20 THE WILD ANIMALS

CHAPTER 20 THE WILD ANIMALS Wildlife can be very good for farmland. Insects pollinate the plants. Snakes eat the pests. The droppings of rodents and birds and every other animal act as a natural fertilizer. Roz wanted more of those helpful creatures on the farm, so she let the unused sections of land go wild. Up from the ground emerged native weeds, flowers, woody brambles. And with the wild plants came wild animals. But then some creatures came skulking around who were not helpful at all. It started when Roz noticed a

第二十章野生动物野生动物对农田很有好处。 昆虫给植物授粉。 蛇吃害虫。啮齿类动物、鸟类和其他动物的粪便都是天然肥料。 罗兹希望农场里有更多有用的生物，所以她让那些未被使用的土地野生化。 地上长出了原生的野草、花朵和木质的荆棘。 随着野生植物的出现，野生动物也来了。 但后来一些生物偷偷摸摸地跑来，一点帮助也没有。 当罗兹注意到一个

heavy scent floating on the breeze. She followed the scent out to a narrow strip of forest on the edge of the property. There were clumps of fur in the undergrowth and claw marks in the dirt. There was blood too. Lots of it. And then she found the carcass. A deer had recently been killed and eaten. The robot's head slowly spun around as she scanned the area. Not far from the carcass was a pile of droppings. It looked like it might have come from a dog. But Oscar wasn't large enough or ferocious enough to kill a deer. What kind of animal could have done this? Roz had been standing there at the edge of the property for a while. She imagined Mr. Shareef in his office, sitting at his computer, eyeing her location on the map. Any minute now, he would hobble out to his truck and come racing down the driveway to check on her. Roz didn't want to upset the man, so she left the carcass where it was and returned to her work. But from then on, she kept a careful watch for any more signs of trouble.

沉重的气味在微风中飘荡。 她循着气味来到庄园边缘的一片狭窄的森林地带。 灌木丛中有成堆的毛皮，泥土中有爪印。 还有血。很多。 然后她发现了尸体。 最近，一只鹿被杀死并吃掉了。 当她扫描这片区域时，机器人的头慢慢地转了起来。 离尸体不远处有一堆粪便。 它看起来像是一只狗的。 但是奥斯卡不够大，也不够凶猛，无法杀死一只鹿。 什么样的动物能做出这种事？ 罗兹在房子的边缘站了一会儿。 她想象着谢里夫坐在办公室的电脑前，盯着地图上她的位置。 现在，他随时都可能一瘸一拐地走到他的卡车旁，沿着车道飞奔过来查看她的情况。 罗兹不想让这个人不高兴，所以她把尸体留在原地，继续工作。 但从那以后，她就小心翼翼地监视着任何麻烦的迹象。