Message Forum

Folks,

We seem to be focusing on a wide variety of topics in this Forum which, in my opinion, is a good thing and what it was meant to be.

So, here is something on a different "note".

Do wild animals respond to music?

We occasionally see videos of dogs or other pets " singing" along with their owners. But those are critters that have a lot of close interaction and contact with their owners. However, can this occur with wildlife?

A few months ago I saw one of those YouTube videos from a home surveillance camera of a lady playing a viola in her driveway which appeared to catch the attention of a few deer across the street. They started to cross the street toward the musician but the video ended before they completed their journey.

In all the 46 years we have lived in this home and have seen hundreds of mule deer from newborn fawns to adult does and magnificent antlered bucks, I have never attempted to touch one except the first year we were here and saw a nesting fawn whom we thought (wrongly) to have been abandoned by its mother. So, with gloves on, I gently lifted it up allowing the spindly legs to unfold like a card table after which a quick tap on the butt sent it running off across the neighborhood.

But I digress. The point is that these deer, as accustomed as they are to humans, generally keep their distance of about 15 feet from us two-legged animals. Thus it came to my mind to try an experiment. Does music, especially the more mellow types, have a calming effect on these deer that would mollify their hesitancy to get closer to people?

I have loaded on my cellphone three rather mellow instrumental songs, two by Mason Williams (Classical Gas, A Gift of Song) and an orchastral version of Unchained Melody. My plan, when I see some deer grazing in our yard where the snow has melted, is to play one or more of these recordings and observe their response - will they approach me, continue grazing or leave. Don't worry, I shall not physically touch them as that is not good for wildlife or me.

Obviously this is, at best, a mildly scientific, experiment. Hey, it beats shovelling snow for wintertime entertainment! Talk about winter doldrums!

Any guesses as to which - if any - of these tunes may appeal to them?

Jim

01/23/23 11:50 PM

#12071

Joe,

One of my mother's first jobs was as a phone opertor at that main WC office on Goodale back in the late 20s or early 30s. She was one of their first phone operators when they brought in a new phone system that had those cords that she pulled a line from one board and plugged it into another hole in another board to connect the lines - Like Lily Tomlin and "One Ringy Dingy".

(only I don't think Mom had the same hairdo)

She used to go to annual employee reunion lunch - held at a different restaurant site - every year till she was in her 70's. I still make it a point to get to one of their locations every time I get to Columbus, an have found one not far from my youngest daughter's house in Cincinnati.

And remember - "the holes are free".

01/24/23 08:02 AM

#12072

Mark Schweickart

Jim -- You might want to carry a portable Bluetooth speaker with you since that would sound better than just using your phone. Or better yet, you could place the speaker somewhere in your yard so you would not need to be so near the music source. That way you'll better know if they are responding to just the music and not to your presence.

01/24/23 09:56 AM

#12073

I like the card table metaphor, James.

01/24/23 02:13 PM

#12074

Mark,

Ordinarily, that would be the better way to conduct this "pseudo-scientific" experiment. However, there are a few things that need to be considered - not the least of which is that I do not use Bluetooth nor do I possess such a loudspeaker.

Since these deer are usually very skittish and will not allow me within about 15 feet of them, I feel that if they do approach me with my cellphone tunes it will be because of their curiosity about the music.

Also one must consider the anatomy of a mule deer. They got that name due to the size of their ears - the largest of any deer species. Those ears are additionally amazing in the fact that each is individually equipped to move and rotate (independently of the contralateral one) to accurately locate even the softest of sounds including my cellphone. Their laterally placed eyes are capable of over 270 degrees of vision and those eyes can detect predators in the dark up to about 600 yards away. These visual and auditory adaptations help protect them from the many predators that seek to eat them such as coyotes, foxes, bears and mountain lions all of which have crossed through our yard. Their early warning defense systems would rival those of NORAD - the North American Air Defense Command in the south part of our city! (Milke - how's that for a metaphor!?).

So for now I will just see if the added music will have them approach me closer and will consider it is the harmony and not me that has captured their interest.

