▶ 朗讀全文（中文）
早上要開車出門，打開引擎蓋卻發現裡面的隔熱棉被扯得亂七八糟，甚至整片不見——這種怪事在日本大分市鶴崎一帶接連發生。根據 TOS 大分電視台報導，追查之後發現，犯人竟然是體型細長的黃鼠狼。黃鼠狼身體細長、動作靈活，能鑽進很小的縫隙，車子的引擎室對牠們來說就像一個現成的材料倉庫。
EN You go to drive to work in the morning, open the hood, and find the insulation torn to pieces or even completely gone. This strange problem kept happening around Tsurusaki in Oita City, Japan. TOS Oita reported that the thieves turned out to be weasels. Weasels have long, thin bodies and move quickly, so they can squeeze into small gaps. To them, a car’s engine room is like a ready-made storeroom of building materials.
▶ 聽英文朗讀
國宗地區的自治會長植木久俊說，從 2025 年 4 月到 7 月，國宗地區和隔壁地區加起來，就發生了好幾十起汽車隔熱棉被破壞的案子，有些車連線路都被咬壞，最後只能把零件整個換掉。
EN Hisatoshi Ueki, head of the Kunimune neighborhood association, said that from April to July 2025, there were dozens of cases of damaged car insulation in Kunimune and a nearby area. In some cars, the wires were bitten too, and the parts had to be replaced completely.
▶ 聽英文朗讀
叼著隔熱棉跑去河邊蓋窩
報導指出，黃鼠狼會鑽進停著的車子底下，爬到引擎室裡把隔熱棉一點一點扯下來，再叼走。大家推測，牠們是把這些軟綿綿的材料搬到附近大野川河岸的草叢裡，拿來鋪自己的窩。
EN According to the report, weasels crawl under parked cars, climb into the engine room, pull off the insulation bit by bit, and carry it away. People believe they take the soft material to the grass along the nearby Ono River and use it to line their nests.
▶ 聽英文朗讀
為了抓到這些「小偷」，大分市在 2025 年 4 月設置了 3 個捕捉陷阱，到目前為止已經抓到 8 隻黃鼠狼。對居民來說，隔熱棉被偷還算小事，萬一線路被咬斷，車子開到一半出問題就麻煩了。對當地居民來說，一覺醒來車子就被「拆」了一角，真的讓人哭笑不得，也只能期待陷阱多抓到幾隻。
EN To catch these “thieves,” Oita City set up three traps in April 2025, and eight weasels have been caught so far. For residents, losing insulation is a small problem, but if wires are bitten through, a car could break down on the road. Waking up to find part of your car “taken apart” is both funny and annoying, and people hope the traps will catch more.
▶ 聽英文朗讀
FNN 的新聞畫面，可以看到被黃鼠狼扯壞的引擎蓋內側：
EN FNN’s news video shows the inside of a car hood damaged by weasels.
▶ 聽英文朗讀
影片來源：FNNプライムオンライン／YouTube
※ 若影片沒有中文字幕，可點播放器右下角的齒輪 → 字幕 → 自動翻譯 → 中文（繁體）。
現在正是找窩過冬的季節
大分害蟲驅除中心的川野太輔表示，黃鼠狼會為了過冬尋找溫暖的地方，從現在到 3 月左右的繁殖期，正是牠們忙著築巢的時候。除了車子，黃鼠狼也很常躲進民宅的天花板裡，川野說，只要是天花板被入侵的案例，裡面的隔熱材料幾乎百分之百會被扯爛。
EN Daisuke Kawano of the Oita Pest Control Center said weasels look for warm places to spend the winter. From now until their breeding season around March, they are busy building nests. Besides cars, weasels often hide in the ceilings of houses. Kawano said that when they get into a ceiling, the insulation there is almost always torn apart.
▶ 聽英文朗讀
根據業者的統計，2026 年度接到和黃鼠狼有關的委託，已經是 2025 年度的大約 4 倍。不過黃鼠狼受到法律保護，要捕捉必須先取得市町村的許可，業者通常是先噴上牠們討厭的氣味驅趕，再把出入口封起來。專家也提醒，民眾發現黃鼠狼時不要自己動手抓，最好交給專業處理。隨著天氣越來越冷，這些小傢伙找窩的動作只會更積極，住在河邊或草叢附近的車主，這個冬天可能得多留意一下自己的引擎蓋了。
EN According to the company, requests about weasels in fiscal year 2026 are already about four times those in fiscal 2025. However, weasels are protected by law, and catching them requires permission from the local government. Workers usually spray smells weasels hate to drive them away and then close the entrances. Experts advise people not to catch weasels themselves and to leave it to professionals. As the weather gets colder, weasels will search for nests even harder, so drivers living near rivers or grassy areas may need to check under their hoods this winter.
▶ 聽英文朗讀
精選單字
weasel /ˈwiːzəl/ 黃鼠狼
insulation /ˌɪnsəˈleɪʃən/ 隔熱材料
hood /hʊd/ （汽車）引擎蓋
nest /nest/ 窩；巢
trap /træp/ 陷阱
breeding season /ˈbriːdɪŋ ˌsiːzən/ 繁殖期
permission /pərˈmɪʃən/ 許可
professional /prəˈfeʃənəl/ 專業人士
