Now I hate to put caveats on things, but there is a certain way that this one really /needs/ to be listened to. So, let me try to describe things, so you can listen to this with the proper effect. :)

So don’t listen to it just yet! Let me set the stage for you!

1) take a look at this picture: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/361070/

For the best effect, it’s important to ponder that this “noise” (or pair of noises, actually) is coming from Sage, a rather large cougar (about 200lbs/91kg). Sage is one of the friendliest cougars that I have ever worked with. So stare at this pic for a while, zoom right in, and just look. Get his face into your mind’s-eye.

2) Imagine, for just a moment, that you’re in the middle of a lush field of grass, a large meadow, sitting cross-legged, and meditating quietly. In your meditations, The Sager-Kitty comes meandering out from the trees and right up to you. From the moment he’s visible, he starts chirping in greeting.

For those of you that have never heard a cougar “chirp”, this aucio-clip with change that. :) Imagine a “chirp” as a cougar-sized “meow”. It’s called a “chirp” because when cougar kittens are small, they’re very vulnerable to other predators, but still need some way to call out to Mum. So the sound they make sounds almost identicle to a bird chirping, and thus the name. Obviously, when they grow up, the sound become a little lower-pitched and more resonant, but the name stuck, so it’s still called a “chirp” (although in some schools it’s called a “whistle”).

So sage is chirping at you the whole way towards you. He’s happy to see you, so he’s calling out to say “hi” and to make sure that you’re paying attention, as there’s just nothing more important than that. A cougar needs his scritches, don’cha know?

3) As your sitting there, don’t be intimidated. The farthest thing from his mind is doing anything to hurt you (even though he most certainly could, being about 5 times our strength). Instead, he comes right up, head on, reached up one of those big paws to pull you forward a little so he can start licking the top of your head. You might as well let him, cuz there’s no escaping, now that he’s got ya!

This is when he turns the motor on, and you get to hear the most pleasant and uplifting noise in all the universe (yes, I know that’s an opinion statement, but that’s what I believe).

After a few moment of this, then the second paw will come up, and he’ll put his entire weight onto your shoulders and tighten his grip around you. No; this isn’t the cougar-heading-in-for-the-kill. Quite the opposite, in fact. This is a cougar hug. Sage likes hugs, both the giving and the getting. Either is fine. Either will reward you with his “noise”.

4) After a few moments of gentle and earnest embrace, then he will shift just a little, and proceed in the many, but futile, attempts to put his entire muzzle into your closest ear. This is where the “noise” will get obnoxiously loud. :) When he can’t find a way to get his muzzle into one ear - It’s just GOTTA fit! - then he’ll shift over to the other ear, and try again with that one.

5) Finally, this one is best if you just set your MP3 player on “loop” and let it play over and over and over and over and... Well, you get the idea.

So this is Sage, doing what Sage does best. This is the finest example I have, of the “Noise” (chirps and purrs) from the most expert of “Noise Makers”, the Sager-Kitty.

I hope it brings you peace and tranquility. This one goes out, especially, to those of you that’re currently facing some of those trials and tribulations in life. While I can’t really do much to help you, this is my most earnest attempt to give you just a moment’s rest from it all (21-seconds of it, in fact). I hope it brings you some peace and tranquility.

This sound-clip was taken on 08-Feb-04. It was done using and HP Ipaq 2715 PDA, and sampled at 1-channel, 16-bits. It was originally a .wav file, but resampled as stereo at 128-bits into .mp3 format.

Disclaimer: I hate to have to put this on here, but the audio clip is copyright me. Please do not distribute, copy, alter, etc, without my permission. Having said all that, feel free to download and use it for your own inspiration.