When an animal such as a squirrel or chipmunk is holding objects in its cheek pouches, does it effect the animal's ability to vocalize normally? Do such obstructions prevent vocalization entirely? Do they change the sounds the animal normally makes?
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1I tried to find literature on the subject when you first posted, but the best I could find was a disturbing experiment where they used food to bait and catch chipmunks, then released them at different distances from their burrows and chased them to see how much they vocalized. Aside from a laugh imagining how funny the grad students looked chasing pissed off chipmunks around in the woods, I mostly felt sorry for the chipmunks.– Jon CusterCommented Nov 5, 2020 at 0:08
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They didn't publish their results? Or the results were that they did not vocalize?– ruffdoveCommented Nov 5, 2020 at 0:13
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Oh, results were published, but it was clear that there was no food left in their cheeks upon release. If I recall properly they vocalized more the closer they were released to their burrow (which makes sense to me - if you know you are close to safety you can be pretty sassy).– Jon CusterCommented Nov 5, 2020 at 0:16
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Ah, here it is: academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/83/2/546/2373322– Jon CusterCommented Nov 5, 2020 at 21:39
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1@ruffdove - on the internet no one knows you’re a chipmunk...– Jon CusterCommented Nov 16, 2020 at 1:54
1 Answer
Depends on what specie of animal we're talking. But in general I wiuld say, yes. I've heard chipmunks with mouth fulls chip like there's no tomorrow.
The pouch is very controlled by the animal and shouldn't affect the vocal cords, at least in theory. If anyone have a chipmunk pet to confirm, that would be great. Squrriels don't see to talk much in general, but I found this video on Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IXYTEsyG5Ok
This is just my opinion from my background in Biology. One option is that they are silent when stuffing their cheeks up in order to not alarm competitiors or predators. Or simply they are to excited to speak and want to keep it a secret.
From a biological perspective it would make sense if they would be able to vocalise and also breathe properly even when stocked full cheeks, to be able to alarm fellow squrriels in case of predatory response and breathe good while running.
Here is a chipmunk with no problem sticking out his tounge: https://www.straightnewsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/37762044-9126005-image-m-43_1610107078440.jpg