Today is the third installment of our new series: "Creature Feature".

今天是新系列「生物小百科」的第三集

Where I look at a different species every single week.

在這系列中每一週都會找一個特別的物種

And tell you a couple of facts which you may or may not have known about them.

告訴你一些有關他們的事，你可能知道也可能不知道

Today's creature is a really charming little dude.

今天的動物是個非常迷人的小兄弟

And I'm hoping that you'll find him "toad"-ally awesome.

希望你會發現牠非「蟾」迷人的地方

[Burp]

(嗝)

Also, just really quickly, I want to show you this new necklace which I've got from the "BIRCHpls" studio.

還有，很快帶過，我想要給你看看這個新的項鍊，這是從 BIRCHpls 工作室買的

This is an axolotl that I'm wearing today.

我今天戴的項鍊是一隻蠑螈

Which is a kind of aquatic amphibian.

牠是種水中的兩棲類動物

They are one of my favorite animals.

牠們是我最愛的動物之一

If you don't know about axolotls, I'll try and feature them at some point.

如果你不知道蠑螈，我會試試錄支有關牠們的影片

But I just thought that given the animal we're going to look at today.

但我只是想相較於今天介紹的動物

It was a rather fitting one to wear.

牠比較適合配戴

If you are interested in Fran's shop, I will leave her details in the description box below.

如果你對 Fran 的商店有興趣，我會把詳細訊息放在資訊欄中

And if you're watching this, Fran, then hi!

還有如果 Fran 你在看影片，哈囉！

Da-da!

登冷！

This here is my buddy, and his name is Prince Charming.

這就是我的小兄弟，牠叫 Prince Charming

Hi! [Stitch from "Lilo and Stitch" voice]

嗨！(星際寶貝中史迪奇的聲音)

The species I have here today, who is running away right now,

今天我要介紹的物種，牠剛跑掉了

is the Cane Toad.

就是甘蔗蟾蜍

The Cane Toad from South America.

甘蔗蟾蜍原生地在南美洲

If you could just figure out where you're happiest, then that'd be great [Sped-up voice].

如果你能找到讓你開心的位置，那就太棒了 (倍速聲音)

Toad butt, in my face.

蟾蜍屁屁，在我臉上

Prince Charming is an amphibian.

Prince Charming 是個兩棲類動物

Amphibians are cold-blooded creatures which can live in the water and come out onto the land.

兩棲類動物是冷血動物，牠們可以生活在水中也能爬上陸地

Amphibians usually begin life in a water-dwelling larval state such as a tadpole.

兩棲類動物通常幼年期時居住在水中，像是蝌蚪

Which uses its gills to breathe underwater.

在水中用鰓呼吸

As the tadpoles grow, change, and metamorphosize.

當蝌蚪成長、轉變、變化型態

They usually lose their gills and their ability to be fully aquatic.

通常牠們會失去鰓以及完全生活在水中的能力

There are a few exceptions, such as the axolotl.

也有一些例外，像是蠑螈

But that's a whole other Creature Feature.

但那是另一集生物小百科的主角

Cane Toads can live between ten and 12 years.

甘蔗蟾蜍可以活 10 到 12 年

In their natural habitat in South America that would be substantially less.

在牠們南美的原生地，壽命可能會短一點

Because they do get predated on in their natural habitat.

因為在原生地牠們會被捕食

Foodwise, Cane Toads can eat almost anything.

食物方面，甘蔗蟾蜍幾乎無所不吃

And this becomes a bit of a problem later on.

但這稍微造成問題，晚點會提到

When I tell you a bit more about what they're most famous for.

當我告訴你牠們為什麼出名時

Toads do have a kind of warty skin.

蟾蜍有著多疣的皮膚

And it's a common misconception that if you hold a toad,

而這也有個常見的誤解，如果你碰到蟾蜍

you're gonna catch warts.

你會被傳染疣

That's just not the case, don't listen to that.

沒這回事，不要聽人亂講

That's a myth.

那是個迷思

Let's bust it!

讓我們破除迷思

Busted! [Sped-up voice]

砰！(倍速聲音)

Their skin's so fun to play with!

牠們的皮膚很好玩！

I know that he doesn't appreciate it but I'm just like, "I must feel you!"

