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When I came across this on the internet I just had to add it to your wonderful animal stories. I could not believe it when it is known animals have different accents, I laughed and just goes to show how they do have different personalities. Enjoy!
The distinctive drawl of a Norfolk native is instantly recognisable,
but did you know that the areas frogs have accents too?
The pool frog, which croaks with a Norfolk accent, is thought to have existed in England for over 3,000 years and its bones have been found at Saxon archaeological sites in East Anglia.
The rare species was presumed extinct by the late 1990s, but conservationists have since re-established thriving populations and the pool frog has now been given special protection by the government.
Recordings of mating northern pool frogs in East Anglia showed that they had a distinct Norfolk accent. Habitat loss and persecution decimated pool frog populations in the UK, and the last remaining frog died in captivity in 1999.
But research found that the species is also found in Sweden and Norway, and conservationists reintroduced the pool frog to secret locations in East Anglia, where the population is thriving.
It is unclear what the otter version of a Glasgow kiss is,
but a pair of Canadian otters came close to finding out when they were introduced to a sanctuary in Oban, Scotland.
The North American newcomers were put under 24 hour guard due to fears that they would
be attacked by their Scottish relatives who were unable to understand their accents.
A study carried out in Japan found that monkeys from the mountainous region of Yakushima island speak with a tone that is higher than members of the same species found in central Japan.
Scientists believe that this is because the trees are taller and denser on Yakushima and the monkeys have had to adapt the pitch of their voices so that it carries through thick forest.
A dogs bark may sound just like any other to most of us,
but research suggests that dogs develop a voice that mimics their owners accent.
A study asked owners to leave recorded phone messages of their voice as well as the sound of their pooch barking and growling.
Experts then analysed the results and found that there were differences right across the UK. For example, dogs in Liverpool communicate in a high pitch while Scottish dogs are more softly spoken.
Research teams in Berlin and Norway made recordings of
male bearded seals from four regions of the Arctic and discovered that individuals from, for example,
Alaska, might struggle to interpret the sounds made by a member of the same species from Canada.
The research teams analysis of the recordings revealed that most calls fell into four different categories
trill, ascent, sweep and moan and that variations of these sounds were only heard in specific locations of the Arctic.
Ducks from London apparently talk in cockney accents in order to be heard above the sounds of the city. Researchers at Middlesex University found that the city dwelling ducks make a much rougher sound than their Cornish relatives, who make a much quieter, relaxed quack.
The theory that birds talk in regional accents is well attested. Scientist Richard Mooney from Duke University in North Carolina found that songbirds across the United States chirp in regional accents.
"If you drive around the US, you will hear the same species of songbirds", said Mooney, "But if you listen closely, the songs sung by a swamp sparrow from a population in New York sound different from a swamp sparrow in Pennsylvania." Mooney found that these dialects originate from the way that a baby bird learns to sing, much like human beings.
Researchers claim that 240 dolphins found in Cardigan Bay
in Wales have their own distinct whistles compared to others found elsewhere in the UK.
The research team analysed almost 2,000 dolphin whistles and found that one was exclusive to Cardigan Bay.
It is a farmers job to look out for the welfare of his livestock, but research now suggests that this close bond may have led to an unexpected phenomenon. Dairy farmers in the south west of England claim that their cows have regional accents depending on which herd they come from.
Dr Jeanine Treffers Daller from the University of the West of England, said: "When we are learning to speak, we adopt a local variety of language spoken by our parents, so the same could be said about the variation in the West Country cow moo."
Another bird which twitters in a regional accent is the Scottish crossbill. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds proved that this bird is a unique species and not a sub-species of the common crossbill by showing that it had an accent that was only heard in the Scottish Highlands. The bird uses the distinct call to attract a mate from among other Scottish crossbills.
Bats have perhaps the most complex form of communicating and are the
masters of individual accents. They talk to each other in frequencies that we humans cannot hear
by projecting sound and using the echoes to measure the distance between them and other creatures
and objects and choose direction. Each male has an individual song or accent he uses to court females,
set his territory, deter enemies and recognise other bats.
The largest member of the dolphin family,
the Killer Whale, is also known to have a distinct accent. Killer whales spend their entire lives in pods as many as 40 whales which hunts as a group and protects each other. The whales communicate by emitting clicks, whistles and pulses and research has shown that members of a pod make similar sounds which allow members to recognise and locate each other.
Source - http://environment.uk.msn.com/wildlife/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=9853277&ocid=today
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