Časoris is an online newspaper aimed at children. Each week we’ll take an article and post it here as a Slovene-English dual text.
Nekatere veverice so pogumnejše od drugih
Some squirrels are braver than others
Written by Dora Adamič, translated by JL Flanner & G Translate
Morda veš, da naše osebnostne značilnosti, kot so družabnost, aktivnost ali pogum, vplivajo na izbiro poklica, prijateljev in hobijev.
You may know that our personality traits, such as sociability, liveliness, or courage, influence the choice of profession, friends, and hobbies.
Zanimivo je, da imajo osebnost tudi živali.
Interestingly, animals also have a personality.
Njeno raziskovanje se je začelo razvijati šele v zadnjem času, saj je to zelo zahtevno. Poleg tega znanstveniki ponavadi živali spremljajo kot skupnost in se redko osredotočijo na posamezne osebke.
Her research has only begun to develop recently, as it is very demanding. In addition, scientists tend to monitor animals as a community and rarely focus on individual specimens.
Osebnost imajo različni organizmi: ribe, ptice, glodavci, pajki, kuščarji. Vse več raziskav kaže, da jo imajo najverjetneje vse živali, čeprav smo mislili, da je to samo značilnost človeka.
Different organisms have a personality: fish, birds, rodents, spiders, lizards. More and more research shows that most animals probably have one, even though we thought it was just a characteristic of humans.
Nedavno je bila objavljena raziskava, kjer so znanstveniki tri leta spremljali vedenje veveric, ki živijo v Koloradu, ZDA.
A study was recently published where scientists monitored the behaviour of squirrels living in Colorado, USA for three years.
Pri tem so preučevali štiri lastnosti: pogum, agresijo, aktivnost in družabnost.
In doing so, they studied four traits: courage, aggression, liveliness, and sociability.
Veverice so postavili v škatlo z luknjami in spremljali njihovo vedenje v novem okolju. Naredili so tudi test z ogledalom, da bi ugotovili, kako se veverica odziva na svoj odsev.
The squirrels were placed in a box with holes and monitored for their behaviour in the new environment. They also did a test with a mirror to find out how the squirrel responds to its reflection.
Pogum so preizkusili tako, da so se ji približali v naravi in spremljali, kdaj bo pobegnila. Opazovali so še vedenje v pasti – za kratek čas so jo ujeli, opazovali in nato izpustili.
They tested courage by approaching one in nature and watching when it would escape. They also observed the behaviour in a trap - they caught one for a short time, observed it and then released it.
S testi so spoznali, da se pogumnejše veverice gibljejo na večjih ozemljih in hitreje. Tako so ugotovili, da sta pogum in aktivnost povezana.
Tests have shown that braver squirrels move over larger territories and faster. Thus, they found that courage and activity are related.
Prav tako naj bi imele družabnejše veverice večjo verjetnost preživetja in razmnoževanja, čeprav veverice, ki so jih preučevali, načeloma veljajo za manj družabno vrsto.
Moreover, more social squirrels are said to be more likely to survive and reproduce, although the squirrels studied have in principle been considered a less social species.
»Upoštevanje osebnosti je lahko pri varovanju vrst še posebej pomembno, saj nam lahko pomaga pri napovedovanju odziva živali na nove življenjske pogoje, kot je sprememba ali uničenje habitata,« pravi dr. Jaclyn Aliperti, vodja raziskave.
"Consideration of personality can be especially important in protecting species, as it can help us predict the response of animals to new living conditions, such as habitat change or destruction," says Dr. Jaclyn Aliperti, Head of Research.
Read more stories and improve your Slovene at Časoris, while all our dual texts can be found here.
