A coyote and badger stalk prey together on the prairie surrounding the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in northern Colorado. 在环抱着国家黑足鼬保护中心的茫茫原野里，一只郊狼和獾在偷偷接近牠们的猎物。（摄影：Kimberly Fraser，美国鱼类及野生动物管理局）
Competition and cooperation aren't mutually exclusive. Just ask a coyote or a badger.
竞争和合作并不总是互相冲突，不信的话你去找一只郊狼或者一只獾来问问看。
Both are crafty carnivores, and since they often hunt the same prey in the same prairies, it would make sense for them to be enemies, or at least to avoid each other. But while they don't always get along, coyotes and badgers also have an ancient arrangement that illustrates why it can be smart for rivals to work together.
作为狡猾的食肉动物，既然牠们时常狩猎同一片草原上的同种猎物，牠们理应成为敌人才对，或者至少互相躲避对方。但是当牠们无法和睦相处时，郊狼和獾有时也会发生偶然的争执。这阐明了牠们为什么能够如此聪明，以至于能与竞争对手合作。
An example of that partnership recently unfolded on a prairie in northern Colorado (https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2016/11/2/Spotted-A-Coyote-and-Badger), near the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center. And it was captured in photos, both by a wildlife camera trap and by sharp-eyed photographers:
关于这种伙伴关系的一个例子最近展现在了北科罗拉多州靠近国家黑足鼬保护中心的一片草原上（https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2016/11/2/Spotted-A-Coyote-and-Badger），并且被拍摄了下来。牠们被一个相机陷阱和一个眼尖的摄影师共同拍摄到了。

A field camera caught this amazing shot, which shows the coyote and badger trotting across the landscape with a prairie dog looking on in the foreground. 野外照相机拍摄到的这个令人惊奇的镜头展示了郊狼和獾一路小跑穿撞进了镜头前一只土拨鼠所眺望的景色中。（摄影：国家黑足鼬保护中心)
https://www.facebook.com/FerretCenter/photos/a.188207931230611.61835.186895241361880/1283567728361287/?type=3&theater

The duo takes a break from pursuing prairie dogs. 这一对追逐土拨鼠后正在休息。（摄影：Kimberly Fraser，美国鱼类及野生动物管理局）

（摄影：Kimberly Fraser，美国鱼类及野生动物管理局）

The coyote and badger survey a black-tailed prairie dog colony near Wellington, Colorado. 在科罗拉多州的惠灵顿附近，这对郊狼和獾在审视一个黑尾土拨鼠种群。（摄影：Ryan Moehring，美国鱼类及野生动物管理局）
While it's relatively rare to capture such good photos of a hunt like this, the phenomenon is well-documented. It was familiar to many Native Americans long before Europeans reached the continent, and scientists have studied it for decades. It has been reported across much of Canada, the United States and Mexico, according to Ecology Online (http://www.ecology.info/badger-coyote.htm), typically with one badger hunting alongside one coyote.
虽然像这样拍到狩猎过程的好照片相当少见，这种现象还是有充分的证据支持的。在欧洲殖民者抵达美洲大陆之前，原住民早已对此习以为常；此外，科学家们也对此研究了数十年。在加拿大、美国和墨西哥，这种现象都有过报道。根据 Ecology Online 的说法（http://www.ecology.info/badger-coyote.htm），獾在郊狼一旁共同狩猎的情景十分典型。
(In one study (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1382201?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents) at the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming, 90 percent of all coyote-badger hunts featured one of each animal, while about 9 percent involved one badger with two coyotes. Just 1 percent saw a lone badger join a coyote trio.)
（在怀俄明州国家麋鹿庇护所的一项研究（https://www.jstor.org/stable/1382201?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents）中，90%的狩猎以由郊狼与獾各一只组成为特征，9%包括了一只獾和两只郊狼；只有1%的报告中目击到一只单独的獾加入了三只郊狼的小组。）
But why would these predators work together at all? When one of them finally catches something, they aren't known to share the spoils. So what's the point?
但是到底为什么这些捕食者会合作呢？据我们所知，当牠们中的一个终于抓住猎物之后，并不会与牠的伙伴共享。那么，原因在哪呢？

