給你看一條會裝死的蛇

這條蛇受到威脅時會裝死

The North American hognose snake, aka “puff adder, aka “zombie snake”, has a taste for the dramatic. When threatened, this natural-born artist likes to play dead in the most overacted way imaginable.

北美豬鼻蛇，名“撲腹蛇”，又名“僵尸蛇”，喜歡演戲。當(dāng)受到威脅時，這位天生的藝術(shù)家喜歡以最夸張的方式裝死。

The hognose snake got its first nickname, “puff adder”, for its main defense mechanism. To scare away threats, it sucks in air and spreads the skin around its head and neck like a cobra, hissing loudly and pretending to prepare for a vicious snake. But if that doesn’t work, it has another intriguing trick up its sleeve. And that’s where the second nickname, “zombie snake”, comes in. According to the Amphibians and Reptiles of North Carolina, if a predator isn’t impressed by the snake’s threatening display, it “will then feign death by opening its mouth, rolling over on its back, and writhing around. If turned over onto its belly, it will immediately roll again onto its back”.

豬鼻蛇因其主要的防御機(jī)制而獲得了它的第一個綽號“撲腹蛇”。為了嚇跑對方，它會吸進(jìn)空氣，并像眼鏡蛇一樣把皮膚鋪在頭部和頸部，發(fā)出響亮的嘶嘶聲，假裝要對付一條兇惡的蛇。但如果這行不通，它還有另一個有趣的花招，這也是第二個綽號“僵尸蛇”的由來。根據(jù)北卡羅來納州兩棲類和爬行類動物的說法，如果捕食者對這條蛇所發(fā)出的威脅表現(xiàn)的不以為然，它“就會張開嘴，翻身，扭動身體，假裝死亡”，如果把它翻過來，它還會立即翻回去。

Writhing around isn’t quite the most accurate description of this actor’s performance. It’s more like squirming that goes on for quite a bit before it finally freezes in place, having seemingly succumbed to a gruesome end. If a person is familiar with this Oscar-worthy performance and pick up the hognose snake, it will start moving again, and in rare cases even bite in desperation. But its natural enemies don’t have opposable thumbs or a keen eye for acting, for that matter, so they can’t check if it’s actually dead. Believe it or not, in most cases, they actually walk away from its “corpse”.

對于它的表演，扭動身體并不是最準(zhǔn)確的描述。這更像是扭動了很長一段時間，最終不得不死的一種可怕結(jié)局。如果有人了解這一把戲，把豬鼻蛇拿起來，它就會重新開始扭動，在極少數(shù)情況下甚至?xí)^望地咬人。但它的天敵們并不會像人一樣，有一雙敏銳的眼睛能分辨它是否是真死。不過在大多數(shù)情況下，天敵們真的會離開它的“尸體”，信不信由你。

Scientists know that the eastern hognose snake’s “play dead” trick is a defense mechanism, but they haven’t yet figured out why it’s actually effective. Many of its natural enemies don’t shy away from juicy, fresh carrion, but for some reason they choose to stay away from a “dead” hognose most of the time. Some experts suggest that it may have something to do with the dramatic way in which the artist fakes its death, which may be perceived as a sign of disease or poisoning by the predator.

科學(xué)家們知道東方豬鼻蛇的“裝死”其實是一種防御機(jī)制，但他們還沒有弄清楚為什么會有效。它的許多天敵對這種剛死的獵物并不回避，但出于某種原因，天敵們最終會選擇遠(yuǎn)離這條“死蛇”。一些專家提出，這可能與它夸張的裝死方式有關(guān)，那種變態(tài)的扭動會讓人聯(lián)想到患病或是中毒。

Reptile Magazine writes that the snake may have a way of storing toxins from the toads it loves to feast on, and somehow releases it from its body while squirming in agony, to deter predators from coming close to its “dead” body. These are just theories though, but at the end of the day what matters is that the act works.

《爬行動物》雜志寫道，這種蛇喜歡吃蟾蜍，它可能會從蟾蜍身上儲存毒素，并在痛苦地扭動身體時以某種方式將毒素釋放出來，以阻止捕食者靠近它“死去”的身體。雖然這些只是理論，但說到底，重要的是這個行為真的有效。

Interestingly, only the North American variety of hognose snake plays dead. Its South American brother relies on its vivid colors to keep threats at bay.

有趣的是，只有北美品種的豬鼻蛇會裝死。它的南美兄弟則會依靠鮮艷的顏色來抵御威脅。