Howling: Difference between revisions

[[File:Howlsnow.jpg|thumb|[[Wolf communication|Gray wolfwolves communicate]] by howling]]

'''Howling''' is a vocal form of [[animal communication]] seen in most canines, particularly [[wolves]], [[coyotes]], [[foxes]], and [[dogs]], as well as [[cat]]s and some species of [[monkey]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Faragó |first1=Tamás |last2=Townsend |first2=Simon |last3=Range |first3=Friederike |title=Biocommunication of Animals |date=2014 |chapter=The Information Content of Wolf (and Dog) Social Communication |doi=10.1007/978-94-007-7414-8_4 |isbn=978-94-007-7413-1 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Howl-of-a-female-wolf-Francesco-Mazzinis-recording_fig4_267846580 |at=Fig. 4 |via=Researchgate}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Colley |first=Bill |title=Hunting is Altering the Evolution of Yellowstone Wolves |url=https://newsradio1310.com/hunting-is-altering-the-evolution-of-yellowstone-wolves/ |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=News Radio 1310 AM and 96.1 FM |date=29 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Howls are lengthy sustained sounds, loud and audible over long distances, often with some variation in pitch over the length of the sound. Howling is generally used by animals that engage in this behavior to signal their positions to one another, to call the pack to assemble, or to note their territory.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.nap.edu/read/5140/chapter/4 |title=Read "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" at NAP.edu |year=1996 |doi=10.17226/5140 |pmid=25121211 |isbn=978-0-309-05377-8 |language=en|author1=National Research Council (US) Institute for Laboratory Animal Research }}</ref> The behavior is occasionally copied by humans, and has been noted to have varying degrees of significance in human culture.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-10 |title=Why people in the US have started howling at night during the coronavirus pandemic |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/why-people-in-the-us-have-started-howling-at-night-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-6356132/ |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Quora |title=Can Humans Communicate With Wolves Through Howling? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/03/02/can-humans-communicate-with-wolves-through-howling/ |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 25, 2020 |title=Why do we howl? An expert explains |url=https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/why-we-howl/73-e9886704-552a-45b5-a56f-16e353dc7116 |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=www.9news.com |language=en}}</ref>

The long-distance howling of [[Gray wolf|wolves]]<ref>{{cite journal |author=John B. Theberge & J. Bruce Falls |jstor=3881437 |title=Howling as a Means of Communication in Timber Wolves |journal=American Zoologist |volume=7 |issue=2 |date=May 1967 |pages=331–338|doi=10.1093/icb/7.2.331 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and [[coyote]]scoyotes<ref>{{cite journal |author=P.N. Lehner |title=Coyote vocalizations: a lexicon and comparisons with other canids |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=26 |date=1978 |pages=712–722|doi=10.1016/0003-3472(78)90138-0 |s2cid=53185718 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=H. McCarley |title=Long distance vocalization of coyotes (Canis latrans) |journal=J. Mammal. |volume=56 |date=1975 |issue=4 |pages=847–856|doi=10.2307/1379656 |jstor=1379656 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Charles Fergus |url=http://news.psu.edu/story/141205/2007/01/15/research/probing-question-why-do-coyotes-howl |title=Probing Question: Why do coyotes howl? |work=Penn State News |date=15 January 2007}}</ref> is one way in which canines communicate. Long-distance contact calls are common in [[Canidae]], typically in the form of either barks (termed "pulse trains") or howls (termed "long acoustic streams").<ref>{{cite journal |author=Robert L. Robbins |title=Vocal Communication in Free-Ranging African Wild Dogs |journal=Behaviour |volume=137 |issue=10 |date=Oct 2000 |pages=1271–1298|doi=10.1163/156853900501926 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=J.A. Cohen & M.W. Fox |title=Vocalizations in Wild Canids and Possible Effects of Domestication |journal=Behavioural Processes |volume=1 |date=1976 |issue=1 |pages=77–92|doi=10.1016/0376-6357(76)90008-5 |pmid=24923546 |s2cid=35037680 }}</ref>

Wolf howls are generally indistinguishable from those of large dogs.<ref name="seton">{{cite book |author=Seton, E. T.|year=1909|title=Life-histories of northern animals : an account of the mammals of Manitoba part II |publisher=Scribner|pages=749–788 |url=https://archive.org/stream/lifehistoriesofn02seto#page/748/mode/2up}}</ref> Male wolves give voice through an [[octave]], passing to a deep [[Bass (sound)|bass]] with a stress on "''O''", while females produce a modulated nasal [[baritone]] with stress on "''U''". Pups almost never howl, while yearling wolves produce howls ending in a series of dog-like yelps.<ref name="heptner1998">{{cite book |author=V.G. Heptner & N.P. Naumov |year=1998 |title=Mammals of the Soviet Union Vol.II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears)|publisher=Science Publishers, Inc. USA|pages=164–270 |isbn=1-886106-81-9 |url=https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov211998gept#page/184/mode/2up}}</ref>

