SOUNDS OF KENYA - Hyena Vomit

Hyenas enjoy a number of things that are traditionally considered unenjoyable.  One of the things they take the most surprising amount of enjoyment in is vomit.  We frequently see hyenas vomiting around dens and kills.  Inevitably, when one hyena vomits, a number of other hyenas will rush at the opportunity to roll in that vomit.  Cubs, subs, adults - it doesn’t matter - they all want to rub as much of that chunky goodness as possible into their previously spotless coats.  I’ve seen cubs try to shoulder out adults (usually ineffective due to basic laws of physics).  I’ve seen cubs that were play romping together a minute before whip out some just-plain-rude aggressions to secure priority access to the best vomit.  I’ve seen cranky, old females that hate our car and hate getting up for anyone, run at full speed towards the vomit and excitedly slide into it, as if sliding into a very stinky home plate.

Given how excited hyenas get about vomit, you can imagine how pleased I was to incidentally record the sounds of a hyena vomiting.  I know it’s not pretty birds or alluring hyena whoops, but try, if you can, to enjoy this noise the way a hyena would.