Wednesday, June 28, 1972 - Page 180
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California
3:00 PM
I have a question for anyone who thinks they have an answer. Why is it that animals with a better sense of hearing than man, always (as far as I can tell), move toward synthetic high-pitched tones? You know about the "silent" dog whistle -- why the hell should a dog pay attention to a high-pitched whistle and ignore others? And Taco [my Siamese cat] supported the evidence of this phenomenon further -- the radio had one of those TESTS for emergencies where the air is silent, then a piercing high note follows for about 15 seconds, and I turned the radio up all the way. She got very perplexed and annoyed, and she wandered around looking for the source of the noise. When she determined it came from the radio, she confronted it and motioned around it, baffled.
After I turned it down, and regular broadcasting continued, she still wondered at the radio for a while, then went back to her place on the bed and curled up to sleep. Why? I ask. If a person was bugged by a too high sound, he'd cover his ears -- If he couldn't do that (as animals can't -- well, dogs can, sort of) he'd go away from the source, not toward it -- he'd try to escape it, not confront it. Why? Figure it out. -- Why should you? (Good question) --
[From 2013: I Googled: "why are animals attracted to high-pitched sounds?" and found this answer: "Cats have much better hearing than humans and can hear sounds pitched 1.5 octaves higher than humans can. It's a skill that comes in very handy when hunting. They often react to whistling or the higher pitched tones of woodwind instruments. Baby kittens have a very high-pitched cry, so perhaps she thought you were in distress of some kind and was trying to comfort you. One thing cats and humans have in common is that we both use higher pitch tones to denote approval or pleasure, and use lower tones to denote disapproval."]
11:55:55 PM
Aside from the academic cogitation expressed above, dad dropped by (my boots aren't here yet), Mom & I drove to Lara and Mike's (we saw their six kittens -- Tanya's, that is) and we all drove to Orange County Medical Center to see Grandma Brazel (in the next bed was a beautiful lady, I noticed) after which we went for dinner at the Jolly Roger. Also, I washed the clothes today. I'll be winging my way to South Dakota Friday A.M., 6:30.
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California
3:00 PM
I have a question for anyone who thinks they have an answer. Why is it that animals with a better sense of hearing than man, always (as far as I can tell), move toward synthetic high-pitched tones? You know about the "silent" dog whistle -- why the hell should a dog pay attention to a high-pitched whistle and ignore others? And Taco [my Siamese cat] supported the evidence of this phenomenon further -- the radio had one of those TESTS for emergencies where the air is silent, then a piercing high note follows for about 15 seconds, and I turned the radio up all the way. She got very perplexed and annoyed, and she wandered around looking for the source of the noise. When she determined it came from the radio, she confronted it and motioned around it, baffled.
 |
| Elora with her cat, Kit |
[From 2013: I Googled: "why are animals attracted to high-pitched sounds?" and found this answer: "Cats have much better hearing than humans and can hear sounds pitched 1.5 octaves higher than humans can. It's a skill that comes in very handy when hunting. They often react to whistling or the higher pitched tones of woodwind instruments. Baby kittens have a very high-pitched cry, so perhaps she thought you were in distress of some kind and was trying to comfort you. One thing cats and humans have in common is that we both use higher pitch tones to denote approval or pleasure, and use lower tones to denote disapproval."]
11:55:55 PM
Aside from the academic cogitation expressed above, dad dropped by (my boots aren't here yet), Mom & I drove to Lara and Mike's (we saw their six kittens -- Tanya's, that is) and we all drove to Orange County Medical Center to see Grandma Brazel (in the next bed was a beautiful lady, I noticed) after which we went for dinner at the Jolly Roger. Also, I washed the clothes today. I'll be winging my way to South Dakota Friday A.M., 6:30.
 |
| CATBEARD Elora & Lucky |
No comments:
Post a Comment