ReWild by Nick Baker

Author:Nick Baker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MBI
Published: 2017-04-05T04:00:00+00:00

Our sense of hearing is quite a complicated one and our abilities to discern certain sound frequencies vary considerably. From the age of eight, our hearing deteriorates. There is nothing quite as frustrating as taking a mixed group of families, from toddlers to grandparents, out on a summer’s walk and only those below the age of twenty being able to hear the protracted ticking whirr of a colony of cone-heads (a kind of bush cricket that has swapped the shrubs for long grass), or to be on a bat walk and have only a handful of the group able to pick up the lower-frequency social calls of tiny pipistrelles as they loop the loop above their heads.

Some people hold on to the higher ends of their hearing range into their forties and fifties. Others lose very specific mid-range frequencies; some lose ability in one ear or the other. There is even a difference between the sexes: on the whole, women have a better sense of sound. Unless you’re aware of the symphony of nature sounds from an early age, there is every chance you may not realise it if your hearing has deteriorated. Sometimes it takes a group sound-sharing experience like the one just mentioned for an individual suddenly to become aware of their own shortfallings in this area.

Other factors can alter our perception of sound too, from personal health, atmospheric conditions and even the time of day or how weary we are feeling. What we hear can be a very subjective thing.

So if you’re not a healthy nine-year-old girl, you may well be reading this and perhaps thinking of giving up on ever being able to use your ears to their full potential, as your best ears are the ones you left behind in your youth. However, in spite of our personal variations and limitations, there are still plenty of ways of exploring the world of sound as a medium for a closer and more fulfilling relationship with nature.

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