townsville）的一個(gè)馬桶U型管中移出。一周之前，他剛剛移出了另一條3米長(zhǎng)的蟒蛇，技工發(fā)現(xiàn)它時(shí)它在馬桶里盤(pán)成了一圈。

All but the second snake's head and 10cm of its body was inside the toilet piping.
第二條蛇除了頭部和10厘米的身體露了出來(lái)，其余部分都在廁所的管道里。

Budd could not unbolt the toilet and said tugging at the creature would have caused it injury.
巴德無(wú)法打開(kāi)馬桶的閥門(mén)，他說(shuō)，把蛇硬拉出來(lái)可能會(huì)令它受傷。

"Its head was just sitting there looking right at you," he said.
他說(shuō)：“它的頭就定在那兒直直地看著你。”

"After about 15 minutes of just holding him, he just came out by himself."
“我托著它大概15分鐘后，它就自己爬出來(lái)了。”

Budd said he had never pulled a snake from a toilet before the first Townsville incident but he's recently removed snakes from pools, kitchens, offices and gardens.
巴德說(shuō)，在湯斯維爾的第一宗案例出現(xiàn)之前，他從沒(méi)從馬桶里把蛇拉出來(lái)過(guò)。但最近，他在池塘、廚房、辦公室和花園都捉過(guò)蛇。

JamesCook Universityreptile expert Professor Lin Schwarzkopf said it wasn't usual for snakes to go into toilets.
詹姆士庫(kù)克大學(xué)（James Cook University）的爬行動(dòng)物專(zhuān)家林?施瓦茨科夫（Lin Schwarzkopf）教授表示，蛇爬進(jìn)廁所并不常見(jiàn)。

She said they liked moist places with objects to hide under but had become more bold in the search for water during a dry breeding season.
她說(shuō)，蛇喜歡潮濕且有遮蔽物的地方，但在干旱的繁殖季，它們?yōu)榱藢ふ宜醋兊酶哟竽懥恕?/span>

"They can fit in under doors," she said. "There's not much you can do."
“它們能從門(mén)縫鉆進(jìn)去，”教授稱(chēng)，“對(duì)此你基本上無(wú)計(jì)可施。”

Schwarzkopf said dripping taps, pipes and sprinklers could attract snakes, which posed little danger as long as an experienced removalist was called.
施瓦茨科夫說(shuō)，漏水的水龍頭、水管和噴灑器都能吸引蛇前來(lái)，只要請(qǐng)來(lái)有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的捕蛇手將它們移走就沒(méi)有什么危險(xiǎn)。

Vocabulary

slither：(蛇等) 蜿蜒地滑行

python：蟒蛇

coil：盤(pán)繞，盤(pán)成圈

unbolt：打開(kāi)

tug：猛拉，拽

reptile：爬行動(dòng)物

sprinkler：噴灑裝置

英文來(lái)源：衛(wèi)報(bào)

譯者：洪宣

審校&編輯：劉明