Why Howls The Dog?
- Thread starter Deranged Nasat
- Start date
LOL I was so lucky to never be on a plane with more than one infant. Half a dozen sounds like a highly traumatic experience!
I live in a remote region of Bavaria where we occasionally get wild wolves. They are so shy that you hardly ever get to see one. Usually you just see their pawprints in the snow. The ones that howled with me were semi-wild: they live in a gigantic enclosure. It's about as big as an average zoo. They hunt there for small prey (mice, mostly) and get fed with deer and sheep. I love watching the babies when they make their first trips through the forrest. The mothers try to catch them and carry them back into the lair, but while they carry one back, another two sneak out
Much like human toddlers 
I live in a remote region of Bavaria where we occasionally get wild wolves. They are so shy that you hardly ever get to see one. Usually you just see their pawprints in the snow. The ones that howled with me were semi-wild: they live in a gigantic enclosure. It's about as big as an average zoo. They hunt there for small prey (mice, mostly) and get fed with deer and sheep. I love watching the babies when they make their first trips through the forrest. The mothers try to catch them and carry them back into the lair, but while they carry one back, another two sneak out
Much like human toddlers 
In the spring, I can hear coyotes howling at night all around us. Pretty sure it's got something to do with mating season for them (yes, coyotes have a mating season, unlike common dogs).
Our current dog has never howled that I know of. She's a mix, most likely German shepherd and lab. Our previous dog, a Cocker Spaniel, strangely enough never barked, but occasionally howled whenever she was severely distressed.
Our current dog has never howled that I know of. She's a mix, most likely German shepherd and lab. Our previous dog, a Cocker Spaniel, strangely enough never barked, but occasionally howled whenever she was severely distressed.
LOL I was so lucky to never be on a plane with more than one infant. Half a dozen sounds like a highly traumatic experience!
I live in a remote region of Bavaria where we occasionally get wild wolves. They are so shy that you hardly ever get to see one. Usually you just see their pawprints in the snow. The ones that howled with me were semi-wild: they live in a gigantic enclosure. It's about as big as an average zoo. They hunt there for small prey (mice, mostly) and get fed with deer and sheep. I love watching the babies when they make their first trips through the forrest. The mothers try to catch them and carry them back into the lair, but while they carry one back, another two sneak out
Wolf toddlers! Sounds adorable.
Actually, the plane experience was funny more than traumatic. It was a group of Korean infants on their way to adoptive homes in the US. They were accompanied by one adult from the agency. Apparently they just assume that passengers will be willing to help take care of them, and of course some of us were. Overall they were very good and quiet babies, but when one did get distressed, they all started wailing with her. Luckily, someone solved whatever her problem was very quickly, and everyone settled back down. But, boy, the potential!
As the owner of 5 dogs, I can tell you that when one gets upset, invariably they all get upset. Dog A sees a stranger walking by the house. Dog A barks in warning. Dogs B, C, D, and E, even though they may be in a different part of the house, and have no idea what's going on, start barking as well. Depending on their current level of sleepiness, usually the other dogs will come to investigate. But I often see one dog just laying down, barking, just because another one is.
As for howling, pretty much only 1 of my 5 actually howls. That is a clear sign that there is "something major" going down, beyond a mere annoyance and a warning bark.
As for howling, pretty much only 1 of my 5 actually howls. That is a clear sign that there is "something major" going down, beyond a mere annoyance and a warning bark.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xmz-p9FYW8[/yt]
It sounds like my idea of Hell.
If you've had any kids yourself, it gets to the point where you can very easily ignore any screaming kids. In fact, many times my wife and I just get a smirk on our faces and think "It's not mine this time!"It sounds like my idea of Hell.
Next door heighbors have so far adopted 4 "rescues" from the local shelter, at least, the fourth was a "rescue". And while they all bark, the tow larger ones will settle after a few minutes. It's the dachshund and the newest (looking something like an oversized chihuahua) that keep up the racket. Thankfully it's never so disruptive that I fantasize bodily harm. But you definitely know they are there. But as far as I remember, I've never heard any of them, or any other dogs within earshot, howl.
Funny, when I think about it, my neighbor on the opposite and I are the only ones on our block who do not have any dogs or any other kind of pet.
But i had something they didn't...foxes! No, I didn't "own" them or kept them captive in any way. They just happened to choose my yard to dig their den. for five or six years, each April, the latest litter of pups would emerge from the foxhole to experience the "great outdoors" for the first time. They would spend that month "playing', establishing their dominance over their littermates and learn how to hunt from their parents. (Unlike many mammals, the males stay with the female and help rear the pups.) By May, they had grown considerably and then the group would skulk into the undergrowth, not to be seen until "mamma" had another litter the following year.
I didn't say anything to any of my neighbors for a couple of years, fearing they would call pest control or destroy the animals themselves. I eventually discovered several people not only knew about them, but were leaving scraps! I will admit that was NOT wise. Leaving them be is one thing, but encouraging their presence with food could lead them to become overly familiar with humans, possibly resulting in a biting incident, and that would immediately doom them.
It was a hoot to look out my window facing the back yard and come sunrise and sunset, I could see 4, 5, some years even 6 pups chasing one another around an old oak tree, "momma" sitting to the side, casually but keenly watching for signs of threat. The dogs next door the first couple of years would freak upon seeing the wild vulpines. And there's a stretch of fence the two larger dogs could have so easily jumped to attack the pups if they were so inclined, but they never did, even the one that, to me, looked to be part pitbull. In fact, after a couple of Aprils, the dogs would bark just enough to establish their presence and then calm down. Ironically, they barked far longer at me one evening because they saw me less often than the foxes.
