Wild Burros of Picacho (with Coyote Finale)
Wild Burros sound off at night along the shores of Lake Taylor in Picacho State Recreation Area north of Yuma, Arizona (silent intervals between outbursts have been drastically reduced). At the very end, a pair of Coyotes give ecstatic howls and tremolo calls just before dawn. Listen also for muskrats peeping (near the beginning), the hoots of distant Great Horned Owls, the occasional staccato kick calls of Ridgway’s Rails, and the soft chuckling notes of Least Bittern. Note also abundant splashes throughout that I believe were caused by fish? 6-7 April 2021. Recordings © Lang Elliott. Photo-Illustration by Lang Elliott (with burro silhouette from Shutterstock).
Note: The recording featured above is a “3D binaural soundscape”. Please wear headphones for a spacious and immersive listening experience.
Finally, several more miles up the road (with tires still inflated and spirits still intact), we breath a long sigh of relief as we arrive at Picacho State Recreation Area, which borders a nine mile stretch of the mighty Colorado River, still more-or-less replete with water, in spite of the continued widespread drought.
I am accompanied by fellow recordist Christine Hass of Wild Mountain Echoes. We spend the next few nights camped beside Taylor Lake, a large body of water edged with broad expanses of cattails. We aren’t at all sure of what we’ll find in terms of natural sounds, but it soon becomes evident that the marshes are teaming with activity, with common moorhens and pied-billed grebes sounding off with regularity, along with ridgway’s rails, least bitterns, and bullfrogs (an unwelcome invasive in western waterways).
As expected, coyotes are fairly common and we hear their excited howls and yips on numerous occasions. Our most pleasant surprise, however, is the presence of numerous wild burros (wild donkeys), and their propensity to bray and squeal in dark of the night. Although a naturalized species introduced by Spaniards in the 1500s, the burros here are definitely wild and tend to keep their distance from humans.
Taylor Lake marsh just before sunrise. View to east. © Christine Hass.
On one very calm evening, I place a mic close to the marshy edge, in a spot where I had previously noticed abundant game trails. And that’s where I strike gold with the burros. On numerous occasions through the night, individuals or pairs pass nearby and are kind enough to “say hello” (in burro-talk of course) before moving on. I doubt they are aware of my mic, but their unrestrained performances make me wonder if they have been sent by the goddess Gaia to fulfill my every desire. All I can say is “Thank you burros and thank you mother nature for sharing your glorious music so unreservedly!”
What’s more, when the first light of dawn silhouettes distant peaks in the east, a pair of coyotes suddenly sound off from nearby, one giving drawn-out musical howls and the other producing ecstatic high-pitched tremolos … what an energetic and uplifting way to usher-in the new day!
Taylor Lake marsh – daytime view to north © Lang Elliott.
Wild Burro on a rocky slope in Picacho State Recreation Area north of Yuma. © Lang Elliott.
In Conclusion: I hope you enjoyed Wild Burros of Picacho (with Coyote Finale)! If you want to hear the burros, coyotes and marsh sounds for yourselves, I highly recommend a trip to Taylor Lake in the remote Picacho State Recreation Area. But do beware … the gravel road is rough and sufficient ground clearance is required. Even worse, there’s a good chance that evil forces will overwhelm you as you drive by the abandoned mine and the towering jagged peaks, sucking you into a dark and endless void, never to be heard from again. Are you really willing to take such a risk?
Darth Vader’s Hideout (seen on way to Picacho State Recreation Area). © Lang Elliott.
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Ha! Ha! I find the wild burros quite comical but the tremolos of the coyotes…how extraordinary! Thank you for bringing the mysteries of the natural world to our ears. It fills me with awe for all we don’t know about it. You bring that rich world a little closer to pique the imagination. I thought the water sounds besides fish sounded like animals wading through.
I’ve never heard anything like this before in my life!!! Thank you for letting us all open our ears to a new experience!
Wow! Is this the first time you recorded wild burros? This whole recording is incredible! I always enjoy listening to your work. I have many of your recordings in my CD collection. Thanks for all you do to help people appreciate the sounds of nature.
You’re welcome George!
I so appreciate your passion and dedication to creating such enchanting soundscapes.
You are strengthening the essential link we share with all Gaia’s creatures
Travelling via earphones with my eyes closed nourishes my imagination and soothes my soul.
Warm wishes for you in all your adventures.
Mary: So glad to hear you’re enjoying my recordings!
Great sounds! Keep up the good work – we remember many years back when you were studying chipmunks in the Adirondacks. Jim and Mary Abendroth Bloomingdale, New York
Wow … that was a long, long time ago! I occasionally visit Ed and Debbie Kanze (of Bloomingdale), whom you probably know?
Those burros can drive one a little nuts with their braying. However, mixed in with those other sounds, why it’s a concerto, staring that contralto with the long ears!
Have you heard of Oscars Place? They rescue burros from slaughter. It seems that burros have some sort of property in their hides that is used by traditional Chinese medicine. Burros are harvested for this medicine called, ejaoi. The link will take you to an article on Oscar’s Place. https://wordofmouthmendo.com/word-of-mouth-stories/2022/whos-rescuing-whom-summer
Keep up your wonderful, eccentric recordings.
Laura: No, I’ve never heard of Oscar’s Place. I’ll have to check out the link.
Captivating recording- cool, beautiful and fascinating in equal parts, Lang. I especially appreciate your informative comments. I’ve learned new bird songs from your music of nature recordings!
