張祖平

Have you ever heard of a rattlesnake1？ It is a poisonous2 American snake. When it is angry or afraid， it makes a noise like a rattle3 with its tail. Its very scary. But Heather Ramirez and her husband， from California， the United States， make a living in an unusual way. They are self-employed snake catchers！They catch snakes， especially rattlesnakes which have gone indoors， and return them to the wild.

你聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)響尾蛇嗎？ 它是一種有毒的美洲蛇。當(dāng)它生氣或害怕的時(shí)候，會(huì)用尾巴發(fā)出一陣類似撥浪鼓的聲音，非常可怕。但是，來(lái)自美國(guó)加利福尼亞州的希瑟·拉米雷斯和她的丈夫以一種不同尋常的方式謀生。他們是個(gè)體經(jīng)營(yíng)的捕蛇者！他們捕捉蛇類，尤其是已經(jīng)進(jìn)入室內(nèi)的響尾蛇，然后把它們放回野外。

Heather describes her work as“protecting people from rattlesnakes—and protecting rattlesnakes from people！” In the area where they live， rattlesnakes often come face to face with people. They are found in stores， offices， houses and gardens. Heather explains that its not the snakes that are moving into places where people live， but its the other way round. The snakes lived in these places first and then the people built houses.

希瑟將她的工作描述為“保護(hù)人們免受響尾蛇的傷害——保護(hù)響尾蛇免受人們的傷害！”在響尾蛇生活的地方，它們經(jīng)常與人面對(duì)面碰到。它們出現(xiàn)在商店、辦公室、房屋和花園中。希瑟解釋說(shuō)，并不是蛇進(jìn)入了人們居住的地方，恰恰相反，是蛇首先生活在這些地方，然后人們才在那里建造房屋。

Most people who see a rattlesnake are feared. If you keep your distance， however， the snake wont bite you. In twelve years as a snake catcher， Heather has never touched a snake. She doesnt take the risk. She picks up the snakes with a special tool. This doesnt hurt them， but it keeps them at a safe distance so that they cant bite her.

大多數(shù)看到響尾蛇的人都很害怕。然而，如果你保持距離，蛇就不會(huì)咬你。在十二年的捕蛇生涯中，希瑟從未碰過(guò)一條蛇，她不冒這個(gè)險(xiǎn)。她用一種特殊的工具撿起蛇。這不會(huì)傷害它們，但會(huì)讓它們跟自己保持一個(gè)安全的距離，這樣它們就不會(huì)咬她。

Heather and her husband are very busy because they are never off duty. Catching snakes is a full-time job and they dont often have a day off. People can get to them at any time of the day or night. Not everyone can do this job， but Heather doesnt want to do anything else.

希瑟和她的丈夫很忙，因?yàn)樗麄儚膩?lái)不下班。捕蛇是一份全職工作，他們經(jīng)常多日無(wú)休。人們可以在白天或晚上的任何時(shí)候請(qǐng)到他們。不是每個(gè)人都能做這份工作，但希瑟不想做別的工作。

“I just love my job，” she says.

“我就是喜歡我的工作，”她說(shuō)。

Notes

1. rattlesnake [? ? ?] n. [脊椎] 響尾蛇

2. poisonous [? ? ?] adj. 有毒的

3. rattle [? ? ?] n. 撥浪鼓;嘎嘎聲