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Do scarecrows actually work?
稻草人真的能把鸟吓走吗？
Every Halloween, scarecrows become standard lawn decor. Trick-or-treaters might find them frightening, but what about the birds that these effigies are supposed to repel?
每年万圣节，稻草人都是草地上的标配装饰物。不给糖就捣蛋的小孩可能会被稻草人吓到，但其实稻草人的作用本来是驱赶鸟类，它们真的能把鸟吓走吗？
Apparently, some avians dislike them more than others. A series of tests conducted in 1980 found that small ponds near where a scarecrow was planted saw a 95 percent drop in visits by local ducks. On the other hand, certain species don’t seem to notice them. During the 1930s, wildlife scientist K.R. Lagler sent one scarecrow adrift on a floating buoy at a West Virginia fish hatchery. While most birds steered clear of the thing, he noted that it failed to deter kingfishers.
显然，有些鸟真的不喜欢稻草人。1980年开展的一系列测试发现，附近安插了稻草人的小池塘在当地吸引的鸭子数量减少了95%。与此同时，某些鸟类似乎注意不到稻草人。上世纪30年代，野生动物科学家K·R·拉格勒在美国西弗吉尼亚州的一个鱼苗孵化场中把稻草人放在浮标上漂流。尽管多数鸟儿都会避开稻草人，但是拉格勒发现，稻草人对翠鸟没有震慑作用。
Let’s forget about bodies of water for a moment. After all, most people associate scarecrows with cornfields rather than ponds or fisheries. So, how good are they at protecting crops? Not very—unless you’re willing to put some extra effort into them.
让我们暂时忘记水中的稻草人吧。毕竟，大多数人会把稻草人和玉米田联系在一起而不是池塘或鱼苗孵化场。那么，稻草人保护农作物的效果怎么样？并不太好，除非你愿意给稻草人加点料。
While traditional, motionless scarecrows do work against “pest birds” (e.g. crows and blackbirds), the effect is almost always temporary. Over time, the birds get used to stationary dummies and resume their destructive habits.
尽管传统的一动不动的稻草人对害鸟（比如乌鸦和乌鸫）确实有作用，但是效果基本上都持续不了多久。随着时间流逝，这些鸟类习惯了一动不动的稻草人，又会故态复萌，开始毁坏庄稼。
However, a few tricks can up your scarecrow’s game. Researchers have learned that those with realistic facial features and brightly colored clothes are slightly better at shooing away birds. Also, moving a scarecrow around every few days often helps.
不过，你只需几个小技巧就能让你的稻草人战斗力升级。研究人员发现，面容逼真、衣服鲜艳的稻草人对于吓走鸟儿略胜一筹。另外，每隔几天就移动一下稻草人也有帮助。
According to several studies, flailing models get the very best results. In 1989, one scientist reported that a “human-like mannequin” that occasionally lurched upwards via a double propane cannon managed to keep up to six acres of sunflowers safe from blackbirds.
多项研究显示，双臂挥舞的稻草人效果最好。1989年，一名科学家报告称，通过一个双丙烷加农炮让一个人体模型时不时突然冒出来，成功地让6英亩向日葵花田免受乌鸫的侵害。
Future farmers may have plenty of high-tech options to choose from. A robotic alternative known as the “Agrilaser” randomly deploys sweeping laser beams to keep birds away. “The system is noiseless,” Arnold Bosgoed, a farmer had tested it out, told The Daily Mail in 2014, “and the birds do not seem to get used to the laser beam. The installation was easy and requires no maintenance.” Another contraption—the solar-powered “digital scarecrow”—detects nearby animals with an infrared eye that surveys 178,000 square feet. When a critter gets too close, it’s warded off with a harmless supersonic wave.
未来农民们可能会有很多高科技驱鸟产品供其选择。一款名为Agrilaser的驱鸟机器随机扫射激光束来驱赶鸟儿。试用过这款机器的农民阿诺德·波斯古德2014年告诉《每日邮报》：“这个系统是无声的，而且鸟类似乎不会习惯这种激光束。安装起来很容易，也不需要维护。”另一种号称“数字稻草人”的太阳能装置可以用红外探测器扫描17.8平方英尺范围并检测到附近的动物。当一个动物靠得太近，这种数字稻草人就会发射无害的超声波来驱赶动物。
英文来源：Mental Floss
翻译&编辑：丹妮
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