I love animal vocalizations. Nearly all of them. There are many I have never heard in person. But of those I have (and I here leave out birds because the list would be too long), there are two particularly that I find deeply fascinating and intense. Raccoons… and horses. These creatures really seem to me to be speaking. I have no chance to listen to horses anymore. But raccoons are near me and sometimes pass my home. Their trilling, chittery strangeness… I love it. I can emulate it well enough to get their close attention, too. Once, I made the mistake of doing this while a family was crossing the street. They stopped and attended me. Unfortunately the person driving the street carelessly ignored them. It was, I think, a moment of skill and luck. I believe they escaped harm. Just barely. I will never attempt to contact an animal while it is doing something that dangerous again. But I miss their voices. I adore that sound.