Cats get a bad rap。

喵星人的名聲很壞。

They pretty much do what they want and are generally thought of as less friendly than dogs。

它們總是我行我素，通常也被認為不及汪星人友好。

But a new book,"Cat Sense," provides fresh insight into the relationship between cats and humans, and gets to the heart of why cats have earned their reputation as being furry little jerks。

但在新書《貓感》中，作者從全新視角探討了喵星人與人類之間的關系，深度剖析了喵星人為何被誤解為毛茸茸的小怪咖。

The book is based on 30 years of research by John Bradshaw, a biologist and director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol。

這本書是約翰-布拉德肖根據30年的研究經驗撰寫而成。約翰是一位生物學家，同時也是布里斯托爾大學人與動物關系學研究院的主任。

Here are some of the most interesting findings we've seen in interviews and reviews of Bradshaw's book:

下面就是通過采訪與社論從布拉德肖書中摘錄的有趣發(fā)現(xiàn)：

The cat's purr isn't just a sign of being content. Kittens purr to get their "mother to lie still while they're suckling," Bradshaw told NPR in an interview. The purr is carried into adulthood, where it's used as "a signal to the animals, [and] the people around them to pay attention and try to help them."

貓打呼嚕不單意味著舒服，小貓打呼嚕也表示 “要求貓媽媽在它們喝奶時安靜躺著”，布拉德肖在美國國家公共電視臺的采訪中說道。這種打呼嚕的習慣一直延續(xù)到成貓階段，是喵星人向周圍動物及人尋求關注和幫助的信號。

Cats are different than dogs because they weren't purposely bred to be our companions, Nicholas Wade explains in a review for The New York Times. They are still mostly wild animals that "rely almost entirely on their natural social behaviors," writes Wade。

喵星人和汪星人存在區(qū)別，是因為喵星人從一開始就沒有被刻意訓練成人類的伙伴，尼古拉斯-韋德在《紐約時報》的評論中寫道。他還表示：“貓在很大程度上仍屬于野生動物，仍然完全依靠自身的自然社會習性來生存。”

This is also why cats have earned a reputation for being unfriendly. The domestic cat population is largely controlled through spaying and neutering, leaving mostly wild or feral cats (known for their nasty behavior) for domestic cats to breed with. As a result, we are unintentionally "causing cats to evolve into animals society won't like as much," according to a review by Steven Poole in The Guardian。

這也是喵星人被誤以為不友善的原因。通過切除卵巢或閹割，家養(yǎng)貓的數(shù)量得到了良好控制，以致大多數(shù)臭名昭著的野貓成了交配對象。結果無意中導致“貓演化成了不受待見的動物群體。”史蒂夫-普爾在《衛(wèi)報》上評論說。

Cats view their owners as bigger, nonhostile cats — not kittens whom they want to feed by dropping rodents at the doorstep。

在喵星人眼里，主人是沒有惡意的大貓——而不是需要它們將獵物銜到門口喂養(yǎng)的小貓。

This act isn't the cat searching for a prize to bring back to the house. Bradshaw says that cats actually prefer canned cat food, so they ditch the prey by the door when they get home and remember this。

喵星人把獵物叼回家并不是為了尋求獎賞。布拉德肖說，其實喵星人更喜歡罐頭貓糧，所以它們回家時會把獵物埋在門邊并記得這個位置。

Cats greet humans the same way they would greet fellow, friendly cats — with an upright tail that demonstrates affection for their owners, says The Independent's Heather Saul。

喵星人歡迎人類的方式和它們歡迎同類的方式一樣，友好的喵星人會豎直尾巴表達對主人的喜愛之情，希瑟-掃羅在《獨立報》上說。

Cats are good at climbing up trees because they have claws that face forwards, writes Poole. This design is not good for helping them get down, which is why cats often get stuck in trees。

喵星人擅長爬樹是因為它們有能夠前伸的鋒利爪子，普爾寫道。但前伸的爪子卻不利于向下攀爬，所以喵星人經常會被困在樹上下不來。