Popping Noises from Woods??

[roamerr]

I have an odd question. We have woods around our new home and recently have started hearing a popping noise in the woods in front of the house. The woods is mostly oaks and maples. I walked around trying to locate the popping and it sounds like it is coming from the trees? Anyone familar with such a noise? There is no electrical or water lines in the trees if that matters...

 

[weldingisfun]

Well, if it was the end of Winter, I'd say it was Spring ------- (you insert the word) out all over.
Sorry, I couldn't resist that. No idea what could be causing the noise.

 

[schmism]

need little more info

random timming and spaceing of pops or fairly constant/steady

seem to be more or less with wind?

more/less durring day/night?

does it seem to stop when you go into woods?

describe pitch and tone

 

[roamerr]

I have heard the noise from 3pm to 11pm. I have not really listened to it at other times. It reminds me of a hardwood floor popping or wood walls popping from wood movement. When my wife pointed it out to me I thought we had a tree that was slowly falling. It sounds like the noises that are made when you cut a tree and it starts leaning. Problem is i can not see a tree that is falling...

 

[Chuck52]

I've got a tree in a fence line near my barn that has a couple of crossed limbs. I would probably never have noticed except one evening I was down there without a light and I heard the weirdest whiny-howling noise since last time I visited a Halloween haunted house. Scared the bejeesus out of me. I was thinking mountain lion or something. The next day I looked around and spotted the rubbing limbs. Any time there's a bit of wind from the right direction it sounds off. I've heard it during daylight and it still makes my skin crawl. You might have something related.

Chuck

 

[DennisArrow]

Lotsa folks hear "sounds" in different ways...........This time of year the acorns falling sound kinda like a POP if they hit something as they fall.........Especially a metal roof, a car, or your head............Last year we had a heavy duty crop and there was no way one would park a vehicle out in the open or at times going out without a hard hat on.......This year when a wind gust goes through it sounds like a minor "fire fight" as they come down on the metal roofs of the various barns, sheds, and house....................Other than that a branch breaking and falling makes a pretty good noise........Any hanging up in the trees from the storms we have had???????.........God bless......Dennis

 

[dmccarty]

Acorns is my guess too.

Summer time we hear what sounds like rain. Sorta. :laughing: I THINK it is a seed like thing being dropped from some of the trees. You only hear the sound when the leaves on the ground are dry.

We do have a dead cedar rubbing against another cedar. If the wind is blowing that thing will make a weird noise.

Later,
Dan

 

[schmism]

I had a downey wood pecker pounding away at a dead limb this morning out in the back woods.

pop pop pop pop....

bet ya 10:1 you got a woodpecker out there finding some fall bugs.

 

[Thomas]

Expand/contract from temps.

 

[roamerr]

I was thinking the expand/contract from temps -- that was my guess. I have not seen a woodpecker and the sound does not sound like any woodpecker I have heard. Could be though. The sound also does not remind me of an acorn. Could still be an acorn. I'm now thinking I need to sit in the woods for a little while.

Keep any other thoughts coming.

 

[smstonypoint]

I'm now thinking I need to sit in the woods for a little while.

It can do wonders for you. At least it does for me. Just sitting, watching and listening to what is going around you in a natural setting is a great way to relax both physically and mentally.


My guess is limbs rubbing against each other.

Steve

 

[dmccarty]

It can do wonders for you. At least it does for me. Just sitting, watching and listening to what is going around you in a natural setting is a great way to relax both physically and mentally.

Amen! :thumbsup:

Our house is in the middle of the woods. Very peaceful. Even with the sound of traffic a mile away to the north and the road behind us. :laughing: But there is little traffic on the nearest road and if there is a wind we cannot hear the road a mile away. Sitting on the porch and just listening and watching is NICE. Add a beer and it is NICER. :thumbsup:

When the weather is nice enough to leave the windows open is NICE. Hearing the critters moving around in the wood and the owls HOOTING is NICER. :thumbsup:

Later,
Dan

 

[grnspot110]

Sasquatch!!! :laughing:

Actually, it's probably limbs rubbing together.

