Name: 二戰時期海狸跳傘的故事 (A WWII Tale of Parachuting Beavers)
Uploaded: 2025-07-17T08:21:54.000Z
Duration: 4 min 34 s

This is a story about beavers, the largest rodents in North America, and a story about a man named Elmo, a perfectly average-sized human from Idaho.

這是一個關於海狸--北美最大的齧齒動物--的故事，也是一個關於一個名叫埃爾莫的人--一個來自愛達荷州、體型完全正常的人類--的故事。

He worked as a warden with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

他曾在愛達荷州漁獵局擔任典獄長。

Not much is known about his life, who his friends were, what he enjoyed doing on the weekends, or even whether he preferred coffee or tea.

關於他的生活，他的朋友是誰，他週末喜歡做什麼，甚至他喜歡喝咖啡還是茶，人們都知之甚少。

但我們知道，艾莫有自己的想法。

The year is 1948, and it's summertime in the lakeshore town of McCall, Idaho, where our story begins.

1948年，愛達荷州麥考爾湖畔小鎮的夏天，我們的故事就從這裡開始。

Families are enjoying the sun, the scenic vistas and the cool breeze, and somewhere high above them, beavers are parachuting from the sky.

一家人享受著陽光、美景和涼風，而在他們頭頂的某個地方，海狸正從天而降。

Yes, this really happened, and no, it wasn't April 1st.

是的，這真的發生過，不，這不是 4 月 1 日。

This was a government-approved wildlife relocation program.

這是一項政府準許的野生動物遷移計劃。

To understand how we got here, we first need to understand the beaver.

要了解我們是如何來到這裡的，我們首先需要了解海狸。

Cute and furry, yes, but incredibly prodigious, with ever-growing, razor-sharp front teeth and an unwavering propensity to build dams.

毛茸茸的，很可愛，但卻非常神氣，門牙不斷生長，鋒利無比，還喜歡築壩。

The beaver can transform a landscape like no other creature in the animal kingdom.

海狸可以改變景觀，這是動物王國中其他生物所無法比擬的。

And in the tiny town of McCall, this was precisely the problem.

而在麥考爾小鎮，這正是問題所在。

The beavers were becoming a menace, cutting down trees, blocking streams, and risking floods and damage to the town and its inhabitants.

海狸正在成為一種威脅，它們砍伐樹木，堵塞溪流，給城鎮和居民帶來洪水和損失的危險。

Chamberlain Basin, 100 miles away across the rugged terrain of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.

張伯倫盆地（Chamberlain Basin），在 100 英里之外，橫跨地形崎嶇的弗蘭克-丘奇不歸河荒野（Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness）。

By all accounts, the area was a beaver's paradise, home to towering forests, clear glacial lakes, and cold running water.

據說，該地區是海狸的天堂，有高聳的森林、清澈的冰川湖和冰涼的流水。

Planes couldn't land, trucks couldn't drive, and nobody volunteered to hike up by foot with dozens of beavers in tow.

飛機無法降落，卡車無法行駛，也沒有人自願帶著幾十只海狸徒步登山。

於是，埃爾莫加熱器制定了一個計劃。

What if, he wondered, we don't bring the beavers in, we drop them in.

他想，如果我們不把海狸帶進來，而是把它們扔進來呢？

But not just tossed from a plane, no, no.

但不只是從飛機上扔下來，不，不。

Elmo designed a wooden box with a built-in parachute.

Elmo 設計了一個內置降落傘的木盒子。

The plane flies, the box drops, the chute opens, and the beaver lands.

飛機起飛，箱子落下，降落傘打開，海狸著陸。

And just like that, a new life for the rodents begins.

就這樣，齧齒動物的新生活開始了。

Before any rodents took to the skies, there was testing, and a lot of it.

在任何齧齒動物飛上天空之前，都要進行測試，而且是大量的測試。

Of course, early wooden box prototypes were met with a predictable flaw.

當然，早期的木箱原型存在一個可預見的缺陷。

But eventually, a more durable design emerged.

但最終，一種更耐用的設計出現了。

Two lidless crates, hinged together like a clamshell, with a parachute on top.

兩個無蓋板條箱，像蛤殼一樣鉸接在一起，頂部有一個降落傘。

Then there were the test jumps, led by an old male beaver named Geronimo.

然後是試跳，由一隻名叫傑羅尼莫的老公海狸帶領。

他跳了起來，跳了起來，又跳了起來。

Elmo wrote, One old male beaver, whom we fondly named Geronimo, was dropped again and again on the flying field.

埃爾莫寫道：有一隻我們親切地給它起名叫傑羅尼莫的老公海狸，一次又一次地被扔到飛行場上。

Each time he scrambled out of the box, someone was on hand to pick him up.

每次他從箱子裡竄出來，都會有人在一旁把他抱起來。

Finally, on August 14th, eight crates of beavers were loaded onto a twin-engine Beechcraft Travel Air, accompanied by a conservation officer and a pilot.

最後，8 月 14 日，在一名保護官員和一名飛行員的陪同下，8 箱海狸被裝上了一架雙引擎比奇旅行飛機。

For four straight days, beavers took to the sky and sailed back down to Earth.

連續四天，海狸飛上天空，又駛回地球。

The plane makes a careful approach, ready for the drop.

飛機小心翼翼地接近，準備空投。

現在，它們飛向空中，向下搖擺。

Down to the ground, near a stream or a lake.

With only one sad and unfortunate casualty, a curious beaver who decided mid-flight to climb on top of his box.

只有一個不幸的犧牲者，一隻好奇的海狸，在飛行途中決定爬到它的箱子頂上。

Despite this tragic accident, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game considered the beaver project a resounding success.

儘管發生了這起悲劇性事故，愛達荷州魚類和野生動物管理局仍認為海狸項目取得了巨大成功。

His nose and his instinct tell him where to find the water.

它的鼻子和直覺告訴它哪裡有水。

The beavers got to work immediately, building dams, restoring wetlands, and creating a thriving habitat for the plants, fish, and birds alike.

海狸們立即開始工作，築壩、恢復溼地，為植物、魚類和鳥類創造了一個繁榮的棲息地。

對所有人來說，這都是一場不可能的勝利。

So if you ever happen to find yourself in central Idaho, wandering through the wilds of the Chamberlain Basin, listen closely for the flick of a tail or a rustle in the brush.

是以，如果你碰巧發現自己身處愛達荷州中部，在張伯倫盆地的荒野中閒逛，請仔細傾聽尾巴的擺動或灌木叢中的沙沙聲。

You might just catch a glimpse of the descendants of those airborne pioneers.

你也許會看到那些空中先驅的後代。