被遺忘的動物文化史：從日本之狼到臺灣百步蛇

The Forgotten Cultural History of Animals: Wolves in Japan and Hundred-Pacers in Taiwan

這是一篇動物文化史的文章，先淺談日本列島的狼，再深論臺灣百步蛇。對日本人而言，最初在殖民地臺灣殺蛇與在19世紀的北海道殺狼一樣，都是除滅「有害動物」，然而，後來發展又大不相同。環境史家重視日本之狼的消失，卻很少有人關心臺灣百步蛇的歷史境遇。本報告以日本之狼為楔子，引出背景相似的臺灣百步蛇；後者被排灣族群視為祖靈之蛇，文章內容先勾勒人蛇關係，再分析百步蛇趨向滅絕的因素，最後與近代以後日本列島的狼做比較。

This article compares the culture histories of the wolves in Japan and the Hundred-Pacers in Taiwan. For the Japanese people, their killing of vipers in colonial Taiwan and wolves in Hokkaido in the late 19^(th) century derived from the same motivation: it was to eradicate ＂the noxious animals＂. However, the fates of the two animals have differed since then. Environmental historians pay attention to the disappearance of the wolves in Japan, but few people notice the historical context of Taiwan's hundred-pacers. This paper starts with the history of the wolves in Japan. It serves as an introduction to Taiwan's hundred-pacers, for both shares similar backgrounds. Paiwanese people believe that the hundred-pacers are their spiritual ancestors. We discuss first the relationship between the people and the hundred-pacers. We then analyze the reasons of the near-extinction of the hundred-pacers. In the end, we compare the historical circumstances of Japan's wolves and Taiwan's hundred-pacers in modern times.