As for time spent in the timber, very good for the soul! I spend some time in my "timber shack" any time I'm at the farm & it's too cool to sit at the picnic table. Starting this Saturday, I'll spend more time there (deer season). As much the time spent as the hunting!

 

[PILOON]

For a while I was stymied hearing what I could best describe as a 2 cycle motor trying to start; like PUT-PUT put-put etc (maybe 10-12 put-put)

Due to muffling effects of trees it sounded exactly like a chainsaw start up about an acre away.

Took a while, but soon discovered it was a male grouse (partridge) doing his strut to entice the hen, and that was merely 100 yds or so.

Actually got a good photo of his act.
Other than smaller less colorful plumage, it is sort of like a pheasants courtship dance.

 

[rdoiron]

We have woodpeckers in the cedars behind our house that make a popping noise sometimes when the wind is blowing in the right direction. Also have trees rubbing on trees, making very strange noises.

I would have to agree that just sitting in the woods for a while is very therapeutic. But doing it at night is a little creepy...

 

[redberankubota]

My wife could hear something in the sand pines we had at our old house...I thought she was nuts:laughing: turns out it was pine beetles eating the trees from the inside , and eventually killing them all one-by-one:confused2:

 

[Pilot]

I've been working in the woods since '75 and have heard only 2 sounds that might be what you describe:

1. Tree trunks hitting each other in the wind, a low pitched bonking sound. If no wind, that's N/A.

2. Once I heard what sounded like a series of gunshots a hundred + feet away. Probably 4-6 in fairly quick succession. Then the tree fell, landing about 50 feet from where I had been. The popping was the roots breaking, first one, then another became overstressed under tension and it popped, then others more quickly. No wind that day, although it had been windy a few days before. Some of the roots showed evidence of rot. If that's what you are hearing, I would expect you would have had a tree go down by now.

My time was spent in coniferous forests; might be different with hardwoods.

I don't recall ever hearing any noises from expansion/contraction.

How long have you lived there? If it were limbs banging together I'm sure you would have heard it at other times and especially if there were a breeze.

I wonder if a critter was making the noise?

 

[wdchyd]

Sasquatch!!! :laughing:

Actually, it's probably limbs rubbing together.

As for time spent in the timber, very good for the soul! I spend some time in my "timber shack" any time I'm at the farm & it's too cool to sit at the picnic table. Starting this Saturday, I'll spend more time there (deer season). As much the time spent as the hunting!

Maybe it's just the pop of "Hunting Season".........(sorry, couldn't resist..:laughing

 

[LostInTheWoods]

I had a downey wood pecker pounding away at a dead limb this morning out in the back woods.

pop pop pop pop....

bet ya 10:1 you got a woodpecker out there finding some fall bugs.

It can do wonders for you. At least it does for me. Just sitting, watching and listening to what is going around you in a natural setting is a great way to relax both physically and mentally.


My guess is limbs rubbing against each other.

Steve

I'm with schmism and smstonypoint. First, a little more detail on the sound's characteristics might help us. Second, it never hurts to chill out in the woods for a while and see if the answer presents itself.

Based on your description so far, yeah, I'd guess trees are rubbing together. I have plenty of oaks and maples around the house (lots of woodland around the house), and have never heard any noises I'd attribute to expansion and contraction due to temperature. We had the worst ice storm in Kentucky's recorded history a while back, and it sounded like the sky was crashing that night. But never anything like what you are describing.

 

[Phils]

We live in an area that has many oak trees. In THIS area those pops happen every August. On a quiet night you can hear them all over the area.

I discussed this with our area's best tree service person. He explained that those pops indicate that the tree is drawing moisture up and into the branches.

August and September are the worst for broken limbs around here because sometimes they draw up so much weight that the tree can't support it and splits/cracks and falls.

What you describe is exactly how it sounds here.

Phil