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Chris Hails wrote: "George, if you
> found it a challenge in (relatively) unpopulated Arizona - try the
> middle of Europe. I am very lucky - my "playground" is the hills and
> mountains of Switzerland, but I increasingly find myself looking for
> valleys and hollows sheltered from traffic rumble, farm equipment,
> BBQ-ers, aircraft (impossible!) - and now summer is here - those
> bloody cow bells !
> Then, just when you think you've got it cracked nature strikes back -
> http://cjhails.googlepages.com/roedeer
Chris: Can you please explain how you posted that lovely recording to a we=
bsite? Can
others weigh in? I am embarrassed to admit I don't know how to do that. I=
made one
yesterday morning that is a further contribution to this conversation about=
recording
environments-- and I would like to share it. It has elements of similarity=
to your being
suprised by the Roe Deer. Often, recording environments present themselves=
unexpectedly. Yet another reason to have the gear organized and ready to g=
o.
Sunday night I was fiddling with my gear to try to determine the source of =
the "noise" in
the system. I therefore had my mic on the tripod, and the whole thing laid=
out in the
bedroom. Then, yesterday, I awoke at about 5:15 to an unidentifiable racke=
t outside my
bedroom. Violent sounding. Completely strange. I could tell it would not=
last long.
I went outside to see an unrecognizable ball of fur rolling around on the g=
round. My two
cats were staring, with brave curiosity, and meowing. I identified the fur=
as two racoons.
There was x-rated activity interspersed with violent fighting, or perhaps m=
ore accurately,
vice versa.
I quickly ran in the bedroom and grabbed the gear. I thereafter recorded, =
in stereo, what I
presume was the mating ritual of the surburban racoon. It was a loud, gutt=
aral chattering,
much like a fight, with panting. The ambience is a mockingbird, a mourning=
dove, my
cats, house finches, and the sound of cars driving to work on a freeway tha=
t is about a
mile away, and about 200 feet below me in elevation. Not a pristine enviro=
nment. It is my
backyard at the beginning of rush hour. However, because of the tripod, th=
ere is no
handling noise, and the animal activity is rightly placed in suburbia. I th=
ink I also lucked
out in that my airconditioning unit, which was 5 feet from the racoons, was=
not on at the
time as it was early in the morning. That would have ruined everything.
The chattering ended with an explosive scream rather like the snarl of a ca=
t, and then,
after a breif pause, two yelps somewhat like a coyote. You can sense the i=
ntelligence of
the animals, at least in my mind.
After getting dressed, I openend my back door to walk to the car. One of t=
he racoons was
at the top of my stairs, with a very raw and almost bloody neck, acting as =
if it wanted to
get in the doggy door. I shooed it away. And I was surprised by how injur=
ed the neck
looked, and this is the only thing that has made me doubt my original ident=
ification of this
behavior as mating. I suppose it could have been some territorial fight wi=
th ancillary
activity thrown it. I don't know enough about racoon behavior, or mamallia=
n behavior in
general, to know. Any opinions out there?
I find it rather odd, like the strange "coincidences" discussed in "What t=
he BLEEP do we
know?" and the co-creation of reality discuused in the book/film, "The Secr=
et", that the
very day after my "pontification" about prisitne recording environments, so=
mething that
has not happened during the 18 years I have lived in this house happened ri=
ght outside
my bedroom door, while I also had all my recording gear out and ready to go=
. That is off
topic and perhaps should be in a different Message Group. Perhaps.
Accordingly, if someone, perhaps Chris, could explain how to post sound fil=
es to a
website, I will post this one, and others. Thanks much for sharing the Roe=
Deer recording.
George Paul
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