Amazing…and gorgeous photos. Thanks for the ride south!
This was wonderful. I let my little Aussie terrier mix have a listen towards the end, and he was impressed as well, a little nervous. Many of the burros vocalizations sound so human, thinking especially of humans in stress situations of one sort or another. And the water throughout is such a soothing accompaniment.
I have followed your ‘stories’ for years now and this one is exceptional for its photos and sound recordings. You picked a great spot.
I can sort of except the wild burros, even though not native, but much more interesting than the ‘pet wild horses’ some have let loose on the wild countryside.
Big Thanks
Oh, how fantastic! Thank you.
Great story telling as always Lang! Really helps set the scene. I can picture the location using my imagination! Great recording too, I wasn’t aware of Wild Burros before reading and listening to this. A pleasure, as always!
Thank you Colin! Glad to hear you like my story-telling. I do work hard to do that well, or at least “as well as possible” given time constraints, etc.
So, so lovely an auditory image of a place I will never have the opportunity to see so thank you, Lang. I wonder if the water sounds might also include wavelets from a breeze…that’s what it mostly sounded like to me having grown up around water.
Wind is a good guess, but it was actually a very calm night and I don’t hear the swish of cattails and other other normal signs of wind (such as a whooshy backdrop from the combined effects of wind all around). However, it’s certainly possible that there was some wave action left over from breeze during the day. Then again, I would expect wave action to really mellow out as the hours roll by. In this instance, the water noises were rather consistent through the entire night. p.s. I also recorded from that spot the following night, which was definitely… Read more »
Lang, you can imagine my delight at listening to your recordings. the sounds of squirrels chattering is enjoyment for me. LOL
I really enjoyed this soundtrack. What a unique place. Beautiful photos. The Darth Vader hide out is definitely ominous looking. The wild burros sound very different , less abrasive, than the Jerusalem donkeys at the horse rescue where I volunteered. The splashing water sounds tied all of the nature sounds together is a very peaceful, cohesive way.
The water sounds do indeed provide a unifying backdrop for the various individual sound events.
Hi Lang! I was so thrilled to see you back online! These night sounds put a big smile on my face as I was making this morning’s coffee. I enjoy listening to your recordings so very much and they give peace to a very high stress time here in SW Florida. Thank you!!
Thank you Rebecca!
The sound of the wild burros
lined with the hauling of coyotes…so unique….how much better can it get!
A sound combination hardly ever recorded.
Is this Lisa?
No, this is not Lisa! However, I have been a long time listener of your nature sounds!
The calls of the burros mixed with all the other nature sounds makes for a unique symphony. Never heard quite an animal chorus like the burros. I really love the coyote howls and barks at the end, just so beautiful.
Hi Lang, beautiful recording, as always, you really capture a sense of space, so much depth, so immersive!
A broad sense of space with lots of depth … these are key elements that make binaural soundscapes palatable and pleasurable to one’s ears.
they sure do! The coyote’s vocalizations sounded reminded me of whale song at points… is it just me?
No, I can also hear those similarities.
Thank you for sharing again! Love the Burros and I have to say I’ve never heard Coyotes so clear! Must be the great equipment! It’s all impressive. I will bypass Darth’s hideout during my lifetime!
You could hire someone to boat you up the Colorado River instead, but Darth may extend his tentacles out that far … who can know?
This was incredible! Thank you Lang!
You’re welcome Fran!
What a cool ‘donkey duet’ ! (Never heard one before….)
Thank you Lang 🙂
Teria! Long time no talky to!
Wonderful soundscape, Lang. Loved the coyotes (a nice background to the near-full moon rising outside my window right now)! Maybe the splashing was muskrats?
That would be one heck-of-a-lot of muskrats. I still think mostly fish.
Thoroughly enjoyed hearing this. My brother used to have bullfrogs singing as his phone message on his answering machine. (Invasive in Colorado, huh?)
This is a wonderful recording. There was an amazing amount of sounds and activity that night.
No kidding … constant activity to be sure!
Absolutely spectacular, Lang, a lovely piece of nature recording. I’m going to second your explanation of the constant hydrophonic sounds as fishes splashing in the shallows as both avian and mammalian predators rely upon stealth, and there is nothing stealthy about those sounds. The distant horned owls duetting and then the finale of the coyotes completes nature’s masterpiece. Thank you for capturing and sharing with us. The nerve-wracking drive was worth it.
Yes, the drive was well worth it. I’ve done it twice, my first visit being in 2017 (during which I failed to get much in the way of soundscapes). So I went back for another try in 2021 with much better results.
Such a memorable trip! I vote fish on the splashing. Far too delicate to be Desert Sasquatch. I had misid’ed the rail as a Ridgway’s; thank you for the correction.
Actually, you might be correct in that it’s a Ridgway’s. Let’s both check on that. I’m busy for about an hour, but will get to it after that.
Wow these are tough to tell apart. eBird shows no sightings of King Rail west of the rockies.
Yes, they are either Ridgways or Clapper.
Lang, there are no words, other than thank you.
And you’re welcome Steven!
I just loved this!! Rarely do I have the patience to sit and listen to something for 8+ minutes, but the water splashing in between the burros braying and the coyotes ending it — just wonderful…made me feel like I was there. Thanks so much for all your wonderful and inspired recordings!
This certainly transported me to an entirely different environment from the Mid-Atlantic where I live! thank you!
What an absolutely wonderful recording!