The Cat and the Grizzly_猫和灰熊

celiahe

“ Another box of kittens dumped over the fence, Dave,” one of our volunteers greeted me one summer morning. I groaned inside. As the founder of Wildlife Images Rehabilitation1 Center, I had more than enough to do to keep up with the wild animals in our care. But somehow, local people who didn't have the heart2 to take their unwanted kittens to the pound3 often dumped them over our fence. They knew we'd try to live-trap them, spay4 or neuter5 them, and place them through our network of approximately 100 volunteers.
　　That day's brood6 contained four kittens. We managed to trap three of them, but somehow one little rascal7 got away. In twenty-four acres of park, there wasn't much we could do once the kitten disappeared-- and many other animals required our attention. It wasn't long before I forgot completely about the lost kitten as I went about my daily routine.
　　A week or so later, I was spending time with one of my favorite “ guests”--a giant grizzly8 bear named Griz.
　　This grizzly bear had come to us as an orphaned cub six years ago, after being struck by a train in Montana. He'd been rescued by a Blackfoot Indian, had lain unconscious for six days in a Montana hospital's intensive care unit,and ended up with neurological9 damage and a blind right eye. As he recovered, it was clear he was too habituated to humans and too mentally impaired10 to go back to the wild,so he came to live with us as a permanent resident.
　　Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures. Except for when they mate or raise cubs, they're loners. But this grizzly liked people. I enjoyed spending time with Griz, giving him personal attention on a regular basis. Even this required care, since a 560 pound creature could do a lot of damage to a human unintentionally.
　　That July afternoon, I approached his cage for our daily visit. He'd just been served his normal meal--a mix of vegetables, fruit, dog kibble11, fish and chicken. Griz was lying down with the bucket between his forepaws, eating, when I noticed a little spot of orange coming out of the blackberry brambles12 inside the grizzly's pen13.
　　It was the missing kitten. Now probably six weeks old, it couldn't have weighed more than ten ounces at most. Normally, I would have been concerned that the poor little thing was going to starve to death. But this kitten had taken a serious wrong turn and might not even last that long.
　　What should I do? I was afraid that if I ran into the pen to try to rescue it, the kitten would panic and run straight for Griz. So I just stood back and watched, praying that it wouldn't get too close to the huge grizzly.
　　But it did. The tiny kitten approached the enormous bear and let out a purr14 and a mew15. I winced16. With any normal bear, that cat would be dessert.Griz looked over at him. I cringed17 as I watched him raise his forepaw toward the cat and braced myself for18 the fatal blow.
　　But Griz stuck his paw into his food pail, where he grabbed a piece of chicken out of the bucket and threw it toward the starving kitten.
　　The little cat pounced on it and carried it quickly into the bushes to eat.
　　I breathed a sigh of relief. That cat was one lucky animal! He'd approached the one bear of the sixteen we housed that would tolerate him--and the one in a million19 who'd share lunch.
　　A couple of weeks later, I saw the cat feeding with Griz again. This time, he rubbed and purred against the bear, and Griz reached down and picked him up by the scruff20 of his neck. After that, the friendship blossomed. We named the kitten Cat.
　　These days, Cat eats with Griz all the time. He rubs up against the bear, bats him on the nose, ambushes21 him, even sleeps with him. And although Griz is a gentle bear, a bear's gentleness is not all that gentle. Once Griz accidentally stepped on Cat. He looked horrified when he realized what he'd done. And sometimes when Griz tries to pick up Cat by the scruff of the cat's neck, he winds up grabbing Cat's whole head. But Cat doesn't seem to mind.
　　Their love for each other is so pure and simple; it goes beyond size and species. Both animals have managed to successfully survive their rough beginnings. But even more than that, they each seem so happy to have found a friend.

