This is a fabulous story, in the Guardian. Make sure you listen to the samples. The sound of singing mice doesn’t seem to freak out the cat, unlike slowed-down blackbird song. Via Metafilter.
[I couldn’t get that blackbird link to work today – I don’t know whether it’s just a problem with my connection or a problem with the website]
3 replies on “Singing Mice”
Interesting. I wonder if there is a link between music and sex in human beings too. Traditionally, the right music at the right time helps.
“…But whether a male gains an advantage when it comes to mating by singing well is something nobody has yet looked at.”
It can’t be easy to understand the musical tastes of mice. Who can even tell why Boney M sold so many records to humans?
I could get to the blackbird page but couldn’t play the audio files – my computer, for some reason, doesn’t like Real Player files (I’ve never been able to figure out why), so that might be my problem.
Oh, well, I commented on this blog a while back about a book (‘The Mating Mind’ by Geoffrey Miller) which argues that pretty much all human culture – music, sport, art, poetry, dancing – has evolved as a sexual display. It’s not a ludicrous theory.
Those blackbird recordings seem to be broken, which is a pity. I haven’t listened to them for a long time, but they wwere cool. There was a slowed-down skylark recording as well. This site has some wacky ones, including a tree. There are some slowed-down bird calls, too: normal, and 1/3 speed. That’s a Scarlet-rumped Cacique.
fyi:
those blackbird songs seem to be working again now. Definitely worth listening to.