Jim

01/25/23 07:33 AM

#12075

John Maxwell

Hey,
Or is it hay? Anyway, Jim, curious as to how your deer react to you djaying their favorite requests. The lines are open. If I were doing it, I would mix it up and add a little metal and some vocalizing. Maybe some VanHalen, or Suicidal Tendencies, maybe some Linda Ronstadt or some Sinatra. Then you might try some ethnic dance music, perhaps Celtic or some Middle eastern beats. I imagine sonic disturbances in their somewhat pastural existance might jolt them a bit. I always whistle for them when I set out feed or fruit, and they have kind of responded to it. I don't whistle any particular tune or anything, but I put the food out, whistle then go in the house and minutes later there are a bunch of deer gobbling up the goodies. Sometimes They'll be out there standing around waiting for me to put out some corn or dump some veggie compost. They just watch me until I'm finished putting it out before they start eating. They are polite or, really don't want to get too close. But once I'm out of sight they increase in number and start eating evdrything in sight. Since I started feeding them my mole problem has diminished somewhat. The cats don't bother them at all, but when we had dogs they stay clear. With the creek nearby I don't have to be concerned with their water consumption. But in the winter when the creek freezes, I have a heated birdbath that need to be filled daily.

On another note this year at the Henry Ford, admisdion to the museum was free on Martin Luther King day. Unfortunately the Village is closed during the winter. They had over 1400 visitors. Maybe some dsy I will figure out how to post photos on this site. I don't have a computer anymore, as the phone has everything necessary, but I guess either I or the phone don't speak to strange servers. Sadly it's all your loss. As I have quite a collection of wildlife shots as well as a plethora of grandchildren photographs I'd love to share with all of you. LOL

01/25/23 09:40 AM

#12076

cleaning out my garage. tired of hauling all these top secret documents out to the curb. anybody got a shredder I can borrow?

01/25/23 10:10 AM

#12077

Jack: I'm assuming you found it ironic that the Henry Ford museum had free admission on mlk day given what an avowed racist he was. It certainly puts a smile on my face to think of how pissed off the old bastard would be about it.

01/25/23 10:41 AM

#12078

Jack,

Here in Colorado Springs it is illegal to feed the wildlife (although smashed pumpkins in the street after Halloween are a deer favorite treat). Recall some of my posts back in 2015 when one of the ladies in our neighborhood was feeding 10 bears. She was arrested and later moved away. We still have bears that occasionally wander about and those omnivores would probably increase in number if people started putting out food for the deer.

I suspect that your whistling has become a chow time call to those deer. 🦌

Jim

01/25/23 12:00 PM

#12079

Jack,

Regarding you photos:

Were they taken with your cellphone or with a digital camera? If with a digital camera, how have you stored them without a computer - did you just leave them on the "digital film cards"?

Jim

01/25/23 01:18 PM

#12080

Ok Jim I'm fine with the air defense metaphor but don't get too carried away here. I'm a professional. I know what I am doing when it comes to figurative language. But in the wrong hands? I've seen terrible things, Jim. Terrible, terrible things. I beg you, Jim. Leave it to the pros when it comes to prose. Let me put it this way: You'll notice I'm not running around with a scalpel at the ready, am I?

01/25/23 02:00 PM

#12081

Mike,

Ah, but you do have a scalpel! You are using it to dissect my prose!.

Jim

01/25/23 06:21 PM

#12082

John Maxwell

Mike,
I've heard that about Ford. A common trait found in multi-millionaire industrialists. Go figure. As for me not being one myself I find it difficult what really kept that guy's mind clicking. But, growing up a farmer in the late 1800's and becoming a machinist, then an engineer, I really cannot fathom where his racism started and his invention and inovation ended. I can tell you this about him, he and his ilk incubated the modern military industrial complex. Where he got the idea to have the upper classmen at the Edison Institute to be taught machining in 1931 is an interesting question. Out of that preparatory school came a cadre of skilled machinists some of whom went on to become engineers and owners of their own machine shops,some became millionaires building the guns, tanks, aircraft, and all the stuff needed to stuff the Nazis on the express to where they truly belonged. Does thst sound like a guy who had the time to besmirch someone's ethnic origin?

Jim yeah there aren't any rules about feeding the wildlife here. There are probably more rules for the despensing of marajuana to the other wild life in MI. But then we do have a few bears here but not nearby. Ifeed them so they'll allow me to have a garden. The agricultural department in deer world have issued that if it grows here, then eat it! And they do. Particularly in the winter when food is in short supply. As to photos I got a not so smart phone that I store all my photos on. Its called a cloud I think. If I post anything it would be on the facebook or META or whatever they want to be called. But I haven't bothered to post anything in quite a while. One last thing for all those scrabble or wordle or whatever game you play. Here's a word. Quoin. It's an adjustable wedge used on a printing press bed to keep the chase and furniture tight together. The chase is the framed material to be printed, be it a page of type or a wood cut image, the furnature are wooden boards of various widths that hold the chase in place by tightening the quoins. It's pronunced coin if you're looking for a new homonym.

