January 25th, 2007
a midnight serenade
Last night, just a short while before midnight, the local Coyote (Canis latrans) pack dropped by to serenade me. Being a little slow off the mark, I didn’t think to record their song for the first couple of minutes, and then I realized that the memory card was out of my camera, so I had to replace it. However, I did manage to capture a couple of small clips of sound. Unfortunately, a vehicle approached, which both drowned out the song and quietened the pack for awhile. However, they did take up singing again later in the evening. At this time of the year, we often hear them quite close to our house. I’ll try to be ready to make a better recording next chance I get. Today, I’ll go back and check for tracks to see just how close they were. Here is the sound clip. It’s an .mp4 file – maybe 20 seconds long, and about 180 kbs. The actual chorus was incredible – much yipping, barking and howling. It sounded like there were some young coyote in the pack. Wish you could have been here for the serenade.
Tags: Coyote, Canis latrans, Coyote audio file
January 25th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
What a great idea, bev. I wish I had thought of it during the full moon when the coyotes came close and howled. I listened for a while as they moved further and further toward the creek, and their howls grew faint and fainter. It is quite a sound. Love that sound clip. Excellent.
January 25th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I didn’t know you had coyotes, Bev. The serenades are something even I can appreciate, tho the neighborhood dogs don’t like them.
I suppose they’ve more or less taken the niche that wolves occupied once.
The photo captures the scene quite well!
January 25th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
More coyote sound clips would be great, Bev! Ours don’t sing very often, unfortunately (though that’s probably a smart strategy if they want to survive in as densely populated and gun-happy a state as Pennsylvania).
January 25th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
robin – I was enjoying hearing the chorus so much that I almost didn’t think of recording it! It’s neat to hear them howling and yipping as they move over the land. We get a real sense of that here as the land is flat and the sound carries so well over the snow.
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Wayne -I guess I haven’t mentioned the coyotes before. I find their tracks all over the place here and they sing year round. I think our woods and land probably provide some of the best and safest cover around, so I suspect we may be part of the home base for the local pack.
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Dave – I’ll definitely try to get some more clips. At this time of the year, it’s mostly a case of being conscious of the singing and checking at the first sound of a chorus as they’re often nearby. They do sing frequently and quite close to the house. In fact, this afternoon, I went out and checked around for fresh tracks and found them right to the edge of the open area in our backyard. They were probably singing from right in the bush behind the trees in the above photo! I don’t think the coyote have too much to fear around here so they’re pretty vocal. There aren’t too many people with livestock in this immediate area, so most of the neighbours probably don’t mind them being around.
January 26th, 2007 at 12:20 am
I think coyotes must be everywhere now. I am pretty sure I never heard of one around my town in NW Georgia when I was growing up, but we certainly have them now. I don’t hear them much. Occasionally I hear something that might be coyotes, but might be dogs in the distance. I know they are considered nuisances and are sometimes shot, but I still like to hear them.
January 26th, 2007 at 3:31 am
Wish I were there to hear them myself!
I’ve heard rumors of coyotes in the very southern tip of NJ, but can hardly imagine them there with so many people.
I’m thrilled to hear an owl or spot a fox here in the middle of suburbia!
January 26th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Ah, the song dogs! I remember hearing them in the mountains of Colorado many years ago, and never since. Thanks for the audio clip.
January 26th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Mark – Coyote are very adaptable and successful, so I expect they are present in most areas. Where I live, the farms are spaced quite far apart, so we hear the odd dog bark in the evening. The coyote are quite different though. When they are vocal, you can hear them moving over the fields and into the woods. It’s really an enjoyable sound – or at least I think so!
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Laura – They sound quite different “in person” than on that recording. When they’re as close by as they were the other night, if you open the window, it seems as though they are right beside you and the calls will fill the room. Of course, as it turned out, once I’d taken a look for prints in the snow, they almost *were* beside me the other night! (-:
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pablo – You’re most welcome. Glad you enjoyed the singing!
January 28th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Wow. I’ve only heard coyote once – decades ago. Like Pablo we were camping out West. It was eerie. We didn’t know immediately what they were – it sounded like inmates from an asylum.
January 28th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Cathy – I’m glad you got to hear the coytoe! I guess we’re pretty spoiled as we get to hear the coyote quite often around out place, only note generally quite as close as the other night. You’re right, they do have a bit of a maniacal sound when they’re making their whining and yapping call.