饥饿的猫有时会吃人的尸体。一个可怕的实验揭示了其中的奥秘

饥饿的猫有时会吃人的尸体。一个可怕的实验揭示了其中的奥秘

A decomposing body might gross people out, but for many creatures, it's a bounty, including smaller creatures not widely known for their human flesh-eating habits.

腐烂的尸体可能会让人觉得恶心，但对很多生物来说，这是一种恩惠，包括那些不以人类食肉习惯而闻名的小生物。

Case in point: a new study details how feral cats were caught on camera at a decomposition research facility in Colorado, slipping over the fence to munch on human corpses.

一个恰当的例子:一项新的研究详细描述了在科罗拉多州的一个分解研究机构，摄像机是如何捕捉到野猫越过围栏去吃人类尸体的。

They seemed to have a preference. The two separate feral cats, one tabby, the other black, were observed repeatedly returning to specific corpses to feed.

他们似乎有自己的偏好。这两只野猫，一只是虎斑猫，另一只是黑猫，被观察到反复回到特定的尸体上进食。

Although not unheard of, such behaviour in cats is rarely documented; if anything, it mostly seems to occur in pet cats locked in a house with a deceased owner. But observing it in the wild, so to speak, could help understand the role of cats in the overall corpse scavenger profile.

尽管并非闻所未闻，但这种行为在猫身上却鲜有记录;如果说有什么区别的话，那就是它似乎主要发生在宠物猫和已故主人关在一起的时候。但是在野外观察它，可以这么说，可以帮助我们理解猫在尸体清道夫整体形象中的角色。

As the researchers put it in their paper: "Due to the prevalence of feral cats throughout the United States and the world, understanding the patterns and behaviours of these scavengers can assist in distinguishing between perimortem and postmortem tissue damage".

正如研究人员在他们的论文中所说:“由于野猫在美国和世界各地的普遍存在，了解这些食腐动物的模式和行为有助于区分死后和死后的组织损伤。”

In decomposition research facilities like this, human corpses are left outdoors so that scientists can observe the changes over time wrought by the natural environment. This can help forensic scientists better determine the timing and cause of death for bodies that are found in an advanced state of decay.

在这样的分解研究设施中，人类的尸体被放在户外，这样科学家们就可以观察自然环境随时间的变化。这可以帮助法医科学家更好地确定时间和死亡原因的尸体被发现在腐烂的高级状态。

Because scavenging animals, both nocturnal and diurnal, are a part of this natural environment, game cameras are set up to film their comings and goings. And it was this kind of camera feed at Colorado Mesa University's Forensic Investigation Research Station that revealed two feral cats, born and raised wild, sneaking in for meals.

因为食腐动物，包括夜行性动物和昼行性动物，都是这个自然环境的一部分，所以设置了游戏摄像机来记录它们的来来去去。在科罗拉多梅萨大学的法医调查研究站，正是这类摄像机拍摄到的画面，揭示了两只野生出生和长大的野猫，偷偷溜进来觅食。

It's impossible to tell if a cat is feral just by looking at it, of course. But the facility in question is far from any private residences, and well outside the regular range of a house cat. Given the cats returned on consecutive nights, it seems reasonable to assume that they were wild, the researchers said.

当然，仅仅通过观察是不可能判断猫是否是野生的。但这里的设施远离私人住宅，远远超出了家猫的正常活动范围。研究人员说，考虑到这些猫连续几晚回来，我们有理由认为它们是野生的。

The first cat, the tabby, started visiting the corpse of a 79-year-old woman, whose body had been chilled before being brought to the facility and laid outdoors.

第一只猫，虎斑猫，开始拜访一名79岁妇女的尸体，她的尸体在被带到该设施并放置在户外之前已经被冷冻。

Although the cat mostly scavenged upon the woman slightly out of the camera's range, damage to the corpse indicated it had focused its attention on the soft tissue of the left arm and chest - mainly skin and fat - near where needles had been placed under the skin for research purposes.

