澳洲干旱 蟒蛇钻进马桶寻水

Thirsty snakes are moving into north Queensland homes with two pythons recently found in toilets.
口渴难耐的蟒蛇正溜进澳大利亚昆士兰（Queensland）北部的民宅。近日，先后有两条蟒蛇在当地民宅的马桶里出现。

Snake catcher Elliot Budd spent 15 minutes removing a 2.4-metre carpet python from a Townsville U-bend on the weekend, a week after he released a three-metre beauty found coiled in a toilet by tradesmen.
上周末，捕蛇手埃利奥特•巴德（Elliot Budd）花了15分钟，将一条2.4米长的地毯蟒从汤斯维尔（Townsville）的一个马桶U型管中移出。一周之前，他刚刚移出了另一条3米长的蟒蛇，技工发现它时它在马桶里盘成了一圈。

All but the second snake's head and 10cm of its body was inside the toilet piping.
第二条蛇除了头部和10厘米的身体露了出来，其余部分都在厕所的管道里。

Budd could not unbolt the toilet and said tugging at the creature would have caused it injury.
巴德无法打开马桶的阀门，他说，把蛇硬拉出来可能会令它受伤。

"Its head was just sitting there looking right at you," he said.
他说：“它的头就定在那儿直直地看着你。”

"After about 15 minutes of just holding him, he just came out by himself."
“我托着它大概15分钟后，它就自己爬出来了。”

Budd said he had never pulled a snake from a toilet before the first Townsville incident but he's recently removed snakes from pools, kitchens, offices and gardens.
巴德说，在汤斯维尔的第一宗案例出现之前，他从没从马桶里把蛇拉出来过。但最近，他在池塘、厨房、办公室和花园都捉过蛇。

JamesCook Universityreptile expert Professor Lin Schwarzkopf said it wasn't usual for snakes to go into toilets.
詹姆士库克大学（James Cook University）的爬行动物专家林•施瓦茨科夫（Lin Schwarzkopf）教授表示，蛇爬进厕所并不常见。

She said they liked moist places with objects to hide under but had become more bold in the search for water during a dry breeding season.
她说，蛇喜欢潮湿且有遮蔽物的地方，但在干旱的繁殖季，它们为了寻找水源变得更加大胆了。

"They can fit in under doors," she said. "There's not much you can do."
“它们能从门缝钻进去，”教授称，“对此你基本上无计可施。”

Schwarzkopf said dripping taps, pipes and sprinklers could attract snakes, which posed little danger as long as an experienced removalist was called.
施瓦茨科夫说，漏水的水龙头、水管和喷洒器都能吸引蛇前来，只要请来有经验的捕蛇手将它们移走就没有什么危险。

Vocabulary

slither：(蛇等) 蜿蜒地滑行

python：蟒蛇

coil：盘绕，盘成圈

unbolt：打开

tug：猛拉，拽

reptile：爬行动物

sprinkler：喷洒装置