Working together helps each species pursue prey more effectively. 合作能够帮助两种物种更有效率地追赶猎物。（摄影：Kimberly Fraser，美国鱼类及野生动物管理局）
The point, apparently, is to improve the likelihood that at least one of the hunters will snag some prey. Even if that means the other one ends up empty-handed, the partnership seems to pay off for both species in the long run.
原因显然在于，这种关系能提升至少有一个猎手抓住猎物的可能性。即使这意味着另一个猎手会空手而归，但是维持两者间的伙伴关系能为两种物种带来长期的益处。
Each member of the hunting party has a distinct set of skills. Coyotes are nimble and quick, so they excel at chasing prey across an open prairie. Badgers are slow and awkward runners by comparison, but they're better diggers than coyotes are, having evolved to pursue small animals in underground burrow systems. So when they hunt prairie dogs or ground squirrels on their own, badgers usually dig them up, while coyotes chase and pounce. The rodents therefore use different strategies depending which predator is after them: They often escape a digging badger by leaving their burrows to flee aboveground, and evade coyotes by running to their burrows.
这个狩猎派对中，每个成员都有一套独特的狩猎技巧。郊狼敏捷而迅速，所以牠们在开阔的原野上追赶猎物时，能够超过它。相较而言，獾是缓慢而笨拙的跑步选手，但是比起郊狼，牠们更擅长挖掘，并且已被进化得更适合追赶洞穴系统中的小型动物。所以当狩猎土拨鼠或者地松鼠的时候，獾常常自己把它们挖出来，而郊狼更擅长追赶和猛扑。啮齿类动物因此使用不同的策略来对抗穷追不舍的捕食者：它们有时通过离开坑道向地面狂奔来逃脱挖掘的獾的抓捕，又通过跑进它们的洞穴来躲避郊狼。
When badgers and coyotes work together, however, they combine these skills to hunt more effectively than either could alone. Coyotes chase prey on the surface, while badgers take the baton for subterranean pursuits. Only one may end up with a meal, but overall, research suggests the collaboration benefits both hunters.
然而，当獾和郊狼合作时，比起各自为阵，牠们通过组合这些技巧来更有效率地捕猎。郊狼在地表追逐猎物，而獾接过地下追逐的接力棒。虽然只有其中一个最终能享受到一顿美餐，但是总地来说，研究表示这样的合作对两种猎手都大有裨益。
"Coyotes with badgers consumed prey at higher rates and had an expanded habitat base and lower locomotion costs," according to the authors of the National Elk Refuge study. "Badgers with coyotes spent more time below ground and active, and probably had decreased locomotion and excavation costs. Overall, prey vulnerability appeared to increase when both carnivores hunted in partnership."
“郊狼和獾搭档能够更多地消耗猎物的体力，扩展狩猎范围并减少移动成本，”国家麋鹿庇护所的研究者说，“獾和郊狼搭档会花费更多的时间在地下，变得更加活跃，并且有可能已经减少了移动和挖掘成本。总而言之，在两种食肉动物结伴狩猎时，猎物的弱点显露出增加的迹象。”

A coyote-badger duo at Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico. 新墨西哥州的瓦莱斯火山口国家保护区的一对郊狼和獾。（摄影：Larry Lamsa/Flickr）
https://www.flickr.com/photos/larry1732/6138867278/
Badgers and coyotes aren't always friendly, though. While the majority of their interactions "appear to be mutually beneficial or neutral," Ecology Online notes they do sometimes prey on each other. The two species have developed "a sort of open relationship," according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), since they tend to collaborate in warmer months, then often drift apart as winter sets in.
尽管如此，獾和郊狼并不总是友好的。虽然牠们的关系主要是“表现为在互惠互利或者袖手旁观”，Ecology Online 注意到有时牠们会互相捕食。这两种物种发展出了“一种开♂放♂式关系”。根据美国鱼类及野生动物管理局的研究，牠们趋向于在气候温暖的月份里合作，而在冬季到来时各奔东西。
"In the winter, the badger can dig up hibernating prey as it sleeps in its burrow," the FWS explains (https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2016/11/2/Spotted-A-Coyote-and-Badger). "It has no need for the fleet-footed coyote."
“在冬天时，獾能够挖掘出在洞穴里冬眠的猎物，” 鱼类及野生动物管理局解释道（https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2016/11/2/Spotted-A-Coyote-and-Badger），“牠不需要飞毛腿郊狼来帮忙。”
Not at the time, anyway. But winter eventually turns to spring, and these two hunters may start to need each other again. And just as they have for thousands of years, they'll make peace, embrace their differences and get back to work.
冬季时的关系如何都无关紧要。但当春天终于来临时，这两种猎手都可能开始再次需要互相的帮助了。并且就如同数千年来一样，他们会互相言和，拥抱彼此的不同，并且再次开工。

Russell McLendon (Twitter: @russmclendon) writes about humans and other wildlife.
https://www.mnn.com/users/rmclendon
https://twitter.com/russmclendon
Copyright © 2018 NARRATIVE CONTENT GROUP. All rights reserved.
Translator & Proofreader: @deserthouse

知乎专栏：https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/33619949
好吧，好像食言了（趴
但是半夜没有泡面吃我真的要饿死了（死

说出来你们可能不信，我差点把土拨鼠翻译成牧场的狗（躺尸