朋友圈熱傳的'黃鼠狼給雞拜年'實爲伶鼬

The Chinese proverb "the weasel pays respect to the hen without the best of intentions" became all too real with the arrival of the Year of the Rooster.

隨着雞年的到來，中國的一句諺語“黃鼠狼給雞拜年”真的成爲了現實。

Recently, a picture of a "Siberian weasel" paying New Year respects to a hen went viral. However, the "Siberian weasel" in the picture was not Siberian, said an expert.

近日，一張一隻“西伯利亞黃鼠狼”給一隻母雞“拜年”的照片迅速走紅。但是一位專家指出，照片中的這隻“西伯利亞黃鼠狼”並不是來自西伯利亞。

"The animal in the picture is not a Siberian weasel. It's a least weasel," said Dr. Zhang Jinshuo, who works at the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, adding that Siberian weasels are larger than least weasels.

來自中國社科院動物研究所的張勁碩博士表示：“照片中的這隻動物不是西伯利亞黃鼠狼，只是一隻普通的伶鼬。”他還表示，西伯利亞黃鼠狼要比普通的伶鼬大一些。

According to Zhang, the main difference between the two is that Siberian weasels have a pale back and belly and a black face.

據張勁碩博士稱，這兩種動物之間主要的區別在於，西伯利亞黃鼠狼的背部和腹部是白色的，而臉則是黑的。

Zhang also noted the proverb and pointed out that weasels do not usually eat chickens. Typically, they eat other small animals like rats.

此外，張勁碩還提到了那句諺語，並指出黃鼠狼其實不常吃雞。通常來說，它們的食物是老鼠等其他一些小動物。

He said weasels only attack chickens and other domestic fowl when they are starving and no other food source can be found.

他表示，只有在餓得不行而又找不到其他食物的時候，黃鼠狼纔會襲擊雞和其他家禽。