Since moving into our new home in April of 2009 I have heard and recorded several unusual vocalizations. To the south of me about one half mile using a remote recorder I recorded what sounds like a growl followed by the dogs barking.
And one half mile to the north of our home I have a neighbor who also has a home in the woods. Â He has commented that some animal is coming in close to his pond, makes strange noises and his dog starts barking. I have also noticed lately while standing out in my yard that my neighbors cattle get upset as well as his dogs. This is not every night but about once a week. I have heard unusual sounds coming from both areas.
In an attempt to get closer to these sounds I dropped off a remote recorder in the woods one mile south of our home. I did speak with one of the neighbors but he was unaware of any unusual sounds.
The following clip was recorded the 31st of Mar 2010. The dogs and the sound source were quite a distance from the microphone. But at least I did record what I believe to be an animal that is growling and in response the dogs start barking. Although this is not definitive as to the source it still shows what I believe to be a common scenario, i.e. that an animal for reasons unknown coming in close to farms and homes and appears to be irritating the farmers dogs by making noises.
The growl is heard at the 2 sec mark with the subsequent dogs barking at the 7 sec mark.
 Click here to listen to sound clip:  Growl 1Â
Waveform View
Spectral View
I do not know what the source for the “growl†is but my suspicion is that I recorded the unknown intruder that has been upsetting the neighbor’s dogs.
For other discussion of sound files recorded this year close to my home in Central Illinois please see:
