Some Thoughts on Sounds

Everybody knows the forest is full of sounds. What all of these sounds are and what is making them can be a question asked by some people. Most people who are well experienced in the outdoors can identify a great deal of the sounds that they hear. Fishermen, hunters, hikers, campers and so on hear a great deal of the forest sounds on a regular bases doing what they do and know from experience what is making a great deal of them, yet seldom all of them. Seldom if at all you will ever find a person, no matter what their experience or degree of education that can identify every sound they hear in the forest, especially at night.

The reason I bring this up is this. Familiarity is not always knowing and knowing is not always familiarity. There are animals that make some interesting and often unknown and seldom heard noises, such as foxes, deer, many birds, coyotes, and so forth.

In most cases and in most areas the strange sound being heard is probably a known animal. The sound may be one that is only made during a certain time as in a mating call during that animals perticular mating season or perhaps a distress call when the animal is hurt or whatever the case might be.

Now to the bigfoot.

It is important to listen to all of these sounds in the forest that you hear because bigfoot will often mimic a lot of them. We all know about the barred owl sounds and hoots, but the same goes for other birds and animals as well. Listen closely to every one. It is far too easy to disregard an owl or a coyote pack as just that. The key is to knowing the true sound made by the said animal and knowing the mimic. Often times it is hard to tell the difference and sometimes it is actually quite easy.

I have heard bigfoots communicating back and forth in a mimic of a bird before and would of thought nothing of it if it weren’t for the fact that it was night and the sound was was a diurnal bird. a little while later my suspicions were verified as one walked past my tent. Another time a friend and I were down in a slew at night looking foot prints in the mud. We heard what sounded like leopard frogs talking back and forth to each other, no big deal frogs do that. It wasn’t until I saw one step out from behind one tree then go behind another then follow us all the way out back to the road making the same sound as we walked along the river back out that I was certain that the bigfoot was making this frog sound.

I have on many occasions witnessed people totally ignore what is obviously a bigfoot mistaking it as a common animal and also just the opposite as well, mistaking the obviously bigfoot for a common animal. We all have done this, I have, You have, we all have. It happens all the time. That is why it is so important to pay close attention to every sound you hear because not all bigfoots mimic as well as others do and you can sometimes figure it out pretty easy if you know what to listen for. That comes with practice and experience.

Just my quick thoughts on this.

Brandon Garrett