The sweet song of the ... otter?

OK, OK, SO IT'S AN ENTIRELY GRATUITOUS CUTE OTTER PICTURE. SO SUE ME! (PHOTO:NGOULD).

Have you ever wondered what a pool frog sounds like? If you had wondered, you'd be out of luck if it wasn't for the British Library. They've just compiled a whole cd of the sounds of some of Britain's rarest wildlife, and it's really quite cool. It's called Vanishing Wildlife and it features creatures such as the woodlark and red squirrel, along with the aforementioned pool frog and otter. It's meant to raise awareness of the plight of these creatures, and help nature lovers to recognise them if they hear them in the wild, but it's also provided us with some nifty little sound files to brighten up the rest of the week.

Richard Ranft, who compiled the cd, says his favourite is the capercaillie, so naturally I had a listen. It's true, it does sound a bit like wine being poured out of a bottle. Not sure what the weird bangs near the end of the recording are though... suggestions on a postcard? And I assume that the otter sounds are the little squeaks not the loud cawing in the background? But my favourite has to be the noctule bat, for pure sci-fi cool. Go listen.

I found it on the BBC website here.

Comments

[Snow]

Great Otter Pic. Kawaii. ^_^

According to the Vanishing Wildlife link above, the weird banging towards the end of the Capercaillie clip is the 'wing sounds of 2 fighting males.'

[Katie]

Thanks Snow, although I quite clearly should have picked that up myself! And I was really chuffed to have an excuse for posting a picture of an otter...