Back about ten years ago I bought a little tape recorder to use while researching (indoor), and one day while walking home I heard a strange bird I couldn't identify, so I recorded its song from a distance of around 50 meters. The recording quality was excellent, good enough in fact when I got home I was able to identify the bird with nothing more than a bird book -- it was a Northern Oriole. Last year I went on a six week canoe trip and took this little recorder along. I got a great collection of wildlife from angry coyotes, to early morning bird chatter, to a pack of wolves howling when I slipped right up on them. So my question to all the field researchers is, if I can get all this stuff with a simple tape recorder, why are there not more recordings of all these whoops, howls, and wood knocking I hear so much about? This little recorder I have is smaller than a pack of cigarettes, runs on a couple of AA batteries, and requires no more than a push of a button to capture crystal clear audio. I kept it in my pocket, and I had those wolves before they were 10 seconds into the cacaphony. So if these things are cheap, effective, and easy to use, why don't we have more sound recordings than that Sierra Sounds CD that is now decades old? Sound is a lot easier to get than pictures or footprints, so why no sound bites?

I'm curious to know what makes you think there aren't that many? The AIBR site alone has a nice published collection of unidentified vocalizations.

I have a few recorded, myself.

All along these same lines, where on the forum and in what format, could sound recordings be posted? Would they be attachable somehow as audio files directly to the forum or
would you have to have a link to a website or holding facility where they could be accessed? Just curious because I have quite a selection of unidentifiable sounds I'd like to share with the forum?

If you don't have a website just find a free file hosting service and link back to it.

There you go, that didn't take long. So people do have recordings, but have no way to share them. So maybe the next step is to create a section here where people can post sound bites, and we can fight over what they are. Sounds like a whole new way to peck at each other. Thanks Bitter Monk for the heads up on the ABIR site. How hard is it to post sound links? Can I get a technician here? Who's in charge of this operation?

Which is why very many of the recordings that are captured never make it into the public eye. Uh... ear.

Bipedalist, I am greatly looking forward to hearing what you've got.

This one works pretty good.

http://www.savefile.com/index.php

Thanks for all the ideas, I'll set something up, get back to this thread and then make another thread with some
unidentifiable sound files. Its a start

Well done, you're a credit to bipedals everywhere. I knew there had to be someone here with their wits about them. We might be breaking new ground here, but it seems to me that introducing sound is just as important as the other bits of evidence, all we need is the people smarter than me to hook it up.

ok, thanks Rounder I'm flattered but before you all get all glowing and syrupy sweet here on this breaking new ground thing, I'm not posting screams and howls, but unidentified noises that are in an unknown category, not really a scream, bird call or whoot or a hoop or hollar. Here will be my link:
http://savefile.com/projects/808611345 Unidentified Research Sounds--NC
, it will be empty until I post again to let this thread
know of files uploaded, and at that time I will start a new thread called Unidentified Research Sounds--NC under the Discussion/In the field thread.:

Thank the internet Gods, this thread actually IS about bigfoot.

ok here is a new file at:
http://www.savefile.com/files/1413281

I will open a new thread and post it there as well, at this site:
http://savefile.com/projects/808611345

Rich Grover has some of the best recordings I have heard. He got them near Sultan Washington. Outstanding job by an outstanding investigator. Richard is a classic. His recordings are great, wish I had more of them.

I shudder at the thought of someone’s recording being broken down and scrutinized. I see wars in the future of this thread.

Hey guys, how about a link to the AIBR site. I have never been to that site.

Thanks, I would like to explore it.

Here you go, Wardog. AIBR website

At least a few of the sounds featured there are pretty clearly coyote vocalization.

Not to be a party pooper, but has anyone ever seen a BF making a howl, whoop, or other such sound? How do we know that an unknown sound recorded out in woods was made by our friend if no one saw what made the sound? It seems like most of the evidence is circumstancial (and in many cases seems pretty convincing) at best. Serious question here, just trying to understand. I can think of only one report right off hand where the witness saw the BF make the sound. There are probably others, but I can't remember them right now.

Good question. There was a BFRO report posted earlier this year about a female hiker in the Sierras I believe. She stated that she heard calls, and then witnessed the creature bounding up the mountainside. But not actually making the calls. Or howls, roars...

Yes. I think its great to bring a recorder along. Infact you could compare your evidence with previous or other recordings and discover which one is a species of Bigfoot or another animal. Not only is it helpful for bigfoot researching, it can also help you discover natural animal sounds just around you.

What an intriguing thread!

Regarding the recording issues, I know there are a lot of recordings out there. I think as more people are discovering the various sounds and being attuned for them, they are recording them with whatever means they have. I am looking into purchasing a very high quality handheld digital audio recorder for just that purpose. Recording sounds was not something I had even thought of until 4 years ago.

