美国国家公共电台 NPR Growers Are Beaming Over The Success Of Lasers To Stave Off Thieving Birds

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Forget about scarecrows. Some farmers are using laser beams to shoot thieving birds from their fields. From the berry fields of Oregon, Tom Banse of the Northwest News Network brings us this report.

TOM BANSE: Blueberry and cherry grower Justin Meduri previously¹ hired a falconer to protect his fruit from ravenous² starlings. But the falcons³ were expensive, temperamental and sometimes flew away. Then last year, he became one of the first farmers in the U.S. to install automated⁴ lasers.

JUSTIN MEDURI: You're creating this kind of, like, laser light show at 4 in the morning that looks like a laser light show because you're crossing over these erratic⁵ patterns. Well, that's the time when birds come out.

BANSE: The sweeping⁶ green laser beams emanate⁷ from what look like security cameras atop metal poles. By the time I visit, the lasers are in a daytime cycle. In broad sunlight, the human eye can only see green dots dancing across the berry-laden bushes. Meduri is thrilled with the results.

MEDURI: They're running right now as we speak. And you're out here with over 175 acres of blueberries. (Clapping). And there's not one bird that you see flying around. So...

BANSE: The clapping would have made them come out?

MEDURI: Oh, yeah. They spook. (Clapping) So it's pretty nice.

BANSE: A Netherlands-based company called Bird Control Group made the six lasers that Meduri first rented, then bought. Bird Control Group got started in Europe using lasers to shoo pesky birds away from industrial sites and airports. In the U.S., berry fields, orchards⁸ and vineyard applications appear to be the most promising⁹. The company offers free laser safety training. And that's important because lasers can burn your eyes if you look into them. Bird Control Group says it programs its automated lasers to always shine the beam downward. It also recommends that fields be posted with signs to keep strangers out when lasers are in use. Researchers at Purdue University are leading an independent study into the risk of injury to the birds. Principal investigator¹⁰ Esteban Fernandez-Juricic says very little is known about whether lasers can fry the retinas in animal eyes.

ESTEBAN FERNANDEZ-JURICIC: What we're trying to assess is whether different levels of energy output of these lasers and different levels of exposure time could cause any kind of retinal injury of the animal. And these retinal injuries could potentially be pretty serious.

BANSE: Regardless, the director of North American business development for Bird Control Group is planning for rapid sales growth and expansion in sectors¹¹ such as oil refineries¹², warehouses¹³ and dairy feedlots. Wayne Ackermann says one automated laser unit costs around 9 1/2 thousand dollars. He says some of his initial sales have come from farmers trying to appease¹⁴ neighbors.

WAYNE ACKERMANN: One grower in eastern Washington was the first to bring it to my attention. He's a cherry grower. And he said he was having a combative¹⁵ relationship with one of his neighbors.

BANSE: The laser helped smooth things over because it's quiet, compared to traditional tools farmers used to repel¹⁶ birds such as propane cannons¹⁸...

(SOUNDBITE OF PROPANE CANNON¹⁷ FIRING)

BANSE: ...Or squawk boxes.

(SOUNDBITE OF SQUAWK BOX SOUND)

BANSE: The lasers are friendlier than using poison or a 12-gauge shotgun as well. For NPR News, I'm Tom Banse near Jefferson, Oregon.

(SOUNDBITE OF MIAO'S "OUR PATH TO..")

1 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

2 ravenous   

adj.极饿的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• The ravenous children ate everything on the table.饿极了的孩子把桌上所有东西吃掉了。
• Most infants have a ravenous appetite.大多数婴儿胃口极好。

3 falcons   

n.猎鹰( falcon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Peregrine falcons usually pluck the feathers and strip the flesh off their bird prey. 游隼捕到鸟类猎物时，通常是先拔掉它们的羽毛，再把肉撕下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Though he doubted the wisdom of using falcons, Dr. de la Fuente undertook the project. 虽然德·拉·富恩特博士怀疑使用游隼是否明智，但他还是执行了这项计划。 来自辞典例句

4 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

5 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

6 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

7 emanate   

v.发自，来自，出自

参考例句：

• Waves emanate from the same atom source.波是由同一原子辐射的。
• These chemicals can emanate certain poisonous gases.这些化学药品会散发出某些有毒的气味。

8 orchards   

（通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园，把平地变成了粮仓。
• Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。

9 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

10 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

11 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

13 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

14 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。

15 combative   

adj.好战的；好斗的

参考例句：

• Mr. Obama has recently adopted a more combative tone.奥巴马总统近来采取了一种更有战斗性的语调。
• She believes that women are at least as combative as are.她相信女性至少和男性一样好斗。

16 repel   

v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥

参考例句：

• A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。
• Particles with similar electric charges repel each other.电荷同性的分子互相排斥。

17 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

18 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》