Meriam Websters Online defines anomaly as being:
3 : something anomalous : something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified.
There have been several recordings made by different recordists in scattered parts of the county that at first sound like coyotes. But when studying them with sound analysis software differ from coyotes. And several of these recordings also sound quite odd. Not being a professional musician it is hard for me to describe this phenomena, but each howl appears to have a “hitch” in it. There is an abrupt change in the pitch that I have never seen described in coyotes or wolf howls.
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The Illinois Howl – 2006
This unusual phrasing (hitch) or anomaly was first noticed in April of 2006 when I recorded the Illinois Howl. DB Donlon did a sound analysis on the sound file and noticed the anomaly. From his studies, DB Donlon did not believe the sound to be that of a coyote.
For a complete discussion of the Illinois Howl please go here: Illinois Howl
Our goal at that time was to find a similar recording from a different state and recorded by someone other than myself.
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The Texas Howl – 2008
In May of 2008 I was sent a sound clip recorded in Texas. Although not exactly similar to the Illinois Howl, nevertheless it did have an unusual tone change or hitch.
It can be listened to here: The Texas Howl
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Colorado Howl – 2009
Then in July of 2009 I was approached by Sybilla Irwin who was excited about a new recording she had from Colorado. When I listened to it I was amazed by this unusual, non-typical howl. And also again, like the Illinois Howl and the Texas recording there was that unusual tone change. I made two trips to Colorado and with five other researchers camped out and we all got to listen to this very strange howl both during the night and daytime hours. So in addition to Sybilla Irwin, Todd Perteet and myself made some very good recordings of the Colorado Howl.
For a complete discussion of the Colorado Howl please go here:
Colorado Howl – Pt. 1
Colorado Howl – Pt. 2
Colorado Howl – Pt. 3
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Lake Howl, Illinois – 2010
Then on the 1st of March 2010 here in Central Illinois I recorded another unusual howl near my new home. This is approximately sixty miles from my previous residence where I recorded the Illinois Howl. The sound has a strange up and down wavering quality to it. As you listen to the sound file notice that at the 24 sec. mark there is what appears to be some type of mumbling or grumbling quickly followed by a coyote chorus and my dog, Belle, barking. I was told by four different researchers that I really needed to pay attention to that grumbling and that it was not typical of coyotes and perhaps was some other animal.
The Lake Howl can be listened to here: Lake Howl
Conclusion:
If anyone knows of any other recordings that demonstrate this strange “hitch” anomaly please contact either DB Donlon or myself.
I've listened to the Illinois and Colorado howls a bunch, and there is definitely something odd about them. When I first heard the Illinois Howl, I thought "that's just somebody's dog". But I started to notice some strange things about them. Then later, I heard the Colorado Howls. That peaked my curiosity even more, especially since, for the first time that’s been made public (that I’m aware of), some of the howls were recorded on four different recorders simultaneously. That made me decide to do some further analysis of the calls. So, I ran them through some spectral analyzing software trying to find a match for them, comparing them to lots of dog sounds. No match. Hmmmm…
I also thought that the Illinois Howls might be a large domestic dog in love. My German Shepherd howled very similarly when one of his lady friends was in season and he couldn't get to her. So, I analyzed a full repertoire of his "love songs". Nope, not that either. And no match to the Colorado Howls, either. So, the next thing I thought was that it might be coyotes. But, after spending enough time running lots of coyote calls through the analyzer S/W until my wife got aggravated at me, and my dogs had worn themselves out howling and barking at the recordings, I have to agree with Stan that they do NOT match up to coyotes. And I was pretty sure I would find a match, especially from an older male. But, no. So, I ran wolf howls from various places around the country through the S/W and while a few were closer, it was still "no cigar". And the calls are certainly NOT cattle.
