VOA新闻杂志2023 救助受冻蝙蝠（在线收听）

Recent cold weather in the Southwestern state of Texas almost claimed some unusual animal victims — bats.

最近美国得克萨斯州西南部的寒冷天气几乎害死了一些不同寻常的动物——蝙蝠。

Bats are the only mammals that can fly.

蝙蝠是唯一会飞的哺乳动物。

About 1,600 bats had gone into shock and fallen to the ground during unusually cold weather in the city of Houston.

在休斯敦，异常寒冷的天气使得大约1600只蝙蝠休克摔落在地。

But the bats found a temporary home for several days at the home of a director of the Houston Humane Society, a nonprofit group.

但蝙蝠在非营利性组织休斯敦人道协会的一位负责人的家中找到了一个临时住所，暂时住了几天。

The bats stayed in the attic – an upper part of the house that served as a temporary recovery space.

蝙蝠待在阁楼里，阁楼指的是位于房子顶部、用作临时恢复空间的地方。

Over 1,500 of the bats have been or will be released back to their homes -- two Houston-area bridges.

超过1500只蝙蝠已经或将被放归它们的家——休斯敦地区的两座桥。

Mary Warwick is the wildlife director at the Houston Humane Society.

玛丽·沃里克是休斯敦人道协会的野生动物主管。

She said she was out doing holiday shopping when the freezing winds reminded her that she had not heard how the area's bats were doing.

她说，当她假期外出购物时，刺骨的寒风提醒她，她还没有听说过该地区的蝙蝠过得怎么样。

So she drove to the bridge where over 100 bats looked to be dead as they lay frozen on the ground.

所以她开车去了桥上，在那里有100多只蝙蝠冻僵在地上，看起来像是已经死了。

But during her 40-minute drive home, Warwick said they began to come back to life.

但在她开车回家的40分钟里，沃里克说它们开始苏醒过来。

The bats made sounds and moved around in a box she had placed on her heated passenger seat for warmth.

蝙蝠在她放在加热的乘客座位上的盒子里发出声音，四处走动。

She put the bats in incubators and returned to the bridge twice a day to collect more.

她把蝙蝠放在恒温箱里，每天两次回到桥上收集更多的蝙蝠。

Two days later, she got a call about more than 900 bats rescued from a bridge in nearby Pearland, Texas.

两天后，她接到一个电话，说有900多只蝙蝠从得克萨斯州皮兰市附近的一座桥上获救。

On the third and fourth day, more people showed up to rescue bats from the Waugh Bridge in Houston.

在第三天和第四天，更多的人出现在休斯敦的沃桥上拯救蝙蝠。

A special transportation effort was set up to get the bats to Warwick.

为了把蝙蝠运到沃里克家，他们专门安排了运输工作。

Warwick said each of the bats were warmed in an incubator until their body temperature rose.

沃里克说，每只蝙蝠都在恒温器中取暖，直到它们的体温上升。

Then, they received fluids given to them under their skin.

然后，在它们的皮下注射液体。

Warwick said there were too many bats for one person to feed and care for.

沃里克说，蝙蝠太多了，一个人喂不过来，也照顾不过来。

The Humane Society's current buildings did not have the necessary space, so Warwick and others put the bats in her attic.

休斯敦人道协会目前所在的楼上没有足够的空间，所以沃里克和其他人把蝙蝠放在她的阁楼上。

The bats were separated by colony in containers usually used for dogs.

蝙蝠被按群分开放在通常用来养狗的容器里。

There, they were able to reach a state of hibernation that did not require them to eat.

在那里，它们能够进入不需要进食的冬眠状态。

"As soon as I wake up in the morning I wonder: 'How are they doing, I need to go see them,' " Warwick said.

沃里克说：“我早上一醒来就想：‘它们怎么样了，我得去看看它们’”。

Warwick said over 100 bats died because of the cold and the fall from the bridge but the others are being or have been released.

沃里克说，有100多只蝙蝠死于寒冷和从桥上坠落，但其他蝙蝠正在或已经被放走。

The humane society is now raising money to build a special room for bats at the society, Warwick added.

沃里克还说，休斯敦人道协会目前正在筹集资金，以在该协会的楼上为蝙蝠建造一个特殊的房间。

Warwick said the society's entire animal rehabilitation team will be vaccinated against rabies and trained in bat rehabilitation as they prepare to move into a larger building with the special bat room.

沃里克说，协会的整个动物康复团队将接种狂犬病疫苗，并接受蝙蝠康复培训，因为它们准备搬进一个有特殊蝙蝠室的更大建筑里。

"That would really help in these situations where we continue to see...strange weather...come through," she said. "We could really use more space to rehabilitate the bats."

她说：“在奇怪的天气继续的情况下，这真的很有帮助。我们真的可以利用更多的空间来恢复蝙蝠的健康。”

I'm John Russell.

约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。