01/25/23 06:21 PM

#12083

John Maxwell

Mike,
I've heard that about Ford. A common trait found in multi-millionaire industrialists. Go figure. As for me not being one myself I find it difficult what really kept that guy's mind clicking. But, growing up a farmer in the late 1800's and becoming a machinist, then an engineer, I really cannot fathom where his racism started and his invention and inovation ended. I can tell you this about him, he and his ilk incubated the modern military industrial complex. Where he got the idea to have the upper classmen at the Edison Institute to be taught machining in 1931 is an interesting question. Out of that preparatory school came a cadre of skilled machinists some of whom went on to become engineers and owners of their own machine shops, some became millionaires building the guns, tanks, aircraft, and all the stuff needed to stuff the Nazis on the express to where they truly belonged. Does that sound like a guy who had the time to besmirch someone's ethnic origin?

Jim yeah there aren't any rules about feeding the wildlife here. There are probably more rules for the despensing of marajuana to the other wild life in MI. But then we do have a few bears here but not nearby. Ifeed the deer so they'll allow me to have a garden. The agricultural department in deer world have issued that if it grows here, then eat it! And they do. Particularly in the winter when food is in short supply. As to photos I got a not so smart phone that I store all my photos on. Its called a cloud I think. If I post anything it would be on the facebook or META or whatever they want to be called. But I haven't bothered to post anything in quite a while. One last thing for all those scrabble or wordle or whatever game you play. Here's a word. Quoin. It's an adjustable wedge used on a printing press bed to keep the chase and furniture tight together. The chase is the framed material to be printed, be it a page of type or a wood cut image, the furniture are wooden boards of various widths that hold the chase in place by tightening the quoins. It's pronunced coin if you're looking for a new homonym.

01/25/23 09:03 PM

#12084

Mike,

If you find any pages marked "Nucear Launch Codes", I'd hold on to them - might be worth a few favors when you need some help from Washington (or Moscow).

------------------

Meanwhile I guess the (con) artist formerly known as Kevin McCarthy has one last committee chairmanship to appoint - that of the "Select Committee to Oversee Catfights in the Ladies Restroom".

Rumor has it that he has New York (D) Rep. George Santos in mind for the job. Perfect choice.

Ain't politics a hoot?

01/26/23 12:38 PM

#12085

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Jack,

Hmmm... quoins. Thanks, learned a new word today.

Reminds me of lunches in the BWHS cafeteria eating at the table with a certain pedantic member of our class who strived to learn a new word each day.

For today's Double Jeopardy, name that person!

Jim

01/26/23 01:30 PM

#12086

Sorry Jim, I don't know the answer to your question. However, I do have the link to a homily given by our newly ordained Bishop of the Columbus Catholic Diocese. I have been present at several of his Masses, he has a very compelling family background which he often weaves into his homilies as he does here. He ends with a very personal emotional promise and a touching reference to both of his parents.

https://sgraudio.s3.amazonaws.com/BishopFernandes/BishopFernandes_012323RespectLife_Homily.mp3

01/27/23 06:38 AM

#12087

Joseph Gentilini

Hi Jim = the person in the BWHS who learned a new word everyday - my guess is that it was either John Jackson or Steve Hodges. Correct?

01/27/23 06:41 AM

#12088

Joseph Gentilini

Mary Margaret posted a comment on our new bishop of Columbus - a positive comment. I, on the other hand, don't think much about the new bishop. The way he handled the OSU Newman Center, kicking out the Paulist Fathers three weeks after he got there, and making the NC a very conservative congregation, refusing to meet the Paulist Fathers or our community, speaks very poorly of this man. My hope is that he is transferred somewhere else - the sooner the better.

01/27/23 09:45 AM

#12089

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Lotta wounded, excluded people up there from what I gather, Joe. Not a good look for the church. Sad to see it.

01/27/23 10:33 AM

#12090

Joe, Mike, I have posted, on the User Forum, an article by a priest who gives further explanation for the changes at the Newman Center. There are usually two sides to a story.

01/27/23 11:30 AM

#12091

John Jackson

I also haven’t heard good things about the new Columbus bishop.

But here’s a little Cape Breton fiddling to perk you up during these blah winter days…

01/27/23 12:55 PM

#12092

thanks, mm.

01/27/23 02:13 PM

#12093

I am not sure which is louder - the collective sound of millions of jaws dropping after yesterday's NY times report of the Barr-Durham so-called "investigation" - (especially the part about the info that Italian officials had on Donald), and the three (count 'em, three), attorneys who quit the investigation over ethical issues.

Or, the thunderous laughter at Republican threats to delve into the "weaponization" of other government agencies.

Weaponization! Who's kidding who ?

All they need is to take a page out of the Barr-Durham "book".

Hollywood comedy writers could not make this stuff up.

01/27/23 02:17 PM

#12094