5 Tracking and trailing

Chapter Five TRACKING AND TRAILING They searched through the undergrowth for the mother armadillo, peering under clumps of ferns and around bushes. "I wonder how the babies lost their mother," Gustavo said, lifting a fern to check underneath. "Maybe something scared them and they ran away," Leah guessed.

他们在矮树丛中寻找母犰狳，在一丛丛蕨类植物下和灌木丛中寻找。 “我想知道这些婴儿是怎么失去母亲的，”古斯塔沃说着，举起一棵蕨类植物查看下面的情况。 “也许是什么东西把它们吓了一跳，它们就跑了，”利亚猜测。

"I bet it was the poachers," said Gustavo grimly. "Hey! Do you think the mother armadillo can tell her babies apart? They all look exactly the same to me!" Leah said, "Actually, they are exactly the same. Right down to their genes." Gustavo stared. "Like identical twins?" "Bingo!" said Leah. "Armadillos almost always have four identical babies. They're the only mammal that does." After a while, Gustavo called Leah over to see a little tunnel dug into the earth. It was about eight inches wide. "That's got to be the armadillo burrow," she said. "Hopefully, the mother is still inside! We need to figure out a way to lead her to the babies."

“我敢打赌是偷猎者干的，”古斯塔沃冷酷地说。 “嘿!你觉得犰狳妈妈能区分自己的孩子吗？ 它们在我看来都一模一样！”利亚说：“实际上，它们完全一样。 这完全取决于他们的基因。” Gustavo盯着。“就像同卵双胞胎？”“答对了！”莉亚说。 “犰狳几乎总是有四个相同的孩子。 它们是唯一会这么做的哺乳动物。” 过了一会儿，古斯塔沃把利亚叫过去，让她去看挖进地下的一条小隧道。 它大约有八英寸宽。 “那一定是犰狳洞，”她说。 “希望孩子的母亲还在里面！”我们得想个办法把她带到孩子们身边。”

"Maybe we could make a trail of fruit?" Gustavo suggested. "Great idea," said Leah, "except armadillos are mostly insectivores. That means they eat insects—just like Venus flytraps!" Leah directed Gustavo to look for rotten branches on the ground. Those were much more likely to have insects and grubs living inside them. Gustavo almost tripped over a whole rotten tree trunk covered in moss and vines. Leah peeled back a length of its spongy bark to reveal hundreds of scuttling bugs underneath.

“也许我们可以留下一串水果？”Gustavo建议。 “好主意，”利亚说，“不过犰狳大多是食虫动物。 这意味着它们吃昆虫——就像捕蝇草一样！”利亚指示古斯塔沃在地上寻找腐烂的树枝。 它们更有可能有昆虫和蛴螬住在里面。 古斯塔沃差点被一根长满苔藓和藤蔓的腐烂树干绊倒。 利亚剥开一段海绵状的树皮，露出了下面数百只蠕动的虫子。

Gustavo immediately scooped them up in his cupped hands. Leah could tell he didn't like it very much, but he was putting up with it for the armadillos' sake. She held out her own hands and he tipped some of the creepy-crawlies into them.

Gustavo立刻用双手捧起它们。 莉娅看得出来他不太喜欢，但为了犰狳的缘故，他还是忍着了。 她伸出自己的双手，他把一些令人毛骨悚然的小爬虫倒了进去。

Soon they had made a bug trail between the baby armadillos and the burrow. They hid behind some bushes to watch and wait, keeping very still and making as little noise as possible. Gustavo suddenly frowned. "Leah, did you walk over that way at all?" He pointed at a patch of crushed vegetation. "No, why?" Leah asked. "Could it be an armadillo trail?" Gustavo wondered. "Maybe we've got it wrong, and the mother went off in that direction."

很快，他们就在小犰狳和洞穴之间留下了一条虫迹。 他们躲在灌木丛后面观察和等待，保持安静，尽量不发出声音。 古斯塔沃突然皱起眉头。“莉亚,你这样走过去呢?”他指着一片被压碎的植被。 “没有,为什么?”利亚问。“会不会是犰狳的足迹？”Gustavo很好奇。 “也许我们搞错了，那位母亲往那个方向去了。”

Leah shook her head. "It's too big for an armadillo," she said. "It's all trampled down, like a person ran through it…" She gasped. "Gustavo, I think you've found evidence the poachers came this—oh, look!" A fully grown armadillo was nosing her way out of the burrow. Leah and Gustavo grinned at each other. It was the mother! But would she notice the bug trail? The mother armadillo sniffed all around her—and gobbled up one of the bugs. "It's working!" Gustavo whispered. "I hope she finds her babies soon," Leah whispered back. "We've got a trail of our own to follow!"

利亚摇了摇头。“这对犰狳来说太大了，”她说。 “都被踩坏了，就像有人从里面跑过……”她喘着气说。 “古斯塔沃，我想你已经找到了偷猎者来过这里的证据——哦，看！”一只成年犰狳用鼻子嗅出了洞穴。 利亚和古斯塔沃相视而笑。 是母亲！但她会注意到虫子的痕迹吗？ 母犰狳四处嗅了嗅，然后吞下了一只小虫子。 “这是工作!”Gustavo低声说。 “我希望她能尽快找到她的孩子，”利亚小声回答。 “我们也有自己的路要走！”