Coyote Reverberations

AT DUSK on July 11 of this year, I visited Cornell University’s Arnot Teaching and Research Forest, 4200 acres of forest and shrubby clearings, with grassy meadows blanketing a high ridge. Thankfully, the area is open to the public and the gates remain open at night, at least for now. Accompanied by fellow adventurer Beth Bannister, I drove up a steep road to the meadows and then looped around, parked and walked to a remote forested spot, where we placed a binaural soundscape microphone in hopes of capturing something interesting through the night hours.

Usually, we camp on location, but on this night we headed back to our respective households in nearby Ithaca to insure a good night’s rest. Rising early, we arrived at Arnot Forest shortly after dawn, picked up the microphone and recorder, and then headed straight to my studio to see, or rather hear, if we managed to snag anything of use.

To our delight, we quickly discovered that we had recorded three separate coyote outbursts, all taking place fairly close-by, though separated by long periods of silence. What immediately struck us was the beautiful echoes or “reverberations” of the howls and yips bouncing off the surrounding hills. What’s more, these are northeastern coyotes, which are quite a bit larger than coyotes in the Western States, and produce lower-pitched howls and yips that sound somewhat wolf-like and are quite pleasing to the ear (the cacophonous yipping of western coyotes is definitely not easy on one’s ears).

Note: The recording featured below is “3D binaural soundscape”. Please wear headphones for a spacious and immersive listening experience.

Coyotes sounding off in the middle of the night at Arnot Experimental Forest near Ithaca, N.Y. © Lang Elliott.

Often referred to as “Coy-Wolves,” eastern coyotes are not hybrids, though hybridization probably did occur “way back when” (and may still occur, but only in areas where the two species overlap). This may explain why eastern coyotes are about ten pounds heavier than their western counterparts. Of the dozens of coyote performances I’ve recorded through the years, all my favorites are from the Eastern states.

Of note is that I’ve manipulated the featured recording in two ways. First off, I’ve removed the long time intervals between the three outbursts, so that you can enjoy them all over a span of five minutes or so. And secondly, I have added a cricket chorus to the background. In the July 11 recording, there were virtually no background sounds other than the occasional rustling of mice or other small creatures. So I waited a few weeks and then went back to the exact same spot to record the pleasing insect chorus that becomes prominent by the end of July.

I rather like the mix and feel it improves the listening experience. Some, however, may feel that adding the crickets is misleading and invalidates the recording. In general I don’t do such layering, but in this case I decided it would be a good idea, especially given that I recorded the insects at the same location and that the coyotes are as likely to howl in August as they are July. So, as a self-proclaimed “recording artist,” I’ve opted to use my self-issued “artistic license” to bring more aesthetic balance to the soundscape, as opposed to treating it as an exact scientific documentation of sound events. How dare I do such a thing!??

So there you have it … Coyote Reverberations. I hope you appreciate these incredible coyote performances, along with my mix with insect songs. Please let me know what you think!

As always, I truly appreciate your feedback, so I encourage you to leave a comment below.

Naturally Yours,