虽然猫主要回收的女人稍微出相机的范围,破坏尸体表示它已经把他的注意力集中在软组织的左手臂和胸部——主要是皮肤和脂肪——在针被置于皮肤为研究目的。

For unrelated reasons, a cage was placed over the body for a week, during which time the cat couldn't get to it. After the cage was removed, the cat returned; it came back to eat the body almost nightly for 35 days - showing absolutely no interest in 40 other bodies nearby.

由于不相关的原因，一个笼子被放置在尸体上一个星期，在此期间，猫无法接近它。笼子移开后，猫又回来了;35天来，它几乎每晚都回来吃尸体——对附近的40具尸体毫无兴趣。

The second cat, the black one, visited the body of an autopsied 70-year-old man. It munched along the autopsy incision on the left shoulder, eating the soft tissues of the left arm, the shoulder, and the abdomen.

第二只猫，黑色的那只，拜访了一位70岁的老人的尸体。它咀嚼着尸体左肩的切口，吃着左臂、肩膀和腹部的软组织。

The cat returned for 10 of 16 nights, disappeared for around a month, and then returned to the body two more nights in a row. Like the tabby, it showed no interest in any of the other nearby corpses.

这只猫回来了16个晚上中的10个，消失了大约一个月，然后又连续两个晚上回到尸体上。和虎斑猫一样，它对附近的任何尸体都不感兴趣。

It's actually pretty well established that house-cats (and dogs) will take a nibble of a deceased owner. And, well, it makes sense: if Tom Tildrum is locked in a house with a cornucopia of ripe meat, and no other food source, of course he will make do with what's available.

事实证明，家猫(和狗)会咬主人的尸体。而且，嗯，这是有道理的:如果汤姆蒂尔德姆被锁在一个满是熟肉的屋子里，没有其他食物来源，当然他会将就着用现有的东西。

Generally, such pets go for soft, exposed bits. This can include (warning, very graphic images at next link) the lips and nose, or the hands and feet. The feral cats, notably, did not go near these regions, perhaps partially because the bodies were unclothed and other parts of the body were easier to access.

一般来说，这样的宠物喜欢柔软、裸露的部分。这可能包括(警告，非常生动的图像在下一个链接)嘴唇和鼻子，或手和脚。值得注意的是，野猫不会靠近这些区域，可能部分原因是尸体没有穿衣服，身体的其他部分更容易接近。

In both cases reported here, the feral cats targeted areas where the skin had been previously penetrated, the researchers wrote.

研究人员写道:“在这两个案例中，野猫的目标都是皮肤曾经被穿透的地方。”

Both cats showed preference for bodies in relatively early decomposition. Scavenging began when the bodies showed early signs of decomposition and ended at the onset of moist decomposition. The cessation of scavenging at the onset of moist decomposition may be explained by felids' preference for fresh tissue.

“这两只猫都表现出对尸体的偏好，而且尸体腐烂的时间相对较早。当尸体出现腐烂的早期迹象时开始清除，在潮湿腐烂开始时结束。在潮湿分解开始时停止清除可能是由于猫科动物喜欢新鲜的组织。”

Although it can be confronting to think of our furry pets merrily chowing down on our cooling flesh, the research is important for establishing scavenger behaviour profiles to aid forensic analysis.

虽然想到我们毛茸茸的宠物会欢快地啃食我们正在变冷的肉会让人感到害怕，但这项研究对于建立食腐动物的行为模式来帮助法医分析是很重要的。

It also helps us better understand our feline friends. Although cats are predators, they're also opportunistic, and not above scavenging snacks to get a feed. Now we also know that, in the wild as well as at home, those snacks include… us.

它也帮助我们更好地了解我们的猫朋友。虽然猫是食肉动物，但它们也是机会主义者，而且不会以觅食为目的。现在我们也知道，在野外和在家里，这些零食包括我们。