Howl! Animals that make the call of the wild on NatGeo

If you’re alone in a tent in the woods in the middle of the night the sound of howling wolves might be just a little unnerving;  in the glow of our iPads, phones and laptops instead of the full moon, well, Dracula was right: they’re even musical.

But when asked why wolves howl I didn’t know. “Communication” is an easy answer but what are they trying to communicate? It sounds like a sad, lonely noise, but it just our human filter?

I got to talk to a wolf biologist on NatGeo’s Weird Animal Question of the Week to find out what those wolves are trying to say, and not only them, but howler monkeys and grasshopper mice as well….and yes, check out the story and read about a species of mouse that howls to define its territory, one of the reasons both howler monkeys and wolves sing their songs, too.

 

And since I’ve never met a primate I didn’t like (well, there are a couple who hang out in the local bars but it’s too depressing to get into) I was really intrigued by the howler monkeys of Central and South America. They’re surprisingly small for making such a big noise and supremely cool but frankly this would be a frightening alarm clock to rise to every day. 

Anyway it’s a fun story and since this song was in my head the whole time I was working it and since I like Exo, Wolf (and here are the lyrics in English if you get bitten by the KPop bug, too)

Wolf photo from Baccharus via Wikimedia Commons 

Mouse photo from Strange Sounds