Customer Reviews

Guide to Wildlife Sounds, A: The Sounds of 100 Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Insects (The Lang Elliott Audio Library)

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There we were, 3 1/2 miles from our vehicle, snug in our geodesic dome tent having backpacked into Monongahela National Forest in WV in August 1981. The setting was idyllic, on the bank of bubbling, scenic Seneca Creek.

In the wee hours of the night, we were awoken by a loud, repeated bellowing. This was no cow. Nor was it a wolf or a coyote. What type of animal could have made that disturbing, haunting noise? Our imaginations ran wild. Was it a sasquatch?

Absolutely beside ourselves, we frantically scanned the edge of the forest with our flashlight for any signs of our nemesis. Fortunately, nothing was seen. I lit our Coleman lantern and left it aglow. Our hope was that it might serve as a deterrent to our erstwhile attacker.

25 years on, I ordered Lang Elliott's Guide to Wildlife Sounds, half wondering if somehow we could bring closure to that terrifying experience. I put the disc into our CD player. Five seconds into track 16, there it was! Mystery solved! And, yes, we had reason to be concerned...

In August 1983, we were confronted with a lesser mystery. We'd arrived at Thompson Falls in northwest Montana long after dark. After pitching our tent and securing our camp for the night, a mysterious sound came from the woods above. What was it? Sixteen seconds into track 29, we now know it to be a barred owl.

This is a great disc. You'll hear a lot of familiar sounds that will give you that, "A ha! Now I know what it is," feeling. Each track is thirtysome seconds long. And, the pictures in the accompanying book are exquisite.

We have several Lang Elliot CD's, and we and the children enjoy listening to them as we drive as a change of pace from music. I use them, surprisingly to most, to keep awake when driving at night, especially "Voices of the Swamp".

Delighted,

Peter Gareis

This book and CD is a great way to learn the sounds that animals make. You could possibly learn what the animal is before actually seeing it.

I love this item!

I can "bird by ear" and I wanted to be able to "frog and insect and animal by ear" as well. This little book and CD have worked like a charm--I can't recommend them highly enough.
I now know, simply by listening at night, that we have a large population of green frogs in the pond, one or two bullfrogs, and sometimes a few American/Fowler's toads.

And that wonderful, loud insect is a katydid.

I'm having such a good time with this that I'm going to hunt up this author's other audio works and give them a listen, too.