Howling consists of a fundamental frequency that may lie between 150 and 780&nbsp;Hz, and consists of up to 12 harmonically related overtones. The pitch usually remains constant or varies smoothly, and may change direction as many as four or five times.<ref name="mech1974">{{cite journal |last1=Mech |first1=D. L. |year=1974 |title=Canis lupus |url=http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-037-01-0001.pdf |journal=Mammalian Species |issue=37 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.2307/3503924 |jstor=3503924 |access-date=June 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115145/http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-037-01-0001.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Howls used for calling pack mates to a kill are long, smooth sounds similar to the beginning of the cry of a [[great horned owl]]. When pursuing prey, they emit a higher pitched howl, vibrating on two notes. When closing in on their prey, they emit a combination of a short bark and a howl.<ref name="seton" /> When howling together, wolves harmonize rather than chorus on the same note, thus creating the illusion of there being more wolves than there actually are.{{sfn|Lopez|1978|p=38}} Lone wolves typically avoid howling in areas where other packs are present.{{sfn|Mech|Boitani|2003|p=16}} Wolves from different geographic locations may howl in different fashions: the howls of European wolves are much more protracted and melodious than those of North American wolves, whose howls are louder and have a stronger emphasis on the first syllable. The two are however [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]], as North American wolves have been recorded to respond to European-style howls made by biologists.{{sfn|Zimen|1981|p=73}}

Human accounts of wolf behavior are typified by depictions of howling, and this has been incorporated into fictional and mythical representations, such as the [[werewolf]]. [[Virgil]], in his poetic work ''[[Eclogues]]'', wrote about a man called Moeris, who used herbs and poisons picked in his native [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]] to turn himself into a wolf.<ref>{{cite book |author=Virgil |title=Eclogues |chapter=viii |page=98|title-link=Eclogues }}</ref> An examination of Virgil's work notes that "[t]he howling of wolves is portentous; it is cited among the baleful omens at the assassination of Julius Caesar and the advent of renewed civil strife".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01944509/document |title=The Wolf in Virgil|first1=Lee|last1=Fratantuono |date=September 23, 2019}}</ref> In [[prose]], the ''[[Satyricon]]'', written circa AD 60 by [[Petronius|Gaius Petronius Arbiter]], one of the characters, Niceros, tells a story at a banquet about a friend who turned into a wolf (chs. 61–62). He describes the incident as follows, "When I look for my buddy I see he'd stripped and piled his clothes by the roadside... He pees in a circle round his clothes and then, just like that, turns into a wolf!... after he turned into a wolf he started howling and then ran off into the woods."<ref>{{cite book |author=Petronius |author-link=Petronius |title=Satyrica |year=1996 |publisher= University of California |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-20599-5 |page=56|translator=R. Bracht Branham & Daniel Kinney}}</ref> Such depictions have become a staple of modern depictions of werewolfswerewolves and other monstrous dogs, leading to their central position in media such as [[The Howling (franchise)|''The Howling'' media franchise]], the 2012 Korean film, ''[[Howling (2012 film)|Howling]]'', and the 2015 British film, ''[[Howl (2015 film)|Howl]]''. Howling by humans has historically been associated with wildness and madness.

* {{Cite book|last1=Busch|first1=R. H.|title=Wolf Almanac, New and Revised: A Celebration Of Wolves And Their World|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|edition=3rd|year=2007|isbn=978-1-59921-069-8|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=svbnCwAAQBAJ}}}}

* {{cite book|last1=Coren|first1=Stanley|title=How To Speak Dog|year=2012|publisher=Simon and Schuster |place=New York|isbn=9781471109416}}

* {{Cite book |last=Lopez |first=Barry H. |title=Of Wolves and Men |publisher=J. M. Dent and Sons Limited |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-7432-4936-2 |url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=sz8gAQAAIAAJ}}}}

* {{Cite book|editor-last=Mech|editor-first=L. David|editor2-last=Boitani|editor2-first=Luigi |title=Wolves: Behaviour, Ecology and Conservation|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2003 |isbn=978-0-226-51696-7|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=zhwfmQEACAAJ}}}}

* {{Cite book |last=Zimen |first=Erik |title=The Wolf: His Place in the Natural World |publisher=[[Souvenir Press]] |pages=217–218|year=1981 |isbn=978-0-285-62411-5 }}