我知道他不喜歡這樣，但我就是覺得，「我一定要摸你！」

Denied [Deep, altered voice].

拒絕！(深沉的變聲)

In the wild, Cane Toads can eat almost anything.

在野外，甘蔗蟾蜍幾乎可以吃所有東西

If it fits in their mouth, they're gonna eat it.

如果牠嘴巴裝得下，牠就會吃

Their favourite foods in their native South America are: beetles, other invertebrates, spiders, fishㄡ

在南美原生地牠們最喜歡的食物包括：甲蟲、其他無脊椎動物、蜘蛛、魚

The occasional small bird, and also, each-other.

偶爾有小型鳥類，還有同類

Yes, they are cannibals!

沒錯，牠們會吃同類

These guys are also known as Marine Toads.

這些傢伙也被稱為海蟾蜍

But more typically they're known as Cane Toads.

但牠們更常以甘蔗蟾蜍為人所知

And I'll tell you why they're known as Cane Toads right now.

現在我要告訴你為什麼牠們被稱做甘蔗蟾蜍

In the 1930s in Australia, so all the way [on] the other side of the world.

西元 1930 年代的澳洲，在地球遙遠的另一端

The Australian government were having really big issues with Cane Beetles eating up their sugar crops.

澳洲政府正面臨一個大問題，就是甘蔗甲蟲會吃光他們的甘蔗

So the government had to think of a way

所以政府當局必須想個辦法

that they could preserve their crops but get rid of the beetles.

保護他們的甘蔗並消滅甲蟲

And the government thought to themselves,

然後政府當局想到

"Hang on a second," lightbulb moment, "how about bringing in a natural predator"

「等一下」，靈光一閃，「引進一個自然天敵如何？」

"who will eat them up and that way we won't have to spray our crops?"

「誰會吃甘蔗甲蟲，這樣一來我們就不用噴藥了。」

So in 1935,

所以西元 1935 年

The Australian government actually decided

澳洲政府決定

to buy a whole load of Cane Toads.

買一堆甘蔗蟾蜍

They bought 100 Cane Toads from South America.

他們從南美買了 100 隻甘蔗蟾蜍

Unfortunately, the Australian government didn't test out their theory.

很不幸地，澳洲政府沒有測試他們的理論

They had planned that the Cane Toads would eat the Cane Beetles.

他們原本計畫讓甘蔗蟾蜍吃掉甘蔗甲蟲

This just wasn't the case.

事實並不然

Cane Toads are very, very, lazy.

甘蔗蟾蜍非常非常懶惰

They're very heavy-bodied and they can't really climb.

牠們有個很厚重的身體，而且牠們並不真的能攀爬

Whereas Cane Beetles are very fast, very agile, and they can climb very, very, well.

反之，甘蔗甲蟲行動迅速、敏捷，而且牠們很擅常攀爬

So oftentimes whenever a Cane Toad would encounter a Cane Beetle,

所以，經常一隻甘蔗蟾蜍碰到一隻甘蔗甲蟲時

the Cane Beetle would just scurry off up into the crop,

甘蔗甲蟲會在甘蔗裡爬上竄下

while the Cane Toad was basically on the floor.

而甘蔗蟾蜍基本上就在地上

Thinking, "I've got a grumbling belly, what am I gonna eat instead?"

想著「我肚子都要餓死了，我可以改吃甚麼東西呢？」

Well, unfortunately for the native wildlife, Cane Toads loved the taste of the native wildlife.

所以有個不幸的消息是，甘蔗蟾蜍還蠻喜歡吃當地的動植物

And most unfortunately of all,

最不幸的是

is that these guys are actually poisonous.

就是這些傢伙其實有毒

There is poison inside these pouches.

這裡有毒液在囊袋裡

In fact, do you see these little black dots here which look like pores?

事實上，你有看到這些像毛孔的小黑點嗎？

Well, you'd be absolutely right.

完全正確

If I were to massage those rather hard,

如果我稍微大力的按壓這裡

a big, pus-y looking liquid would come out of them,

會有濃稠的毒液跑出來

just like if you were squeezing whiteheads.

