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1、 The Cat and the Grizzly “ 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 Rehabilitation1Center, I had more than enough to do to keep up with the wild animals in our care. But somehow, loca
2、l people who didnt have the heart2 to take their unwanted kittens to the pound3often dumped them over our fence. They knew wed try to live-trap them, spay4 or neuter5 them, and place them through our network of approximately 100 volunteers. That days brood6contained four kittens. We managed to trap
3、three of them, but somehow one little rascal7got away. In twenty-four acres of park, there wasnt much we could do once the kitten disappeared- and many other animals required our attention. It wasnt long before I forgot completely about the lost kitten as I went about my daily routine. A week or so
4、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. Hed been rescued by a Blackfoot Indian, had lain unconscious for six days in a Montana hospita
5、ls 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.
6、Except for when they mate or raise cubs, theyre 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
7、approached his cage for our daily visit. Hed 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 brambles12inside the grizzly
8、s pen13. It was the missing kitten. Now probably six weeks old, it couldnt 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
9、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 wouldnt get too close to the huge grizzly. But it did. The tiny kitten approached the enormous bear and let out a purr14and a
10、mew15.I winced16. With any normal bear, that cat would be dessert.Griz looked over at him. I cringed17as I watched him raise his forepaw toward the cat and braced myself for18the 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
11、 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! Hed approached the one bear of the sixteen we housed that would tolerate him-and the one in a million19whod share lunch. A couple of we
12、eks 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 scruff20of 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 b
13、ear, bats him on the nose, ambushes21him, even sleeps with him. And although Griz is a gentle bear, a bears gentleness is not all that gentle. Once Griz accidentally stepped on Cat. He looked horrified when he realized what hed done. And sometimes when Griz tries to pick up Cat by the scruff of the
14、cats neck, he winds up grabbing Cats whole head. But Cat doesnt 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 f
15、riend. 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
16、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
