Man, fowl or beast - what made this horrible noise please?

[tcvarlh]

You get a lot of sounds out of Squigs from a 'chuck chuck chuck' with tail flipping; he's mad at you 'cos you are being a nuisance, to the strangled pig noise of the clip meaning 'this is my place OK?' There are a couple of other odd noises they make too. One is an almost bird call squawk, which also appears to be territorial. When chasing each other in play they make a 'mipmip' and a 'churr'. The churr sounds a little like a cat's purring but rougher edged. Squigs seem to have, what I can only call, accents or dialects. Basically the same noise made in two different areas isn't quite the same in pitch or timbre and is varied. You just have to spend some time watching them. It's an easy language.
h

[loripo]

Our local squiddles sometimes make sounds similar to magpies and quite often what sounds like violent swearing!
(Birds have 'local' accents too don't they - I always say that our blackbirds speak starling)

[Jason Claxton]

Originally Posted by tcvarlh

You get a lot of sounds out of Squigs from a 'chuck chuck chuck' with tail flipping; he's mad at you 'cos you are being a nuisance, to the strangled pig noise of the clip meaning 'this is my place OK?' There are a couple of other odd noises they make too. One is an almost bird call squawk, which also appears to be territorial. When chasing each other in play they make a 'mipmip' and a 'churr'. The churr sounds a little like a cat's purring but rougher edged. Squigs seem to have, what I can only call, accents or dialects. Basically the same noise made in two different areas isn't quite the same in pitch or timbre and is varied. You just have to spend some time watching them. It's an easy language.
h

I hear squirrels making noises like that at me quite often when I'm birding in woods and as I'm trying to be stealthy, I assumed that they were saying "You will have to throw a Pine cone at me mister if you want to get any peace"...seems to go quiet after that.

[tcvarlh]

Well, living near humans is bound to make you cuss. There you are awaiting for the Hazel to ripen and along comes that ruddy council bod and prunes the bush. Makes me sour too!
h

[tcvarlh]

a girlfriend of mine once had a half eaten grape drop on her shoulder, now whether the Squig in the tree had found, tasted and discarded it or a bird had dropped it I don't know but Squiggy got blamed. Two days later the GF saw said rodent and threw a Malteser (waste!) at him. She told her 13 year old son who listened avidly and then added ' He caught it, you know and then he stuck his thumb up to thank me' The son believed it for oh, all of 5 mins until he saw me almost rolling on the floor.

wildlife - gullible

h

[Hedgehoggy]

Originally Posted by tcvarlh

the strangled pig noise of the clip meaning 'this is my place OK?'

After doing a bit of googling, general consensus is that it’s an ‘agitated’ call at intruders, so the sounds can be variable dependant on how agitated the squirrel is!

Marc says this on his website [Wildlifeonline - Natural History of Grey & Red Squirrels]:

Observations on the social dynamics of the Grey squirrel have resulted in the typification of 11 different call types: mating calls; buzz; muk-muk; moan; squeak; kuk; tooth-chatter; scream; lip smacking; growl; and the repetitive quaa that is used to warn off intruders.

Here's a similar recording from a London park: Squirrel in distress - YouTube

My next project is to video the squirrels making this noise in my garden and post it on here!

[The Woodman]

For those wanting to converse with squirrels, I recommend the Buck Gardner squirrel call. I've had one for years but cannot find the entertaining cassette tape that came with it and note the product doesn't include a tape these days.

Buck Gardner Squirrel Call (plus Distress for Predators)

There's loadza stuff on YouTube on calling squirts like this....Squirrel Call - YouTube

[fairplay]

That's no Squirrel, it's, it's ... RUN

Neil.

[Deb London]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

For those wanting to converse with squirrels, I recommend the Buck Gardner squirrel call. I've had one for years but cannot find the entertaining cassette tape that came with it and note the product doesn't include a tape these days.

Buck Gardner Squirrel Call (plus Distress for Predators)

There's loadza stuff on YouTube on calling squirts like this....Squirrel Call - YouTube

Ha, ha, ha, ha.......

I never in my wildest dreams knew that there was such a thing. I usually converse in a different way, but am aware that the neighbours may not always appreciate my choice use of phrases. Now.....can I use it to say something like "beggar" off, but before you go, kindly bring my "blooming" bird feeder back, or I'll have you (or part of you) on a plate for breakfast"? Now that would be a useful tool.