Help me figure out what this summer sound is - frog, insect??

August 4, 2010 8:23 PM

I'm trying to figure out what this sound is: specifically heard in the summer, in the woods - either a frog or some sort of insect I think (not crickets though). Could be described as "cheet-cheet-cheet-cheet" repeated. An exact example can be found in the very beginning of the R.E.M. song "You Are Everything" from the album Green. Super bonus question: would love to find a recording of this to purchase/download. Thanks!
posted by staveitoff123 to Science & Nature (16 answers total)

Geckos? That's what I hear in the woods behind my bedroom, especially when it's been raining, but it would depend on where you are.
posted by zinfandel at 8:29 PM on August 4, 2010

Cicadas?
posted by ecab at 8:31 PM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

This? Those are Cicadas.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:32 PM on August 4, 2010

I just listened to the song and it's cicadas.
posted by iconomy at 8:35 PM on August 4, 2010

If it was nighttime could also be Katydids.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:42 PM on August 4, 2010

You could try listening to different insect sounds here, but this is by no means complete. It is a fun site to play around in. I has recordings of crickets, katydids, cicadas, etc.
posted by annsunny at 9:08 PM on August 4, 2010

Downloadable cicadas. (Unless you meant the song.)
posted by clorox at 9:11 PM on August 4, 2010

Where I come from, we just call them Heat Bugs.
posted by philip-random at 9:34 PM on August 4, 2010

Maybe the online database of Singing Insects of North America (with audio files of their songs) could help you figure out what you're hearing? (I made a post to the blue about this database a long time ago, but the URL has apparently changed since then.)
posted by trip and a half at 9:52 PM on August 4, 2010

When you need a recording of an animal, check with the Macaulay Library.
posted by zamboni at 9:56 PM on August 4, 2010

They're cicadas. Heat Bugs is a great term, though, because that's what they're associated with. Late July, August... I love them!
posted by deep thought sunstar at 11:32 PM on August 4, 2010

I think there are cicadas droning on, and the chirps of a cricket as well.
posted by fleacircus at 1:10 AM on August 5, 2010

They're not cicadas; at least, not in the song. They're katydids. A wonderful sound, though it can be nearly oppressively loud in the south on summer nights sometimes. It's funny, on warm nights, the rhythm is pretty fast, but as it gets colder in the fall, they slow down their call. The cicadas are active in the day with a loud, buzzy drone that abruptly starts and stops.
posted by Red Loop at 2:43 AM on August 5, 2010

Oh, by the way, in the song there are also crickets, and it may even be more dominant. You can hear the crickets backed up with the pattern of the katydids. The crickets are even more well known for having the chirp indicating temperature.
posted by Red Loop at 2:47 AM on August 5, 2010

Yeah some listening to this katydid, and this cricket make me agree with Red Loop. You can hear a close-up one of each, and in the droning sound of the many insects there seem to be both crickets and katydids as well.
posted by fleacircus at 3:11 AM on August 5, 2010

Fleacircus: I had no idea that was what katydids sounded like! Turns out, not only are they cool looking but they also make one of my favorite late-summer noises...
posted by en forme de poire at 8:11 AM on August 5, 2010