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Hey Squeaks, do you know the national mammal of the United States?
嘿，吱吱，你知道美国的国宝级哺乳动物吗？
The American Bison! You're right! Why are you so smart?
美国野牛！你说对了，你怎么这么聪明呢？
You may have heard people call these animals buffalo before,
你之前可能听说过有人把这些动物叫做水牛，
but the buffalo is actually a totally different animal that lives in Asia and Africa.
但水牛实际上是生活在亚洲和非洲的另一种完全不同的动物。
And bison are amazing animals, with big humps, long horns, and furry beards.
野牛是神奇的动物，有大大的驼峰、长长的角和毛茸茸的颌毛。
So here are some of the coolest things to know about bison!
这里有些关于野牛的趣事。
First, bison babies, which are called calves, have a funny nickname: red dogs.
首先，叫做犊牛的野牛宝宝有一个滑稽的昵称：红狗。
They got this nickname because calves are a reddish-orange color when they're young.
它们有这样的昵称是因为犊牛小时候是橘红色的。
Then, as they grow up, their fur turns dark brown.
它们长大后，毛变成了深褐色。
And bison calves are quick learners!
犊牛学得很快！
About an hour after calves are born, they're already standing up and starting to move around.
它们出生一小时后就能够站立、四处走动了。
Over a few years, that little calf grows and grows, until eventually it's huge!
小犊牛经过几年的成长最终变大！
And that's the second thing to know about bison: they're really big!
你要了解的第二件事是野牛体型巨大！
Bison are actually the biggest land animal in North America.
野牛实际上是北美洲最大的陆地动物。
The biggest bison can weigh up to 900 kilograms, which is almost as much as a car!
体型最大的野牛重达900公斤，几乎和一辆汽车一般重！
Since they're so big, you might think bison move around slowly.
因为它们体型巨大，你可能会认为它们行动缓慢。
But bison can actually run really fast, up to 56 kilometers an hour.
但野牛跑得飞快，达到了时速56千米。
That's much faster than you or I could run!
要比你我快得多！
And it's about as fast as a car speeding down the street!
这速度几乎和大街上汽车的速度一样。
So where do bison get energy to grow so big and run so fast?
那么野牛从哪儿获得的能量能长得这么大，而且还能快速奔跑呢？
That's right, Squeaks! They eat! Bison eat lots of plants all day along.
吱吱，你说对了！它们靠吃！野牛一天吃很多植物。
And that big hump behind their heads helps them eat.
它们脑袋后的大驼峰帮助它们吃。
See, in the winter, it snows a lot where bison live,
看，在冬天，野牛的栖息地下了好多雪，
and the snow covers up the plants and grass that they eat.
这些雪盖住了它们吃的植物和草。
When there's a lot of snow covering the plants,
当植物上覆盖着很多雪时，
a bison will use the muscles in its hump to swing its head back and forth and brush away the snow.
野牛会利用驼峰上的肌肉来回摆动它的头，然后把雪扫掉。
That way, they can get to and keep eating the grass throughout the winter.
这样，他们就可以在整个冬天吃草了。
But when it's warm out, bison have something else to worry about: bugs.
但天气变暖时，野牛也有别的事要担心:虫子。
Insects like to bite bison, and if you've ever had a mosquito bite,
昆虫喜欢咬野牛，如果你曾经被蚊子咬过，
you can probably imagine how itchy and annoying it is to have insects biting you all the time.
就可以想象让昆虫一直咬是多么的痒痒和烦人。
One way bison try to get rid of all those bugs is by rolling around in the dirt.
野牛试图摆脱这些虫子的一种方法是在泥土里滚来滚去。
They'll also rub their horns against trees,
它们还会用角来擦树，
which makes the trees release chemicals that repel the insects.
让树释放出驱赶昆虫的化学物质。
They're basically making their own bug spray!
它们基本上是在制造自己的杀虫剂！
One last awesome fact about bison:
野牛最后一个了不起的事实是：
they've been roaming the United States for thousands of years, and there used to be millions of them!
它们在美国存在了几千年，曾经有数百万之多。
But then people hunted too many of them, and soon there were only a few left.
但人们大量狩猎后不久它们就所剩无几了。
Luckily, people realized what was happening to the bison
幸运的是，人们意识到野牛身上发生的事，
and decided to do something to keep them from disappearing forever.
决定做些什么来阻止它们永远消失。
They kept small groups of bison on conservation lands,
他们在保护基地上保留了一些小的野牛群，
special places where they could be protected from people hunting them illegally.
这些基地专门用于保护它们免受非法狩猎。
And guess what? Because of these efforts, there are now about 30,000 wild bison.
猜猜结果如何？因为这些努力。现在有大约3万头野生野牛了。
Lots of them live in Yellowstone National Park, and you can see them if you ever visit there!
它们生活在黄石国家公园，如果你去那儿，可以看看它们。
So now you know all about bison.
现在你了解野牛了吧。
I think they definitely deserve the title of National Mammal!
我认为它们觉得对得起国宝级哺乳动物的称号！
Do you have questions about the American Bison or about any other animals? Let us know!
你对美洲野牛或其他动物有什么疑问吗？让我们知道！
Grab a grown-up to leave a comment down below, or send us an e-mail to kids@scishow.com.
找个大人在下方留言，或发邮件至kids@scishow.com。
And we'll see you next time, here at the fort!
我们下期见。沃斯堡等你哦！
