为什么松鼠喜欢呆在树上，而花栗鼠更喜欢呆在地面上?

为什么松鼠喜欢呆在树上，而花栗鼠更喜欢呆在地面上?

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，人们很容易把松鼠误认为是花栗鼠。特别是当你看到一个像电气化的提线木偶般颤动并快速穿过院子的动物时。

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.

但是近距离观察的话，这两个啮齿类动物之间的区别还是很明显的。花栗鼠体型更小一点，它们的头上有条纹，而且尾巴更短，它们的叫声也不同——咯咯声和 啾啾声，不同于东部灰松鼠的唧唧声。

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.

考虑到这些动物最后一次共享同一个祖先是在2000万年前，这种模糊的相似性是有意义的。花栗鼠、松鼠、土拨鼠和草原犬鼠同属花栗鼠科。

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.

但是数百万年是一段很长的时间，足以来适应不同的环境。而松鼠和花栗鼠，在世界的许多地方，利用这段时间变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，无论在哪里看到这些动物，有一个不同之处似乎是常态。

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

花栗鼠大部分时间都在地面或地下度过，而松鼠更喜欢住在树上。

Ever wonder why that is?

有想过这是为什么吗?

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

一个叫奥德丽的7岁孩子在最近的谈话中也提出了同样的问题。

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.

答案与花栗鼠和松鼠如何过冬有很大关系。花栗鼠在巨大的地下掩体中过冬，就像那些偏执的生存主义者一样。据《生活科学》网站报道，这些带有隐蔽入口的房屋最长可达30英尺。所有的空间只留给一个人。这是一种安全感，一只紧张的花栗鼠显然需要进入漫长的被称为麻木的冬眠。

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，麻木更像是极度的懒惰。在寒冷的季节到来之前，花栗鼠不会像冬眠的熊一样增加体重。相反，他们用坚果填满脸颊，蜷缩成一个小球，降低体温，甚至心率。这样，当它们需要快速醒来，或者稍微有点特殊情况的时候，它们甚至可以在隆冬的时候出来吃点东西。

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《对话网》中提到的，它们在相对安全的树下闲逛，而树恰好也是它们的储藏室。你可能已经注意到，在秋天，松鼠很忙碌，它们会搜寻它们能找到的每一颗种子和坚果，为它们的树屋储备足够过冬的食物。

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.

虽然松鼠在冬天是醒着的，但你也不会看到很多。那是因为它们基本上是在它们舒适的树上“上网”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，躲在地下度过漫长冬季。