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Snow melt is the engine that drives life in the Sierra Nevada, and in early spring it feeds countless rivers and streams.
冰雪融化是内华达山脉生活的动力，在早春，冰雪融化为无数河流和小溪提供了水源。
And just below the surface, remarkable events are unfolding.
在表面之下，引人注目的事件正在展开。
Sierra newts spend most of their lives on land, in the moist parts of the forest.
塞拉蝾螈一生中大部分时间都生活在森林中潮湿的陆地上，
But once a year they return to their place of birth to seek out a mate.
但是每年它们都会回到自己的出生地寻找配偶。
Males patrol the shallows, awaiting the arrival of a female.
雄性蝾螈在浅滩上巡逻，等待雌性蝾螈的到来。
The minute she enters the water, males are upon her in an instant.
她一下水，雄鱼蝾螈立马就扑向她。
Competition is fierce.
竞争很激烈。
In just a few moments, a mating ball has formed with more than a dozen males competing to mate with a single female.
几分钟后，一个交配球就形成了，十几只雄蝾螈竞相与一只雌蝾螈交配。
This lucky male manages to escape with his bride.
这只幸运的雄性蝾螈设法带着它的新娘逃走了。
Courtship can go on for hours, and all this tail wagging is foreplay for newts.
求爱可以持续数小时，对蝾螈来说摇尾巴是前戏。
After an extended mating dance, he makes his big move by rubbing his chin on her nose, a way of exciting her.
在一段漫长的求偶舞蹈后，它通过在她的鼻子上摩擦下巴来做出大动作，这是一种让她兴奋的方式。
The male will then deposit a spermatophore.
然后雄性蝾螈会储存一个精囊。
It's a small package containing his DNA, that the female will then use to fertilize her eggs.
这是一个小囊，里面有雄性蝾螈的DNA，雌性蝾螈会用它给卵子受精。
She may lay up to two hundred eggs on submerged twigs at the river's edge, and if left undisturbed the larvae will hatch in about eight weeks time.
她可能会在河边的水下小树枝上产卵多达200个，如果不受干扰，幼虫将在大约8周的时间内孵化。
It's a remarkable cycle that happens every spring.
这是一个非凡的循环，每年春天都会发生。
