Alarm calls

Alarm calls of animals are part of a complex language system, with different calls being used to warn of different predators and triggering different survival actions, depending on the animal species, according to Milius (1998). For example, a vervet monkey can make three different kinds of alarm calls, and each one results in a different flight or hiding behavior in other monkeys who hear it. Marmots around the world are known to make a variety of alarm sounds, depending on the species, and to date, 13 different alarm sounds have been noted. Many species are also known to give false alarm signals to disperse competitors from food supplies (Griffin, 1992, p. 201). For example, great tits often give off uncalled for alarm calls to scare away sparrows monopolizing a concentrated food source.

Budiansky believes that scientists are reading far too much into these calls and are guilty of anthropomorphism (1998, p. 37). He contends that one problem with

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A receiver can readily tell where the danger is and monitor the predator's progress. He believes that this is an evolutionary survival mechanism rather than something humans can label semantically as a "mammalian predator" call (p. 135). A different interpretation of alarm calls may be inferred from the study of other animal species. Marmots are known for their shrill whistles and their ability to blend into the rocky terrain they favor (Jackson, 1996). They are often given the nickname "whistle pig." Marmots are rodents, and are often mistaken for their relatives, the ground hog, or ground squirrel. North American marmots come in two species: the brown-backed, yellow-bellied variety found in the Rockies, and the larger, gray-backed hoary marmot that ranges from the northern Cascades to the Canadian Rockies. Marmots live in colonies consisting of a dominant male, his harem of two or three adult females, and some youngsters, who are driven off when they are just over a year old. A longitudinal study, lasting for 35 years has looked at the alarm calls of yellow-bellied marmots living in the mountains near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Crested Butte, Colorado (Milius, 1998, p. 174). When these marmots whist
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