中英對照讀新聞》San Francisco metro system hires bird of prey to scare pigeons away舊金山捷運系統雇用鳥類天敵嚇跑鴿子

◎林雨萱

Metro system riders in California’s San Francisco Bay Area may have noticed a new station guard in recent months.

加州舊金山灣區捷運系統乘客近幾個月可能已經注意到一位新的車站守衛。

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A 5-year-old Harris’s hawk named Pac-Man has taken up the perch at El Cerrito del Norte station, where he’s on the look out - not for fare evaders, but pigeons.

一隻名叫小精靈的5歲栗翅鷹佔據北艾爾賽里托車站的棲木，牠在那裡正搜尋著－不是逃票者，而是鴿子。

Ricky Ortiz, a falconer, began patrolling with the bird at the station this summer, contracting with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, or BART, to keep the pigeons at bay and protect commuters from pigeon poop.

獵鷹訓練師瑞奇．歐提茲，今年夏天開始帶著這隻鳥在車站巡邏，他和舊金山灣區捷運系統（BART）簽約，來阻止鴿子並保護通勤者免受鴿糞波及。

The team patrols three days a week, starting their day at the bottom level entrance before scoping out the platforms, scaring away any pigeons who are resting on a ledge or on the interior scaffolding of the station.

這組團隊一週巡邏3次，每天從最底層的入口開始，然後再仔細查看月台，嚇跑停留在窗台或是車站室內鷹架的任何一隻鴿子。

"There was probably less than half of the pigeons here after the week of us flying," so far Ortiz has noticed a big difference and said.

目前為止，歐提茲注意到一個很大的差別並說，「小精靈在這裡巡邏一週之後，鴿子數量可能已不到一半」。

新聞辭典

evader：名詞，規避者。例句：The existing strategy isn’t useful to attack tax evaders.（現行策略對打擊逃稅者無效。）

keep sb/sth at bay：阻止、抑制。例句：She fought to keep her unhappiness at bay. （她努力抑制自己的不快。）

commuter：名詞，通勤者。例句：The MRT is packed with commuters every weekday.（捷運平日擠滿通勤族。）