就像你在擠粉刺一樣

So imagine you're some of the native Australian wildlife,

所以想像你是澳洲的原生動物

you see this toad and you think, "This looks like a tasty, tasty, meal, I'm going to eat it"

你看到這隻蟾蜍，然後你想：「牠看起來很好吃，是頓大餐，我要去吃牠了。」

The second that you bite down on the toad and start chewing,

你咬下蟾蜍並開始咀嚼的那一秒

it's going to start emitting this poison.

牠就開始放射毒液出來了

And this poison is so toxic

而且這個毒液毒性很強

that it can kill almost anything.

幾乎可以殺死所有生物

It will kill the snakes, it could kill a large mammal like a dingo.

它可以殺死蛇，也可以殺死大一點的哺乳類，像是澳洲野犬 (丁格犬)

It can even kill a fully grown Saltwater Crocodile.

甚至可以殺死一隻完全成年的鹹水鱷魚

And, you know, it's not just the adults who are poisonous.

而且你要知道，不只是成年蟾蜍有毒

The tadpoles are poisonous and the eggs are poisonous, too.

幼年期或是卵也同樣有毒

Some of you out there might be thinking, "Hang on a second"

有些人看到這裡可能會想「等等，

"How come the Cane Toad is so poisonous to Australian wildlife,"

為什麼甘蔗蟾蜍對澳洲野生動物來說像毒藥一樣，

"but they get eaten by animals in their native land of South America?"

但在南美原生地卻會被捕食？」

Well, that is a great question!

很好，你問了好問題

The answer lies in co-evolution.

答案就是，共同演化

The animals in South America had thousands, if not millions of years to develop

南美的動物有數十萬年的時間

some level of immunity to the Cane Toad's poison.

發展出一定程度的免疫系統來對抗甘蔗蟾蜍的毒性

When the Cane Toads were brought to Australia,

當甘蔗蟾蜍被帶到澳洲

the native wildlife in Australia was taken by surprise,

澳洲當地動物完全沒有預料到

and they haven't had time to develop immunity

牠們也沒有時間發展出免疫系統

despite Australia's best efforts.

儘管澳洲做了很多努力

It's so hard to contain these guys.

還是很難控制這些傢伙繁殖

And where Australia started off with only 100 Cane Toads,

剛開始澳洲僅引入了 100 隻甘蔗蟾蜍

they now have well over 20 million.

牠們現在已經超過 2000 萬隻

Cane Toads are not just invasive in Australia,

甘蔗蟾蜍不僅入侵澳洲

there's also a huge population of Cane Toads in Florida!

在佛羅里達也有很大量的甘蔗蟾蜍

Some speculate that they are the result of escaped or released pets,

有些人推測是因為寵物逃脫或是棄養才會如此

others think a more likely option was the amount of Cane Toads released

其他人認為，會有如此大量棄養，是由於

during the filming of the 1972 cult horror film "Frogs".

西元 1972 年的邪典恐怖電影 《青蛙》

Which is an amazing film, by the way, you should totally go watch it.

那是部很驚人的電影，對了，你們也應該看看

The footage you see here

接下來的片段

was taken by my friend and fellow reptile enthusiast, Jennifer Beth-Lewis,

是由我的朋友兼爬蟲類愛好者同事拍攝的，她叫 Jennifer Beth-Lewis

who lives in Florida.

住在佛羅里達

Here, you can clearly see three wild Cane Toads raiding her dog's food bowl

你可以看到有 3 隻野生甘蔗蟾蜍霸佔了她的狗的飯碗

Remember, never release pet animals into the wild

記得，絕對不要棄養寵物

especially if they're not native.

尤其如果牠們不是本土種

Let me know in the comments box down below if you learned something new today.

如果你今天學到了新知識，留下評論讓我知道吧

I hope you did, I hope you found something interesting

我希望你有學到什麼，也希望你覺得有趣

even if you weren't a big fan of toads in general.

即使你不是蟾蜍的愛好者

Thank you guys so much for watching, and we will see you in another video shortly.

感謝你們的觀看，我們很快就會在其他影片見面

Bye!

拜拜！

You gonna wave?

你想揮揮手嗎？

You gonna -- should we -- let's wave, wave!

你想要…我們要不要…來揮手吧，揮手！

Wave your back feet.

揮揮你的後腳

Bye! [Laughs]

再見！(大笑)

[Burp]

(嗝)

Psst! Don't forget to subscribe.

噓！別忘了訂閱