The giraffe and its lute
The cat meows, the dog barks and you know the voices of many other animals. But have you ever wondered what sounds the giraffe makes? Can she even make sounds? It is sometimes said that giraffes are mute, but that is wrong. We humans just can't hear most of their sounds.
The communication of the giraffe
The spectrum of sounds that a giraffe makes can only be heard by a small fraction of people. How this audible range sounds also depends on the age and the situation.
- Night. Haltorth (classification of mammals) can sometimes be heard in young animals, depending on their state of excitement, a soft bleating or a louder roar, similar to that of a cow. A sound described as “coughing” can also occur when the calf feels abandoned. Adult animals hum, grunt, roar and bleat. A brief cough is the males' battle cry. Snorting is also one of the sounds made by the giraffe.
- Most of a giraffe's communication, however, takes place beyond the human hearing threshold. Humans are able to hear tones in the frequency range between 20 and 20,000 Hertz. The sounds of the giraffe are below 20 Hertz and are therefore too low for people to hear.
- The giraffe's communication does not only include sounds. Their behavior also helps to communicate with other dogs. This includes, for example, the posture and movements of the neck and tail. Often the so-called "necking" occurs, a friendly behavior in which two giraffes rub their necks together. On the other hand, the necks are also used in combat.
The background of the deep sounds
- The sound range in which the giraffe mainly communicates is known as infrasound. This is characterized by very large wavelengths and therefore has a very large range. Therefore, giraffes can keep in contact with each other over long distances.
- People can only perceive it when the volume of the infrasound is very high. Not only through the ears, but above all through the sense of touch. In these cases you can feel the vibration, similar to how you feel the bass in front of a large loudspeaker. However, the volume cannot be precisely classified. At most, the strength of the vibration is assessed. However, it can be assumed that the sounds of a giraffe usually do not reach such a high volume.
- Not only the giraffe, but also some other animals can perceive infrasound and also communicate partly on these frequencies. These include elephants and blue whales.
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