We're here in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains, observing nature's impressive architects and engineers—beavers.
我們正在洛磯山脈的曠野中，觀察著大自然那令人欽佩的建築師及工程師－－海狸。
By creating this pile, they're preventing soil from being washed away, and they're creating a place where new plants and insects can flourish. Beavers think ahead, and secure their food supply long before they'll need it. They drag these branches into the water, where they'll stay fresh and accessible during the winter freeze.
藉由建造這一堆，牠們避免土壤被沖刷掉，而且牠們創造出一個新的植物和昆蟲得以繁盛的地方。海狸未雨綢繆，早在牠們需要前就安置好牠們的糧食庫存。他們將這些樹枝拖曳到水中，在那裡它們於嚴冬期間將保持新鮮且隨手可得。
Flash forward to the winter freeze, when the frigid temperature has turned the mud and stakes into a secure shelter for the beavers. Each dwelling houses a single beaver family, yup, with a mom and dad and...did I mention beavers mate for life? And each home has an elegantly designed passageway to the lake.
時光快轉至寒冬，此時那嚴寒的溫度將泥巴及木樁變成一個海狸們穩固的庇護所。每一間住所居住著一個海狸家庭，沒錯，有一個媽媽和爸爸和...我有提過海狸是終生單一伴侶的嗎？而且每一個家都有一條巧妙設計的通道通往湖泊。
Beavers are North America's largest rodent, and they're the only ones with skin flaps behind their teeth that allow them to hold branches without swallowing water. Notice how neatly the beaver eats, stripping the bark by turning the branch like an ear of corn. They're strict but voracious vegetarians, and can even digest the cellulose that most mammals just can't handle.
海狸為北美最大的齧齒類動物，而且牠們是唯一一種牙齒後有皮瓣能讓牠們咬著樹枝卻不會吞下水的齧齒類動物。注意海狸是多麼靈巧地吃東西，藉著將樹枝像一根玉米般旋轉好將樹皮剝掉。牠們是嚴謹但食量大的素食主義者，而且甚至可以消化掉大部分哺乳類動物無法處理的纖維素。
Flash forward again to the following spring, and spring has sprung a leak in the dam, so dad stays with the young ones while mom and their elder son fix it up. This is lucky for all the other animals around, because virtually the entire ecosystem is dependent on the dam and the resulting pile. Wouldn't it be great if we can all be as industrious and efficient as the eager beavers?
時光再次快轉至接下來的春天，春天使水壩裂了一個縫，所以當媽媽和牠們的大兒子修理水壩時，爸爸留下來陪年幼的孩子。這對所有其他在周遭的動物來說很幸運，因為差不多整個生態系統都仰賴著水壩及其產生的土堆。如果我們全都能像熱心的海狸一樣勤勞且有效率不是很棒嗎？
- 「終生為伴」- Mate For Life
Each dwelling houses a single beaver family, yup, with a mom and dad and...did I mention beavers mate for life?
每一間住所居住著一個海狸家庭，沒錯，有一個媽媽和爸爸和...我有提過海狸是終生單一伴侶的嗎？ - 「修理」- Fix Up
...so dad stays with the young ones while mom and their elder son fix it up.
...所以當媽媽和牠們的大兒子修理水壩時，爸爸留下來陪年幼的孩子。
