Re: Does the tortoise hear any sounds

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Posted by Annie Lancaster-TortoiseAid on April 03, 2001 at 07:02:20:

In Reply to: Does the tortoise hear any sounds posted by Arvydas on April 03, 2001 at 02:49:39:

Yes, tortoises do hear sounds, although in a different way than we do. They "feel" sound at differnt frequencies than we do. It's called "infrasound."
SO, they feel vibrations of sound, and are excellent at doing so...if you walk behind a tortoise chances are it can "feel" your footsteps.

I had an intersting experience with tortoises here some time ago that I thought might be of interest, and BTW, yes they do have excellent eyesight.

This is the experience I had with "infrasound." I've cut and pasted it from a post I made to a list when the subject came up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At 12:02 PM 2/20/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>annie,
>dont you have calif desert torts too,

Yes, I do...more of those than any other species....

>i bet they CAN sense an earthquake,

IMHO they can..and DO.

> it is interesting because i was just wondering (my mind is always on
> some turtle dilemma nowadays) anyways i was just wondering what would
> happen if a tort was in a burrow and it collapsed, i would imagine they
> could probably just dig out, but i wonder if it would be to closed in?

Well, this is what I observed...(and no, I was not under the infulence of
anything illegal, LOL)

This was in the late summer time...still very hot weather here...temps in
excess of 110 regularly.

I was out and about in the late afternoon...tending to all the charges
here....tortoises generally start to emerge from their burrows about
4:00-4:30 PM, bask, graze, and then return back to their burrows at about
7:00 PM or so. I call it the "evening stroll."

I am usually out there until dusk/dark..about 9:00 PM

This day seemed generally strange. The tortoises all came out of their
burrows at the same time...3 PM. Regardless of species. It was still in
the high 90's outside...I thought that was a little strange that they were
out early..and ALL of them were out. Not a snoozing tortoise anywhere. No
real grazing activity...I attributed that to the hot weather.

I went about my daily rounds...did some additional outside stuff...but
noticed..by 8:30, none of the tortoises had gone back into their
burrows...they all just sat around...in their enclosures. A few of the
females were digging and sniffing the soil...with no real purpose other
than to kick sand around....or so it seemed.

I later noticed that the ones who were digging, had dug small
scrapes..about 2" deep. By now it was dark..and still in the 90'sF.

I thought since it was so hot...maybe their burrows seemed to
stuffy...there had been no normal afternoon breeze that day.

I went back out with a flashlight at about 10:30 PM. All of them with the
exception of two..still out of their burrows...some sitting at the
entrances..but wouldn't go inside. I tried to put a couple of them into
their burrows myself...and they promptly backed themselves straight back
out. So, I gave up and went to bed.

At 3:00 AM or so....I was literally tossed outta my bed by a 7.0 magnitude
earthquake. (Those of you in So Calif, this was the quake with the
epicenter in between Barstow and 29 Palms), I KNOW you felt it too....you
might well remember it.

The tortoises, IMHO...could FEEL that quake coming...as well as hear
it..the low frequencies they "hear" must have sounded loud to them...like a
low roar underground...the one we can hear when it gets really bad....you
know what I mean by that roaring noise!

Instinct must have told them all...that a burrow was not the place to
be. They remained out of their burrows well into the next day, we had
several pretty good sized aftershocks...and then...they went on as if
nothing had ever happened.

I can offer no concrete proof of this...just what I saw. Strange, huh?

: Does the tortoise hear any sounds and how does she see

TortoiseAid

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: Yes, tortoises do hear sounds, although in a different way than we do. They "feel" sound at differnt frequencies than we do. It's called "infrasound." : SO, they feel vibrations of sound, and are excellent at doing so...if you walk behind a tortoise chances are it can "feel" your footsteps. : I had an intersting experience with tortoises here some time ago that I thought might be of interest, and BTW, yes they do have excellent eyesight. : This is the experience I had with "infrasound." I've cut and pasted it from a post I made to a list when the subject came up. : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ : At 12:02 PM 2/20/2001 -0500, you wrote: : >annie, : >dont you have calif desert torts too, : Yes, I do...more of those than any other species.... : >i bet they CAN sense an earthquake, : IMHO they can..and DO. : > it is interesting because i was just wondering (my mind is always on : > some turtle dilemma nowadays) anyways i was just wondering what would : > happen if a tort was in a burrow and it collapsed, i would imagine they : > could probably just dig out, but i wonder if it would be to closed in? : Well, this is what I observed...(and no, I was not under the infulence of : anything illegal, LOL) : This was in the late summer time...still very hot weather here...temps in : excess of 110 regularly. : I was out and about in the late afternoon...tending to all the charges : here....tortoises generally start to emerge from their burrows about : 4:00-4:30 PM, bask, graze, and then return back to their burrows at about : 7:00 PM or so. I call it the "evening stroll." : I am usually out there until dusk/dark..about 9:00 PM : This day seemed generally strange. The tortoises all came out of their : burrows at the same time...3 PM. Regardless of species. It was still in : the high 90's outside...I thought that was a little strange that they were : out early..and ALL of them were out. Not a snoozing tortoise anywhere. No : real grazing activity...I attributed that to the hot weather. : I went about my daily rounds...did some additional outside stuff...but : noticed..by 8:30, none of the tortoises had gone back into their : burrows...they all just sat around...in their enclosures. A few of the : females were digging and sniffing the soil...with no real purpose other : than to kick sand around....or so it seemed. : I later noticed that the ones who were digging, had dug small : scrapes..about 2" deep. By now it was dark..and still in the 90'sF. : I thought since it was so hot...maybe their burrows seemed to : stuffy...there had been no normal afternoon breeze that day. : I went back out with a flashlight at about 10:30 PM. All of them with the : exception of two..still out of their burrows...some sitting at the : entrances..but wouldn't go inside. I tried to put a couple of them into : their burrows myself...and they promptly backed themselves straight back : out. So, I gave up and went to bed. : At 3:00 AM or so....I was literally tossed outta my bed by a 7.0 magnitude : earthquake. (Those of you in So Calif, this was the quake with the : epicenter in between Barstow and 29 Palms), I KNOW you felt it too....you : might well remember it. : The tortoises, IMHO...could FEEL that quake coming...as well as hear : it..the low frequencies they "hear" must have sounded loud to them...like a : low roar underground...the one we can hear when it gets really bad....you : know what I mean by that roaring noise! : Instinct must have told them all...that a burrow was not the place to : be. They remained out of their burrows well into the next day, we had : several pretty good sized aftershocks...and then...they went on as if : nothing had ever happened. : I can offer no concrete proof of this...just what I saw. Strange, huh? : : : Does the tortoise hear any sounds and how does she see

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