Dearest Kathy and others who may attend the Ferret Olympics; re: Ferret
Hearing Response Test.
 
Thank you so very much for your very helpful input on sound recordings.
After spending some hours this afternoon in my garage tape recording
shrieking sounds from my 9 predator calls and one audobon bird call, I was
really surprized afterwards when, during playback, the reproduction sounds
were strangely attenuated, even in frequencies I was aware were missing from
the originating shrieks.  This was highly disappointing to say the least.
 
The recordings of an inflated balloon being rubbed and squiggled were so
different at playback, that my wife, in passing by, laughed since the
sounds reminded her of a very large person passing a terrific amount of
gas!  However, the high pitched squeeks of the balloon nozzle when
stretched between my fingers during the expellation of air sounded pretty
good, but not the same as the original.
 
Metallic sounds were the best: the squeeking of a garbage can lid handle,
scratching my sharped fingernails on the bottom of a large frying pan,
scratching the bottom of an elongate, rusty coffee can with a broken hacksaw
blade, and the sawing of an empty 1 gallon steel can with a pruning saw -
all redproduced quite well.  However, as you say, the full range of
frequencies, overtones and harmonics of the original sounds were probably
absent in the audio output of this little tape recorder I'm using.
 
Your suggestion I will take to heart and do; namely I'll shutter myself
inside my car and drape a large wool blanket over my head.  I will then
attempt to get the several ferrets' attention at the end of a 9-foot heavy
corrugated plastic drainage tube, while I at the other end, the source end,
will sound in a fixed sequence my 9 predator calls and one audobon bird call
with my head under the blanket.  Following that exercise, I will squeek the
inflated, big, big balloon into the mouth of the drainage tube.
 
I will have a helper at the output end recording the reaction of the various
ferrets presented for auditioning the sounds and precisely identifying those
ferrets that demonstrate a definite response.  The gross physical
characteristics of the responsive ferrets will be recorded and the extent
of the response will be grossly measured: i.e., the distance traveled by
the ferret into the tube .  .  .  and maybe into the car!
 
You know, just as a safety measure, maybe I should be wearing a catcher's
mask and have on heavy leather gloves, just in case one of those ferts gets
the idea while zipping up the tube that my nose looks just like a mouse or
whatever.  Ouch!
 
Man o man.  You folks sure offer a lot of help for which I'm very thankful.
Maybe, just maybe we can get some significant findings on ferret hearing
responses from this Mickey-mouse arrangement.  You gotta start somewhere
and this looks like its just a little better than "somewhere."
 
Wish me luck.  Hey!  Do we have any helpers out there who'd like to lend a
hand?  Sure could use your help, cause this is just a little more than a
pet show you know.
 
(Then again, some may say it's less?  But, we're learning something, n'est
ce pas?)
 
Edward Frettchenvergnuegen Lipinski,  Der Frettchenlustbarkeitsfuehrer.
[Posted in FML issue 2352]