A couple of friends and I tried to duplicate the calls doing them ourselves, with and without various megaphones, and in different places like large culverts and bathtubs, also through pipes of different sizes. And we are pretty danged good doing calls with our mouths. Even tried with a didgeridoo, elk bugle, and bull horn (real one, not the electronic kind). Nope. I've played a little with Mongolian throat singing over the years and sometimes can do it pretty well (if nobody's looking at me…lol). That didn't match either. There were several times that I thought we had nailed the sound ourselves or had found an animal sound that matched it, but when we ran it through the S/W, it was clearly different.
Conclusion:… I don't know what in the hell made those vocalizations. And I personally believe that bigfoot exists. (And yes, I already know that some of you on here don't believe they exist, but that's an argument for another time.) And, I've also recorded what I'm pretty sure ARE bigfoot vocalizations, but none of them sound just like these particular Howler recordings. But some of the vocalizations I've heard DO contain the simultaneous and/or trilling high and low frequencies found in the Illinois and Colorado Howl recordings. And some of the vocalizations DO contain greater energy in the lower frequencies like these Howl recordings.
But like I said, I can’t say WHAT made those Howl vocalizations, and I don’t think that bigfoot made them, per se. I’ll discuss the reason that I don’t believe these are normal bigfoot vocalizations in a follow-on post. Now, if you do much investigating into bigfoot sightings, you come across references to "dog-faced" ones, or "long-snouted" ones, or "dog-men", or ones that looked like werewolves, or loup-garou's, or creatures like the Beast of Seven Chutes and the Beast of LBL, or as some Native Americans call them: the Nalusa Falaya. I've never seen one, but I've personally heard three first-hand reports of sightings of them, and two of them were from reputable, trustworthy, dead-serious folks. IF they exist, could these be some of their vocalizations?
Another interesting thing about the creatures that made the Illinois and Colorado Howls, as well as some of the howls recorded in other parts of the country is this: The vocalizations of the Howlers sound like they are solitary creatures – not part of the local coyote packs. They do the vast majority of their howling completely independently of the howling of the local coyotes. Only in a few of the recordings does the Howler start up after the local ‘yotes start howling, but even then, the Howler keeps going by itself after the ‘yotes have quit. In almost all of the recordings, the Howler starts doing its thing by itself, and then the coyotes join in and it becomes a cacophony of yelps, yips and howls, but when the ‘yotes finally tire of it and quit, the Howler keeps on going, by itself. And in the Illinois recordings, it is clear that the Howler is independent from domestic dogs in the area. The dogs respond to the Howler, but the Howler doesn’t respond to the dogs.
As further support of this solitary-and-independent theory, Stan was sometimes able to ascertain that the Howler and the coyotes were physically separated by some distance, often 200 to 300 yards or more. In fact, in Colorado, he was able to determine the locations of the Howler and the coyotes quite accurately. And they always stayed separated, except for one instance when a coyote and the Howler passed fairly close to each other in a meadow.
Now, from the Illinois and Colorado Howl recordings, I’ve been able to draw the following possible conclusions:
1) The Howler, in these cases, was not a standard canid such as a dog, coyote, fox, wolf or a cross of any of these, but it obviously is capable of producing a similar call.
2) The Howler was not a human, at least not a human using any easily portable sound producing or modification device of which I or others know.
3) The frequency range of the Howler’s calls does not match that of native canids, especially in the lower frequencies and there is more energy in the lower frequency ranges, which some believe indicates a larger animal.
4) The Howler is a possibly solitary creature which operates independently of the local coyote packs and even independently of the local domestic dogs.
5) The calls don’t quite match the ones that I believe are bigfoot vocalizations, but they have very similar or the same frequency range.
So, what kind of large creature can make calls that closely mimic canid vocalizations but contains the frequency range and acoustic energy attributed to bigfoot???
I have just listened to what Stan is calling the “Lake Howl, Illinois – 2010” and I have some definite ideas about that call, but I’ll discuss that in a follow-on posting.
Stan that is a great recording. The howl that sets everything in motion.I have heard that all too close..Listening to the whole thing sent my 3 dogs into a frenzy especially when you dog joined the chorus.