為什么松鼠喜歡呆在樹(shù)上，而花栗鼠更喜歡呆在地面上?

為什么松鼠喜歡呆在樹(shù)上，而花栗鼠更喜歡呆在地面上?

At first glance, it's easy to mistake a squirrel for a chipmunk. Especially when you spot one, twitching and darting across the yard like an electrified muppet.

乍一看，人們很容易把松鼠誤認(rèn)為是花栗鼠。特別是當(dāng)你看到一個(gè)像電氣化的提線木偶般顫動(dòng)并快速穿過(guò)院子的動(dòng)物時(shí)。

Over winter, chipmunks slow down and eat less in their underground bunkers. (Photo: colacat/Shutterstock)

But given a closer look, the differences between these rodents become obvious. Chipmunks are smaller. They have stripes on their heads and much shorter tails. They even make different sounds — clucks and chirps compared to the que que que of Eastern gray squirrels.

但是近距離觀察的話，這兩個(gè)嚙齒類(lèi)動(dòng)物之間的區(qū)別還是很明顯的?；ɡ跏篌w型更小一點(diǎn)，它們的頭上有條紋，而且尾巴更短，它們的叫聲也不同——咯咯聲和 啾啾聲，不同于東部灰松鼠的唧唧聲。

The vague similarities make sense considering the last time these animals shared a common ancestor was around 20 million years ago. Chipmunks and squirrels — along with groundhogs and prairie dogs — are members of the same family: Sciuridae.

考慮到這些動(dòng)物最后一次共享同一個(gè)祖先是在2000萬(wàn)年前，這種模糊的相似性是有意義的?；ɡ跏?、松鼠、土撥鼠和草原犬鼠同屬花栗鼠科。

But millions of years is a long time to adapt physically and behaviorally to different environments. And squirrels and chipmunks, in many parts of the world, used that time to become very different critters.

但是數(shù)百萬(wàn)年是一段很長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間，足以來(lái)適應(yīng)不同的環(huán)境。而松鼠和花栗鼠，在世界的許多地方，利用這段時(shí)間變成了非常不同的生物。

One difference, however, seems to be the norm no matter where these animals are found.

然而，無(wú)論在哪里看到這些動(dòng)物，有一個(gè)不同之處似乎是常態(tài)。

Chipmunks spend most of their time on the ground, or under it. And tree squirrels prefer to live in, well, trees.

花栗鼠大部分時(shí)間都在地面或地下度過(guò)，而松鼠更喜歡住在樹(shù)上。

Ever wonder why that is?

有想過(guò)這是為什么嗎?

A 7-year-old named Audrey did. She wrote to The Conversation recently asking the very same question.

一個(gè)叫奧德麗的7歲孩子在最近的談話中也提出了同樣的問(wèn)題。

The answer has a lot to do with how chipmunks and squirrels spend their winters. Like tiny survivalists with a paranoia streak, chipmunks winter in vast underground bunkers. Those homes, complete with camouflaged entrances, can stretch for as long as 30 feet, as LiveScience explains. And all of that space for a single occupant. That’s the kind of security a nervous chipmunk evidently needs to fall into the long winter sleep known as torpor.

答案與花栗鼠和松鼠如何過(guò)冬有很大關(guān)系?；ɡ跏笤诰薮蟮牡叵卵隗w中過(guò)冬，就像那些偏執(zhí)的生存主義者一樣。據(jù)《生活科學(xué)》網(wǎng)站報(bào)道，這些帶有隱蔽入口的房屋最長(zhǎng)可達(dá)30英尺。所有的空間只留給一個(gè)人。這是一種安全感，一只緊張的花栗鼠顯然需要進(jìn)入漫長(zhǎng)的被稱(chēng)為麻木的冬眠。

Not to be confused with hibernation, torpor is more like extreme laziness. Before the cold season, chipmunks don't pack on the calories like hibernating bears. Instead, they stuff their cheeks with nuts, curl up into a little ball, reduce their body temperature and even their heart rate. That way, when they need to wake up in a snap, or get a little nippish, they can pop out even mid-winter, for a bite to eat.

不要和冬眠混淆，麻木更像是極度的懶惰。在寒冷的季節(jié)到來(lái)之前，花栗鼠不會(huì)像冬眠的熊一樣增加體重。相反，他們用堅(jiān)果填滿(mǎn)臉頰，蜷縮成一個(gè)小球，降低體溫，甚至心率。這樣，當(dāng)它們需要快速醒來(lái)，或者稍微有點(diǎn)特殊情況的時(shí)候，它們甚至可以在隆冬的時(shí)候出來(lái)吃點(diǎn)東西。

For squirrels, a tree is both a home and a pantry, stocked with enough food to get them through winter. (Photo: Korobcorp/Shutterstock)

Tree squirrels, on the other hand, don't hibernate at all. Instead, as The Conversation notes, they hang out in the relative safety of trees, which also happen to double as their pantries. You may have noticed how busy tree squirrels are in the fall, scavenging every last seed and nut they can find and stocking their tree homes with enough food to get them through winter.

但是松鼠根本不冬眠。相反，正如《對(duì)話網(wǎng)》中提到的，它們?cè)谙鄬?duì)安全的樹(shù)下閑逛，而樹(shù)恰好也是它們的儲(chǔ)藏室。你可能已經(jīng)注意到，在秋天，松鼠很忙碌，它們會(huì)搜尋它們能找到的每一顆種子和堅(jiān)果，為它們的樹(shù)屋儲(chǔ)備足夠過(guò)冬的食物。

Although tree squirrels are awake over winter, you won't see many of them. That's because they're basically Netflixing and chilling in their cozy trees.

雖然松鼠在冬天是醒著的，但你也不會(huì)看到很多。那是因?yàn)樗鼈兓旧鲜窃谒鼈兪孢m的樹(shù)上“上網(wǎng)”和放松。

Chipmunks, on the other hand, are half-asleep — and barricaded below ground for the long haul.

另一方面，花栗鼠半睡半醒，躲在地下度過(guò)漫長(zhǎng)冬季。