celiahe

猫和灰熊
夏天的一个早上，我们的一名志愿者问候我时说道，“戴夫，又有人往篱笆墙里扔了一盒小猫仔。”我听了内心一阵痛苦。做为野生动物康复中心的创建人，我照顾野生动物的事多得做不完。可是当地总有些人不忍心把不要的猫仔送到官设动物收容站，于是经常把这些小东西从篱笆外面扔进我们的庇养园里，他们知道我们会想办法诱捉它们，为它们做绝育手术，然后再通过我们大约100名志愿者的网络体系为它们找一处安身地。
　　这一窝猫有四只。我们成功地诱捉了三只，另一只小捣蛋鬼却跑了。庇养园占地24英亩，猫跑了我们也无能为力。另外，还有许多别的动物需要我们照管。我忙于日常工作，没多久那只猫的事也就忘得干干净净了。
　　大约一个星期之后，我正跟一只叫格利兹的大灰熊待在一起，它是我最喜欢的“客人”之一。
　　六年前，当这只灰熊被送到我们这儿的时候只是一只小孤熊，它在蒙大拿州给火车撞了之后，被一个黑足部落的印第安人救了下来。在蒙大拿一家医院的特别护理室昏迷了六天，最终还是留下神经损伤和右眼失明的后遗症。灰熊逐渐康复，但很明显它已经十分习惯和人生活在一起，而且神经损伤过大，也不适宜再回到野外生活。因此，它成了这儿的一名永久居民。
　　一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。除了在交配和哺乳期，它们都独来独往。可是这只灰熊却喜欢人。我喜欢跟格利兹在一起，经常给它特别照料。即使这样做也需要小心谨慎，要知道一只560磅重的家伙可在无意中给人以很大伤害。
　　7月的一天下午，我走近格利兹的笼子，作每日例行看望。它刚喂过，吃的是蔬菜、水果、狗食、鱼和鸡混在一起的杂拌。灰熊正躺着，前爪抱着桶吃着东西，我突然看见有一个桔黄色的东西从黑刺莓灌木丛里闪出，钻进了灰熊的笼子。
　　正是那只丢失的小猫。现在可能有六周大了，体重绝超不过十盎司。平常的话，我会担心这样小的动物会不会饿死。可是这只猫却犯了个严重的错误，恐怕它要厄运临头了。
　　我该怎么办?我担心要是进笼子去救它，那猫会受惊吓而朝灰熊径直跑去。于是我就原地不动，静观事态发展，暗暗祈祷它别靠那庞大的灰熊太近。
　　可是事与愿违，那猫却走近体大腰圆的灰熊，冲它“喵呜”，“喵呜”地叫着。我吓得闭上了眼。对任何正常的熊来说，那猫会成为餐后的甜点。灰熊瞧着它。我看着它朝猫举起前爪，不禁倒吸了口气，随时准备看那猫挨上致命的一巴掌。
　　可是灰熊却把爪子伸进了食桶，抓出一块鸡肉，朝饥肠辘辘的小猫扔去。
　　小猫窜上去，叼着它迅速钻进了灌木丛去吃。
　　我如释重负地叹了口气。那猫真走运!在我们庇养的16只熊中，它碰上了一只能容忍它的熊，一只绝无仅有的能与它共享午餐的熊。
　　几周后，我又看见猫在分享灰熊的食物。这一回，小猫在熊身上蹭，“呜呜”地叫，格利兹弯下身来，把它举起放在颈背上。打那以后，它们的友谊迅速发展了。我们管小猫叫“猫猫”。
　　这些日子猫猫总是和灰熊一起进食。猫猫顺着熊身往上蹭，用小爪子拍它的鼻子，从隐处袭击它，甚至和熊睡在一起。虽然格利兹是只性情温和的灰熊，但熊的温和并不都是那么轻柔的。有一回格利兹不小心踩了猫猫。它知道自己做了什么时，显得很害怕。有时候灰熊叼住猫猫的颈背，要把它举起来，可却叼住了猫猫的整个脑袋。不过猫猫似乎并不介意这些。
　　猫猫和灰熊之间的爱是那么纯真和简单，不受物种和大小的约束。它们都成功地度过了困难的初识阶段。但远非如此，它们为找到各自的朋友而感到无比高兴。