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Don't Poo-Poo This: Why Dogs Feast on Feces 不要這樣對待便便：為什么狗會吃糞便？ By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer Poop eating in dogs is a common and — much to their owners' disdain — enthusiastic habit, but what drives them to doo-doo it? 大便是狗的家常便飯，而且是——非常令主人鄙視——一種狂熱的習慣，但到底是什么讓它們?nèi)コ允耗兀?br> Scientists recently dug into the patterns of crap-consuming canines and flushed out an answer. 科學家們最近探索了犬類吞吃排泄物的行為模式，并且得出了一個答案。 It turns out that not just any old poo will do. For poop-seeking pups, fecal freshness is a factor. And this predilection for poop could be behavior that originated in dogs' wolf ancestors, and is linked to parasite prevention, according to a new study. 事實證明，不是任何陳舊的大便都會被吃。對于尋找大便的小狗，糞便新鮮程度是一個因素。而且，根據(jù)最新研究，這種對大便的嗜好行為，可能起源于狗的祖先狼，并且與預(yù)防寄生蟲有關(guān)。 Also known as coprophagia, poop eating is widely distributed across the mammal family tree. The behavior — which is also found in rodents, rabbits, beavers, elephants and non-human primates, to name just a few — is generally viewed as a second chance for an animal to extract nutrients from its diet. Domestic dogs, which can also be avid eaters of poop, have been found to turn to poop eating due to nutritional deficiencies in their diets caused by starvation or disease, prior research has suggested. 食糞行為又叫食糞癖，在哺乳動物家族樹中廣泛存在。這種行為——僅舉幾例，還發(fā)生在嚙齒類動物、兔子、河貍、大象和非人靈長類動物身上——通常被視為動物從飲食中提取營養(yǎng)物質(zhì)的二次機會。對同樣熱衷于食糞的家犬，早先的研究表明，人們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)它們由于饑餓或疾病導致飲食攝入營養(yǎng)不足時，就會去吃大便。 However, that doesn't explain why otherwise healthy dogs would develop a taste for waste. Puppies may learn this behavior from their mothers, who lick their babies when they are very young to encourage elimination and to clean them up afterward. But most dogs tend to grow out of this youthful poop-eating stage by the time they are 9 months old, according to the American Kennel Club. 然而，這并不能解釋為什么健康的狗也會對進食垃圾產(chǎn)生興趣。幼犬可能會從母親那里學習這種行為，母親在孩子們很小的時候舔舐它們，以進行優(yōu)勝劣汰，并隨后清潔它們。不過，根據(jù)美國養(yǎng)犬俱樂部的說法，大多數(shù)犬類都會從9個月大開始，逐漸擺脫這種幼年食糞的階段。 What makes this behavior even more puzzling is that dogs generally distance themselves from their own droppings and those of other dogs, researchers reported in the new study. This avoidance may stem from ancestral wolves' habits of eliminating outside their dens, perhaps to reduce the risk of infection from parasites found in their stools, the researchers suggested. 研究人員在這項新的研究中報告說，這種行為更令人困惑的是，狗一般會遠離自己和其他狗的排泄物。研究人員認為，這種逃避可能源于其祖先狼在巢穴外面排泄的習慣，也許是為了減少它們受到糞便中寄生蟲感染的風險。 Fresher is better 越新鮮越好 To get to the bottom of why dogs eat feces, the scientists conducted two online surveys, gathering about 3,000 responses from dog owners in the U.S. and Canada. One survey investigated the habits of dogs that ate poop and dogs that didn't, while the other addressed only the poo eaters, to gather data about frequency, persistence of the behavior and the type of poop that attracted them the most. 為了查清狗吃糞便的真相，科學家們進行了兩次在線調(diào)查，收集了來自美國和加拿大狗主人的大約3000個答復(fù)。其中一項調(diào)查詢問了食糞和不食糞的狗的生活習慣，而另一項調(diào)查只針對食糞的狗，收集關(guān)于頻率、行為持續(xù)性以及最吸引它們的大便類型的數(shù)據(jù)。 About 16 percent of responders to the first survey said that they had observed their dog eating poop, and feces feasting did not appear to be linked to generally compulsive behavior or dietary deficiencies. Interestingly, 82 percent of the poo eaters only consumed poop that was no more than 2 days old, the study authors reported. 第一項調(diào)查中，大約有16%的人答復(fù)說，他們曾經(jīng)看到狗在食糞，而且它們飽餐糞便似乎與一般的強迫癥行為或飲食缺乏無關(guān)。研究作者報告說，有趣的是，82%的食糞狗只會食用兩天以內(nèi)的大便。 In the second survey — the poop eaters only — 38 percent of the dogs ate poop weekly, and 62 percent sampled poop daily. And 85 percent preferred their poop fresh, less than 2 days old. 在第二項調(diào)查中——只針對食糞狗——有38%的狗每周吃大便，62%的狗每天都要品嘗。有85%的狗喜歡新鮮的大便，最好不超過兩天。 This preference emerged in both surveys, and could be an important clue to the origins of poop-eating behavior, linking it to an adaptive behavior practiced by the ancestors of domestic dogs — wolves, the study authors reported. 研究作者報告說，兩項調(diào)查都顯示出同樣的偏愛，這可能是關(guān)于食糞行為起源的一個重要線索，可以聯(lián)系到由家犬的祖先——狼發(fā)展出的一種適應(yīng)性行為。 Wolves expel the eggs of intestinal parasites such as tapeworms, roundworms, pinworms and flukes in their feces, and these eggs typically don't develop into an infectious larval form for several days. By eating fresh poop found in or near their den areas, wolves may perform a type of housekeeping that reduces the risk of parasitic infection, the researchers explained in the study. 狼通過糞便排出腸道寄生蟲的蟲卵，如絳蟲、蛔蟲、蟯蟲和吸蟲，這些蟲卵通常不會在幾天之內(nèi)發(fā)育成具有感染能力的幼蟲。研究人員在研究結(jié)果中解釋說，狼吃掉那些在巢穴區(qū)域或附近發(fā)現(xiàn)的新鮮大便，也許是在執(zhí)行一項減少寄生蟲感染風險的家務(wù)勞動。 However, this hypothesis for the origins of poop eating in dogs doesn't draw from observed behavior in wolves, "and should be considered tentative," the study authors wrote. 然而，這種關(guān)于狗食糞起源的假說，并沒有從已經(jīng)觀察到的狼類行為中得到證實。研究作者寫道，“這應(yīng)該被看作是試探性的?！?br> Another unsatisfying conclusion for disgruntled dog owners is that pooches' poop-eating habits are hard to change, the scientists found. They discovered that dogs who fancied feces weren't easily deterred, and regardless of the method owners tried — food additives, punishment for eating poo or rewards for leaving poop alone — their reported success rate was 0 to 4 percent. 另一個讓不滿的狗主人大失所望的結(jié)論是，科學家們發(fā)現(xiàn)，狗狗食糞的習慣是很難改變的。他們了解到，阻止狗對糞便的愛好勢比登天，不管主人嘗試什么方法——食物添加劑、對食糞行為的懲罰或?qū)﹄x開大便的獎勵——他們報告的成功率只有0到4%。 The findings were published online Jan. 12 in the journal Veterinary Medicine and Science. 以上研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在1月12日的《獸醫(yī)醫(yī)學與科學》雜志網(wǎng)絡(luò)版上。 Original article on Live Science. |
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