Alas, I didn't see the foxes this last April. I can't imagine they wandered off. Shoot, they didn't flee for more than a couple of days when I had some trees majorly pruned one April. A day after the crew finished, they were back. No, I wonder if something happened to the vixen. Maybe she grew too old to bear pups. Maybe she got killed. I have read that foxes mate for life, but I don't know if the female will accept a new mate if the former dies.
Still, it was enjoyable while it lasted, kinda like the swallows at Capistrono (sp?).
BTW, foxes do not melodiously howl. Instead, their territorial cry is a blood curdling "shriek". First time I heard it I thought, What the h3ll was THAT?!" Later, I stumbled across a site with fox vocalizations and their meanings. I played through the list and found the creepy "scream". According to the site owner, it simply means, "Hey, I'm here. This is my skulking ground." Once I identified the sound, it didn't frighten me, but it still wasn't easy on the ears. On the other hand, I've seen video clips of a fox making the most adorable "chirruping" sound. (It was a "tame" fox rescued from an abandoned fur farm and it was too frail to survive in the wild.)
Anyway, that's my anecdote.
Sincerely,
Bill
Funny, when I think about it, my neighbor on the opposite and I are the only ones on our block who do not have any dogs or any other kind of pet.
But i had something they didn't...foxes! No, I didn't "own" them or kept them captive in any way. They just happened to choose my yard to dig their den. for five or six years, each April, the latest litter of pups would emerge from the foxhole to experience the "great outdoors" for the first time. They would spend that month "playing', establishing their dominance over their littermates and learn how to hunt from their parents. (Unlike many mammals, the males stay with the female and help rear the pups.) By May, they had grown considerably and then the group would skulk into the undergrowth, not to be seen until "mamma" had another litter the following year.
I didn't say anything to any of my neighbors for a couple of years, fearing they would call pest control or destroy the animals themselves. I eventually discovered several people not only knew about them, but were leaving scraps! I will admit that was NOT wise. Leaving them be is one thing, but encouraging their presence with food could lead them to become overly familiar with humans, possibly resulting in a biting incident, and that would immediately doom them.
It was a hoot to look out my window facing the back yard and come sunrise and sunset, I could see 4, 5, some years even 6 pups chasing one another around an old oak tree, "momma" sitting to the side, casually but keenly watching for signs of threat. The dogs next door the first couple of years would freak upon seeing the wild vulpines. And there's a stretch of fence the two larger dogs could have so easily jumped to attack the pups if they were so inclined, but they never did, even the one that, to me, looked to be part pitbull. In fact, after a couple of Aprils, the dogs would bark just enough to establish their presence and then calm down. Ironically, they barked far longer at me one evening because they saw me less often than the foxes.
Alas, I didn't see the foxes this last April. I can't imagine they wandered off. Shoot, they didn't flee for more than a couple of days when I had some trees majorly pruned one April. A day after the crew finished, they were back. No, I wonder if something happened to the vixen. Maybe she grew too old to bear pups. Maybe she got killed. I have read that foxes mate for life, but I don't know if the female will accept a new mate if the former dies.
Still, it was enjoyable while it lasted, kinda like the swallows at Capistrono (sp?).
BTW, foxes do not melodiously howl. Instead, their territorial cry is a blood curdling "shriek". First time I heard it I thought, What the h3ll was THAT?!" Later, I stumbled across a site with fox vocalizations and their meanings. I played through the list and found the creepy "scream". According to the site owner, it simply means, "Hey, I'm here. This is my skulking ground." Once I identified the sound, it didn't frighten me, but it still wasn't easy on the ears. On the other hand, I've seen video clips of a fox making the most adorable "chirruping" sound. (It was a "tame" fox rescued from an abandoned fur farm and it was too frail to survive in the wild.)
Anyway, that's my anecdote.
Sincerely,
Bill
We have foxes around my way, and while I wasn't as fortunate as you to have an earth in my garden, they did settle a few gardens over, until the owners finally cleaned it (it was one of those "left wild" gardens). So I've heard those shrieks myself, and I agree they're quite startling at first!
yep. sounds a bit like someone kills a woman. It's always fun to go out in the woods with a new city-slicker colleague and watch their reaction to that shriek.
It's even more fun, though, to sneak up to a fox lair against the wind and watch the babies play in front of the entrance =) They are sooo cute!!! *melts away*
^ironically, this photo was shot by a Mr Fox
It's even more fun, though, to sneak up to a fox lair against the wind and watch the babies play in front of the entrance =) They are sooo cute!!! *melts away*
^ironically, this photo was shot by a Mr Fox
^Adorable!
And I like the photographer's name.
And I like the photographer's name.
It seems that foxes have quite a variety of different vocalizations. Some of them do sound amazingly like human screams.
Link --Fox Sounds
http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/thefoxden/sounds.html
Link --Fox Sounds
http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/thefoxden/sounds.html
Have you ever heard baby beavers? They sound just like human babies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQV6wwaMNGY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQV6wwaMNGY
Speaking of foxes...a scientist in Russia actually created a domesticated breed. Literally domesticated, not just tamed, by many generations of selective breeding over 50 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1G2yZMUNUQ&feature=BFa&list=PLw73ChdqTNfa4a9VaOzX20awMJ2busmq7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1G2yZMUNUQ&feature=BFa&list=PLw73ChdqTNfa4a9VaOzX20awMJ2busmq7
too much inbreeding. The poor chaps will suffer other genetical flaws as well in a few years: heart problems, joint/skeletal aberrations, higher cub mortality, cancer, diebetes, inherited deafness - the whole bandwidth we know from other inbred species (dogs, lab rats, hamsters) 