Bat or Bird? (3 Viewers)

[Taryn]

Every night there is something in the tree outside my window which makes a kind of very high pitched squeaky noise, is it a bat or a bird? It "appears" at around the time it starts to get dark. It is litterally a "Squeak" "Squeak" noise repeated about 15 / 20 times and the break in between "Squeaks" gets smaller and smalller, i.e. faster

Thanks

Taryn o

 

[mothman]

If it's not your bedsprings, then my money is on it being a species of tree frog.

Colin.

 

[Kevin Mac]

I'd be terrified of the undead. Vampires. Just remember to not invite them into your home. If you do, remember, forks on the right, spoons and knives on the left.

 

[mothman]

And plenty of garlic in the food.

Colin.

 

[tmac]

definitely not a bat. I agree with the frog.

 

[Taryn]

It's a very very loud noise for such a small frog... not sure that it is a frog. We can here it over the TV, which is normally very loud in our house!

Taryn o

 

[Alastair Rae]

I can't speak for your neck of the woods but usually bats are only audible to children. You lose sensitivity to the higher frequencies as you get older. At that end of your hearing range, I don't think it would sound very load.

 

[mothman]

I can't speak for your neck of the woods but usually bats are only audible to children. You lose sensitivity to the higher frequencies as you get older. At that end of your hearing range, I don't think it would sound very load.

I think this varies,I can still hear many bat species and I'm 38,my wife on the other hand can't hear bats at all.

 

[mothman]

It's a very very loud noise for such a small frog... not sure that it is a frog. We can here it over the TV, which is normally very loud in our house!

Taryn o

Size dosen't matter! cicadas for instance have some of the loudest calls in the animal kingdom, and there are also quite a few treefrogs that can hold their own in this respect.
To settle it once and for all, why not try to hunt the culprit down,an old trick that an experienced herpetologist told me, is to get two people, each equiped with a powerful torch, to stand either side of where the noise seems to be coming from, and on the count of three to point their torches to where they think it is, where the beams cross is where the culprit will be hiding , dont forget to let us all know how you get on.

Colin.

 

[Gill Osborne]

I can't speak for your neck of the woods but usually bats are only audible to children. You lose sensitivity to the higher frequencies as you get older. At that end of your hearing range, I don't think it would sound very load.

Me too! Just turned 37 last month yet my hearing seems to be getting better!!! Very bizarre!!!
Never had a problem with bats though...we get a lot of Pipistrelles around our cottage and sometimes their squeaking is REALLY high pitched and deafening!

GILL

 

[salty]

I can't speak for your neck of the woods but usually bats are only audible to children. You lose sensitivity to the higher frequencies as you get older. At that end of your hearing range, I don't think it would sound very load.

is this true? - i have top-end ears, but my eyes are going the other way (too much staring at BF for hours on end). i can hear bats when im out and about.

 

[Alastair Rae]

The received wisdom in the UK is that it is fairly exceptional for adults to be able to hear bats. I stand corrected.

I did some googling and note that there's a fruit bat
Rousettus aegyptiacus http://www.conservationcentre.org/scase2.html
which is widely distributed in Africa which is both loud and audible at 10 kHz. They have an easily audible bat in Australia, too.

 

[lebororo]

They are noisy in Queensland too
http://www.pbase.com/lebororo/image/41922703


lebororo

 

[Hanno]

We certainly have Tree frogs here that are incredibly loud!!!! And they are all about 2".

 

[Taryn]

For anyone who may be interested... We finally know what it is!!! A Bronze Winged Courser (Rhinoptilus chalcopterus). We were out the other day and saw one making the identical noise to the one I described above. It still lives outside here in our tree, we hear him / her / them every night!

 

[Keith Dickinson]

The received wisdom in the UK is that it is fairly exceptional for adults to be able to hear bats. I stand corrected.

I did some googling and note that there's a fruit bat
Rousettus aegyptiacus http://www.conservationcentre.org/scase2.html
which is widely distributed in Africa which is both loud and audible at 10 kHz. They have an easily audible bat in Australia, too.

The serotin bat has a click that isn't actually audible but if you are close enough iit will hurt your ears. I know from bitter experience, a bat worker had an injured serotin and showed it to my wildlife explorer group. The bat started to click and iit was like someone stabbing me in the ears. Strangely the kids couldn't feel it.

 

[pete woodall]

Hi Taryn

I'm not sure what your squeak is, possibly a bat but I'd be surprisedf if you would get a courser up a tree - they are normally on the ground, possibly at the base of trees.

Pete (ex Zimbo)

 

[keith richter]

i agree with the frog