每日英語跟讀 Ep.K509: About animals - Shakin’ bacon? Belgian researchers study pigs’ response to music

Scientists in Belgium are investigating a farmer’s claim that different styles of music affect the behavior of his pigs.

比利時科學家正在調查一名農夫所說，不同類型的音樂會影響其豬隻行為之事。

Piet Paesmans first noticed the phenomenon when his son started singing a tune in the barn during a sluggish insemination session his sows seemed excited and started wagging their tails.

皮耶特‧帕斯曼斯最先注意到這個現象，是在一次閒適的授精作業時，他的兒子在豬舍裡唱起一段旋律，而母豬似乎很興奮，開始搖擺尾巴。

Paesmans has since created a playlist to coincide with different parts of the day.

在那之後，帕斯曼斯設計了一份播放清單，在一天中不同時段播放。

"Jolly dance songs are the biggest hits. When it’s really dynamic they even start dancing around and frolicking. Rock music is too strong, they don’t like it," he said.

他說：「歡快的舞曲最受歡迎。當歌曲真的很動感時，牠們甚至會開始跳舞作樂。搖滾樂則太強烈，牠們不喜歡。」

"A top athlete needs to be completely fit not only physically, but also mentally. And that’s just the same for pigs. When they are slaughtered, you can see when they’ve had too much stress. It’s really important for the quality of the meat."

「一名頂尖運動員不光身體狀況必須無懈可擊，心理狀況也得強健，豬也是一樣。當牠們被宰殺時，你可以看出牠們是否承受過多壓力。這對肉的品質真的很重要。」

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Real snowbird in Southern California? Snowy owl to be exact真的雪鳥現蹤南加州？準確來說是雪鴞

Snowbirds are a common sight in Southern California in wintertime. A snowy owl to be exact.

雪鳥在南加州冬季很常見。準確來說是隻雪鴞。

Crowds of bird-watchers have been showing up regularly in an Orange County neighborhood to gawk at a snowy owl, a species normally found around the Arctic, Canada and several northern U.S. states.

橘郡有個街區經常出現目不轉睛地看著一隻雪鴞的賞鳥人潮，該物種通常出現在北極、加拿大附近和美國北部諸州。

It’s current home is a rooftop perch in the balmy city of Cypress.

牠現在的家位在氣候溫和宜人的賽普拉斯市一處屋頂邊緣。

“It is absolutely unique as a bird observation,” Vic Leipzig, who teaches birding at Saddleback College, told The Orange County Register this week.

在馬鞍背學院教導觀鳥的維克．萊比錫本週告訴《橘郡紀事報》，「做為觀鳥活動，這絕對是獨一無二的。」

The newspaper reported that local bird experts speculated that the owl could have arrived in Southern California aboard a ship or could be a captive bird that escaped.

該報報導指出，當地鳥類專家推測這隻貓頭鷹可能是搭船抵達南加州，也可能是一隻逃脫的圈養鳥。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1560986 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1560082