On the 23rd of May 2005 I was blessed to hear a full blown roar from about 200 yards. I was preparing to head to the creek with my dog in the evening. When I approached the fence which is about 125 feet from our house something near the creek let out a long, loud roar. It sounded like the animal had a very large chest and was in total control of how much volume was produced.
It made me realize that animals only vocalize a certain loudness that is of sufficient volume for the desired effect. To scare a human away from an area they might scream or roar loudly to accomplish their goal of running the humans off. But if they only want to communicate over a short distance why use a loud sound. The louder a squatch is, the more chance of being noticed by humans.
My point being that if I am going out into the night to attract a squatch why not use sounds of a lower volume, say something that can be heard from 100 to 200 yards away and not wake up the whole neighborhood. It certainly is more natural to play back a sound that is softer, then I can move several hundreds yards and do it again. It is more esthetic and it also keeps the local farmers from questioning me about my motives while they are carrying a loaded shotgun.
Birders have started using their iPods in the field to attract birds close enough to identify them. Since iPods do not have external speakers they must use external speakers.
Once such device is the iMaingo2. It weighs about 9 ounces and measures only 6 x 4 x 2, so it is highly portable and convenient to carry and use. The iPod is placed inside the unit and is usable through the clear plastic window.
Recently I tried the unit out while in Colorado. Please see –Rainbow Trout & Sound Blasting. I knew that there was a coyote den about 150 yards from our campsite, so I set my alarm for 3 a.m. I played a recorded lone coyote howl and waited.
To hear the response click here: Coyote chorus
So the unit has been shown to work at close to 200 yards, at least on coyotes.