野猫与人类争“领土”
概述：在耶路撒冷，越来越多的野猫出没
Hints:
Bossa Nova
Jerusalem
Meow Mitzvah
主持&答疑：lsy34
校对&翻译&注解：cherryxyr
口语点评：lsy34
口语节目链接：http://bulo.hujiang.com/menu/2120/item/687041/http://t1.g.hjfile.cn/listen/201211/201211020846588308935.mp3I mentioned it to a neighbour who shrugged and said, "Just ignore them." Perhaps the most useless advice I've heard since "Blame it on the Bossa Nova." There are plenty of feral cats elsewhere in the Middle East, too. But the great thing about being a citizen of a former colonial power is almost any problem you ask about can be somehow traced back directly to your national door.
So there is a theory that feline population of Jerusalem began to expand when the city was under British rule between the wars when cats were introduced to control rats. As so often in government, yesterday's solution is now today's problem.
My battle with the cats over access to our bin shed is hardly the most pressing territorial issue in these parts of course but it has proved just as intractable as the others. An organisation called Meow Mitzvah is part of the search for a solution which will almost certainly involve a mass programme of spaying and neutralisation.
The midnight sounds of mating season at the moment suggest that the programme still has some distance to run. It's not the keening and the caterwauling I mind so much as the eerily human nature of the plangent cries, which can sound like anything from a baby crying to a couple of nightclub bouncers fighting in an alley. Let's just say those 2 million cats weren't produced with the aid of mood lighting and a box of chocolates.我把这讲给邻居听，他耸耸肩说：“无视它们就好了。”这应该是我继“怪巴沙诺瓦去吧”之后听到的最没用的建议。在中东的其它地区虽说也有大量野猫，但做为曾是殖民国家的公民的好处就是：提出的每个问题都可以直接追溯到自己的国家。
因此，有理论说猫数量的增加是因为在战争时期（此处指二战时期），处于英国的统治下的耶路撒冷政府引进了大量猫来控制老鼠的数量。和过去许多政府决策一样，以往的解决方案酿成了当今的社会问题。
当然，我和那些常来垃圾桶棚捣乱的猫咪之间的战争完全算不上是最需解决的领土争端，但同样十分棘手。一个名为“猫咪戒律”(Meow Mitzvah)的组织也在寻求解决办法，其中包括给母猫摘除卵巢并阉割公猫。
但到了交配季节，它们半夜发出的声响说明这一项目做的工作远远不够。我并不介意猫发出尖锐的叫春声，但人们天生害怕这种凄厉的声音，比如婴儿的哭声，或者两个夜总会保镖在小巷里的打斗声。我们姑且说那200万只猫咪不是在情绪照明灯和巧克力的帮助下产生的吧。
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