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About this sound
As you move around the pond you might see many different footprints and paths. Paths connect the pond to safe hiding places or food sources and could have been made by a racoon on its way to a moonlight dinner of frogs, crayfish, or worms. Maybe, they were made by a red fox hunting the ringed-neck pheasant that kept ducking under the bushes for cover. The trails could have even been made by a muskrat running back and forth from the pond to the irrigation canal. Take a close look in the mud. Can you see some of the tracks or trails? The open area in the cattails is used heavily. Ducks, dogs, cats, raccoons, foxes, and muskrats use this opening to access the water. Look around. Can you see tunnels that run through the cattails like secret passages to the pond? People also use this location as a place to launch a canoe or get on the ice for ice skating.
Why parks record sound
The NPS Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division monitors soundscapes in parks across the United States. Natural quiet is treated as a resource to protect, like clean air or dark skies: noise from aircraft, vehicles and machinery can mask animal communication and change the experience of a place.
More sounds
Pond Trail Sign 6: The Power of Nature
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Pond Trail Sign 5: Migration
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Pond Trail Sign 2: The City
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Pond Trail Sign 3: Metamorphosis
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Pond Trail Sign 1: Wildland Romance
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Sources & credits
- Pond Trail Sign 4: Tracks by US National Park Service – Public domain