◎俞智敏
Even the sea gulls are throwing the struggling San Francisco Giants baseball team for a loss this year.
舊金山巨人隊今年戰況不佳，就連海鷗也來找麻煩。
Giants officials trying to find humane solution to the worsening onslaught of the birds at home games are stumped, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
巨人隊官員正試圖尋求以人道方式來解決巨人隊主場上愈來愈嚴重的海鷗問題，但是卻束手無策，聖荷西水星報報導說。
The gulls have routinely showed up at the end of night games since the park along San Francisco Bay opened in 2000. But it appears an increasing number of birds are crashing night games this year, bothering players, workers and fans alike.
自舊金山灣沿岸的這座球場於2000年開幕以來，海鷗就經常在夜間球賽結束時現身。但今年闖進夜間球賽的鳥兒數量似乎愈來愈多，讓球員、工作人員和球迷都非常困擾。
Hundreds of gulls sometimes land on the field during play. They also defecate on fans and create cleanup headaches for staff.
數以百計的海鷗有時在球賽中途就降落在球場上。牠們甚至會在球迷身上排泄，工作人員事後要清理球場也很頭大。
Biologists said they don’t know how the sea gulls time their arrival for the end of games to feast on discarded hot dogs, popcorn and other food. "They are incredibly intelligent animals," said biologist Russ Bradley, a sea gull specialist. "Unless you want to build a dome, there’s no easy answer."
生物學家表示，他們也不知道海鷗是如何選擇在球賽結束時來到球場，大啖被球迷們丟棄的熱狗、爆米花和其他食物。「他們是異常聰明的動物」，專研海鷗的生物學家布萊德利說。「除非你打算蓋起一座圓頂，否則問題很難解決。」
Federal law prohibits shooting the birds, and hiring a falconer to scare them away would cost $8,000 a game, said Jorge Costa, the Giants’ manager of operations. The Giants are also concerned a falcon could gruesomely kill a sea gull in front of families and a television audience. （AP）
根據巨人隊營運經理柯斯塔表示，聯邦法律禁止射殺海鷗，而若要聘請養鷹人帶獵鷹來嚇走海鷗，則每場球賽的開銷達8000美元。巨人隊也擔心獵鷹可能在全家福球迷和電視觀眾前對海鷗大開殺戒。（美聯社）
新聞辭典
stump：動詞，指使某人為難、難倒某人，如The question completely stumped the contestant.（參賽者完全被這個問題問倒。）
throw （someone） for a loss：片語，指讓（某人）吃驚、困惑等，如Recent revelations have thrown me for a loss.（最近這些曝光的事件讓我感到非常困惑。）
time：動詞，指安排某事的時間、選擇時機，如They timed their vacation to coincide with the jazz festival.（他們刻意把假期安排在這場爵士音樂節期間。）
本文引用至 自由時報電子報 http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/
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