 摘要：
近日，在位于美国田纳西州纳什维尔市内的奥普里兰德会议中心里发生了一件奇怪的事情——尽管那里面没有一只活火鸡，但却不断传出各种火鸡的叫声。原来，这里正在举行一年一度的全美野生火鸡叫声锦标赛。比赛现场，150名参赛者一展喉咙，看看到底谁叫得最像火鸡。
Gobbles, clucks and coos spill out of the grand ballrooms, but there are no live turkeys on the floor of the Opryland Convention Center. Instead, about 150 men, women and children are doing their best imitations at the championship of turkey calling, the annual Grand National Wild Turkey Calling championships.
近日，在位于美国田纳西州纳什维尔市内的奥普里兰德会议中心里发生了一件奇怪的事情——尽管那里面没有一只活火鸡，但却不断传出各种火鸡的叫声。原来，这里正在举行一年一度的全美野生火鸡叫声锦标赛。比赛现场，150名参赛者一展喉咙，看看到底谁叫得最像火鸡。
据美联社2月25日报道，美国全国野生火鸡联合会于本周开始在纳什维尔召开，约有4万名猎人和火鸡展示者汇集于此，但最有趣的活动项目还是那些模仿火鸡叫声的人们。
此项冠军的3连冠得主吉姆·波拉德说：“当你走上赛场时，你的神经会变得万分紧张，你的双手在不停地颤抖且布满汗珠。”根据比赛规则，参赛选手需要站在台上面对鸦雀无声的观众，在4分钟内表演出4种各不相同的火鸡叫声。参赛选手通常很紧张，习惯用手去擦拭额头的汗水或者在台上走来走去，而比赛现场有一个巨型电视屏幕专门播出参赛者的双手及面部的特写镜头。
在这些“火鸡叫声”中，既有那种经常被猎人们模仿的年轻火鸡的高亢尖利声，也有一种听上去极其柔和的“咯咯声和咕噜咕噜声”波拉德说：“‘咯咯声和咕噜咕噜声’是一种难度颇高的叫声。你必须首先使自己身体的各个部分处于放松的状态，然后以一种闲适安逸的心态来完成它。”
本届比赛还特意增加了一项新的比赛内容——摩擦叫声，即让选手们通过将不同物品相互刮擦的方式来模仿出火鸡的叫声，一般是用棍棒与石板或金属盒子互相摩擦来完成。波拉德说：“通过摩擦喊叫的方式可以模仿出某些最为真实的火鸡叫声。”
Gobbles, clucks and coos spill out of the grand ballrooms, but there are no live turkeys on the floor of the Opryland Convention Center. Instead, about 150 men, women and children are doing their best imitations at the championship of turkey calling, the annual Grand National Wild Turkey Calling championships.
The National Wild Turkey Federation Convention that began this week brings some 40,000 hunters and exhibitors from across the nation to Nashville, but the spotlight is on the turkey callers.
"When you get up on that stage, you're nervous," said three-time champion Jim Pollard from Heflin, Alabama. "Your hands are shaking, your palms are sweaty. It's hard to keep control."
Standing alone on a stage in front of a completely silent crowd, the competitors are at times visibly nervous, wiping sweat from brows and pacing back and forth.
A giant TV screen zooms in on hands and faces, as the callers are asked to perform four different sounds in four minutes.
The calls can be high-pitched whistles like the "kee-kee run," which is used by hunters to imitate a young turkey. One call — a "cluck and purr" — is much softer and competitors typically sit down on the stage to concentrate on the sound.
"I thought I had a beautiful run until the last call, which was a cluck and purr," Pollard said. "It's a finesse call — you've got to lighten up on everything and be real easy on it. I flubbed up on it and my scores showed it."
This year's championships feature a new category — friction calling — for callers who produce the turkey sounds by rubbing objects together, typically a slate or a metal box that is scraped with a stick.
"Friction calls are some of the most realistic calls there are," Pollard said.
When the National Wild Turkey Federation started in 1973, there were only about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America. Today, the population stands close to 7 million birds.
Scott Vance, the federation's director of conservation partnerships, said the organization has helped revitalize turkey populations with trap and transfer programs and by working with government agencies to conserve turkey habitats.
Turkey hunting is "really a one-on-one situation where you have to mimic the calls to attract the animals to you," Vance said. "You really feel like you're connected." | 
