Monday, August 22, 2011

Cool Animal Sounds: Spotted Hyena

Spotted hyenas are very unique animals, including the noises they make. They are famous for their laugh, which they usually use when excited about food. They also make mooing noises and can scream, among other things. This is a somewhat odd video of a captive hyena, but it shows the laughter the best out of all of the ones I found:


Spotted hyenas are also unique because they have a matriarchal society, and in fact the females are highly masculinized, being larger and more aggressive than males. They mark their territory with a horrid-smelling excretion from their rears called "hyena butter" and groups can be exceptionally large. They are the largest and best-known of the hyena family, which also includes the brown hyena, striped hyena, and aardwolf.

2 comments:

  1. The laugh of a Hyena and the bugle of a male Elk are my two favorite animal sounds. They're just so iconic.

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  2. I love animal sounds. There are very few that I don't like and I think It's amazing what variety can be found.

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