Now why don't people see them making these sounds? Several People have. I believe Bobo could see the Squatch he recorded in 1993 in the Klamath River basin of Northern California. There is some debate if Dr. Matt Johnson actually did have an encounter or not at Oregon Caves, but if it was a legit report, (and personally I am giving him the benefit of the doubt), he described the Bigfoot watching his Family as making whooing sounds, and that he could see it doing that. But, for the majority of up close encounters with vocalizations, there is a high stress element for both the Squatches and the Humans involved. I think the Humans are too caught up in looking at other things to be really looking at the Mouth to determine what sounds it is making.

I was just thinking about Elk. They are every bit as vocal as Bigfoot, maybe even more. I had heard Elk bugle for years before I actually got to watch one doing it in the wild. Same with Coyotes. You rarely get to watch the Coyote actually making the noise you are hearing.

I think the recording idea is great, we can all learn and be much better equipped for auditory identification.

Do not breed negativity it festers.

There are three recordings on this website that came from Mississippi and they give me the creeps! There are also sounds of what appears to be coyotes and wolves joining in with the bigfoot howls. Anyways, here's the link:

http://www.stancourtney.com/guests%27%20un...n%20sounds.html

On that site, the recording from Ohio immediately below the three Mississippi sounds has the accompanying text: "...They later learned that the microphones were being inspected by one or more other creatures during this time and continuing after."

I've read before several times about unattended recording equipment being touched, moved or otherwise tampered with by creatures unknown. So why would BF happily fiddle with audio recording devices but stay well clear of cameras and other visual recording equipment?

There's been recent talk on other threads about camera emitting ultrasound/infrasound which BFs can hear. Surely this would apply to some (if not all) audio recording devices as well?

I've had similar results using remote audio recorders. This is why I use camera traps watching the recorders now. I dont put too much stock in the ultrasonic or infrasonic emissions from cameras and audio recorders, allthough ultrasound would be more likely than infrasound.

On the topic of why not more audio recordings....... well, one has to realize that one creature can sometimes sound like another, and any potential bigfoot sound really has to set itself apart from all other wildlife to have any value as evidence. Most sounds are looked at in this way, while not all bigfoot sounds would necessarily be so differentiated.

SY

For all the screaming and thrashing in reports, I wonder why we never see or hear that behavior in videos. I'm sure the best answer is that most videos are fakes. But "most" means some are at least unsolved. Yet no sounds.

My take is that the noisy behaviour seems to occur at night when, presumably, the creatures know people are unlikely to be around and filming is almost impossible. But it's a good point - if you're going to fake some footage, you'd surely want to keep it simple - something motionless or, at the most, walking is about as much as you could do without giving the game away.

But taking the point further, Texas Bigfoot, I think I'm right in saying that virtually no-one has even seen BFs making those big vocalisations or carrying out violent thrashing or wood-knocking actions. Rock-throwing always comes out of the darkness too.


Why they waste such energy is a different question and one I'm pondering at the moment too. The howls and wood-knocks aren't always directed at people so there's obviously communication going on, but all the effort near campsites? Is it simply to scare off campers? Why? With thousands of square miles of forest, do the BFs really need that particular campsite right now? Campers seem to pack their food and gear before fleeing, so it's not a sustenance issue.

Even with darkness on their side, BFs are surely taking a big risk by interacting with people in this way at night. Scared people, under attack, at night, are of course far more likely to open fire.

My not-very-sophisticated trick when pondering BF behaviour is simply to ask myself, 'if I was him, what would I do?' I'd leave people alone at night and I'd give audio equipment the wide berth that I already give cameras.

I think a sighting is much more rare than hearing one. It only makes sense if bigfoot hides within the cover of the woods most of the time. Reports come from witnesses who are not researchers who carry video and recording equipment. I don't think it should be surprising that there are no videos of them making sounds.

SY

If memory serves, didn't Bigfootie report about an incident he witnessed near/in Whitehall, NY where a BF was banging the heck out of a tree to dislodge a raccoon (which it successfully did)? That immediately came to mind when you mentioned the limited sightings of wood-knocking which is intended to communicate rather than dislodge.

Seeing a sasquatch vocalize is certainly a rare event. Here's one example.

Thank you, Peregrine. I hadn't read that one. It's certainly got all the vocalisation you could ever want, including some directed at the observer. So next question - has anyone ever seen a BF issue those mournful night howls?

I can't think of any reports off hand where someone actually witnessed a Sas. making the mournful howls but here is a nice analysis done on some.

http://www.nidsci.org/news/acousticanalysis_summary.php

SY

Here's a better link to those sounds and the analysis

http://www.nidsci.org/news/acousticanalysis.php

SY