英语听力：猛玛象进城记—12

And farming fuelled the growth of another habitat, one that would become an even bigger challenge to North America's wildlife. The modern city was born. The city is an artificial environment, built around the needs of millions of people, and yet it also offers unexpected opportunities for wildlife.

This burrowing owl lives in one of the biggest high-tech urban sprawls of North America. It maintains a tenacious foothold in Silicon Valley. Burrowing owls originally lived on open prairies, but they've been forced to adapt to city life because the urban environment has grown around them. They survive by occupying any tiny sliver of grassland that remains. Like many city animals, they take advantage of the darkness to protect them and move around mostly at night. These adaptable birds traditionally nest in the burrows of prairie dogs. But in the city, a piece of old pipe will do. The parents split their duties. The father does much of the hunting. But in this case, it's the mother that actually feeds the chicks. The burrowing owl's ability to hover gives it time to judge an attack before pouncing on its prey.