Normally we like the quiet, but we are really starting to get freaked
out by the sounds of a car door slamming.
Every time it happens, we go the front of the house and look out in
our driveway which is a quarter mile from the dirt county road and
there is nothing there. It is half a mile to the nearest neighbor.
We contacted the previous owner said she said it spooked her, too.
This has been happening at least once a day for the last 3 months and
we are frustrated.
Any ideas?
Must be tough parking your car when your driveway is a quarter mile
from the road.
Try going to the back of the house.
> We recently moved the country to an old homestead.
>
> Normally we like the quiet, but we are really starting to get freaked
> out by the sounds of a car door slamming.
Look in the direction of the prevailing wind.
Earplugs. Fifty cents. Problem solved.
it's amazing how sensitive our hearing is. especially when
things are truly quiet. train car coupling can easily be
heard for miles. as can the dropping of a dumpster by
it's handler truck.
of course, if you have kids, they're likely the cause. :-)
lee h
Unlike the other posters I'm not convinced you are hearing a car door.
Start keeping a diary of time, room, wind, weather, et c. Collecting a bit
of data may localize the noise and help you locate the cause. Look for loose
stuff around the house and secure it. Make sure gates shut tight. Look in
the crawl space and attic. Is something expanding and contracting during the
day?
Dave M.
"JimL" <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:etred2ddj9bp2bi76...@4ax.com...
>
I'm thinking it's not a car either. From the water heater maybe? Too much
sediment in the bottom of the tank creates bubbles that burst when they get
heated. You can hear that happen.
The neighbors cows are stealing candy or cigarettes out of your
car.... or for that matter, they might even be trying to drive your
car. Dont leave the keys in it, or your car might start MOOVING...
I have a pony in the back yard that sometimes likes to use the corner
of the house as a back scratcher. That tends to spook the crap out of
me in the middle of a good sleep, particularly when she uses the
corner right next to my bed. Of course that still beats the noise I
dealt with when I lived in the city.
Yeah, I gotta laugh too. 1/2 mile from the nearest neighbor and you are
freaked out by noise! I guess it just goes to show you can never have
enough peace. I consider myself lucky when it's quiet where I live and I
guess it's one reason I get up so early in the morning. It's about the
only time you can depend on it being quiet (well, almost depend!).
I was feeling sorry for myself until I had a conversation with a woman I
know who said she grew up in Brooklyn, NY. She told me about the ambient
noise problems there and I quickly realized it was 10x worse than what I
have to put up with. She said to keep her sanity she got into listening
to the radio all the time. It gave her an anchor amidst the chaos. She
and I volunteer at a college radio station.
...snip story of noise...
> Any ideas?
Surely I'm not the only one thinking "tree", "woods", ..., am I? :)
: Any ideas?
Yes, I agree with the others that it isn't a car door slamming. Quite
unlikely, anyway. Scout around until you figure out what's making the
noise. Some day you may be lucky enough to be right next to what's doing
it when it happens, and then you will probably know immediately. Don't
start believing in ghosts!
A really talented mockingbird?
We have one in our neighborhood that does a terrific cordless phone
ring, and a pretty decent car alarm.
JimL wrote:
> Run screaming naked into the woods.
:
LOL!
I wish we had them here. I don't think we have them, at least not
lately. I seem to remember a bird here a long time ago that had a huge
(!) repertoire, though. Maybe that was a mockingbird.
LOL. Hard to imagine it imitating a car door slaming!
Or a Grackle? damned things can mimic sound of tree falling.
Will get your attention. They typically roost at night, however.
lee h
(Hope the voices in my head don't bother you)
Do you have wild hogs or an exotic animal farm in the area?
Had you said it sounded like a "crying baby", I would say a panther.
Oren
Got any livestock nearby? Could be something like one of these:
<http://www.gemplers.com/a/shop/product.asp?T1=G80620&UID=200608081710273904849556>
They can lift up the door to chow down and when they withdraw, that door
slams down sounding just like a car door.
--
Grandpa
What is that dripping from my fingers?
Why it looks like time.
See the post about aerosol rooms and send her to one.
Had a Cardinal......Protecting her territory.
Against her reflection in our storm door......
.....Sounded like a door slammin'
How is you home heated? How old is your house? How often and when do the
noises occur?
I've heard a variety of noises from heating systems caused by air in
baseboard heating radiators, air in the water pipes and air ducts expanding
& contracting. It also could be the house settling through the day.
No, I don't think barnyard animals are borrowing you car and you house isn't
haunted.
Handi_ca
A Grackle? I've never heard one mimic anything, other than perhaps
a Siamese cat in heat. Mocking birds, sure. I once thought the
neighbor's parrot got out, so went looking for it; a Mocking bird
was singing to the parrot from a tree in our front yard. We had
another that was mocking the beeps from my PC. ...stupid thing.
--
Keith
I woke up one morning to the sound of someone trying to break into
the house. The Cedar-Waxwings were attacking the ornamental cherry
out front and got drunk. They were trying to comfit mass suicide
by flying into the bay window in the livingroom. Dumb alkies! ;-)
>
> .....Sounded like a door slammin'
...more like Hagar breaking into a castle.
--
Keith
Well, JimL..........any luck so far?.......
Sounds like a damper. In an HVAC duct, in a flue, range hood, dryer
exhaust, bathroom fan, attic ventilation maybe. A damper by itself is
just a rather small piece of aluminum hinged in a duct/vent, but when it
slams, the surrounding pipe can give echoes/reverb. Normally, these
dampers have rubber stops to cushion them, but looks like a stop might
have worn out.
Next time noise occurs, instead of running out to look for cars,
concentrate on remembering what did you recently do in the house.
Used a bathroom? Been cooking? Etc.
--
scorrpio
The mocking birds here are getting hit hard by the west nile virus.
Lot's of them belly up over the last couple of years.
I've had a mocking bird that could whistle for my dog. Drove her
crazy.
Also have heard them mock a crow.
I'm shocked that it isn't a common occurence. I was expecting a lot
of "Yeah, I hear that all the time."
I've discussed it with my sisters and pretty sure it is either
ghosts or really unusual atmospheric conditions that amplify an actual
car door slamming about a mile or two away and make it sound like it
is in the front yard. Kind of like the Marfa lights.
It only happens in the heat of a hot summer day - no wind, no ac.
Windows open. And only maybe once or twice a month.
Multiple people in the house hear it.
The house is about 3 miles from a small mountain range on one side
and on the upper edge of a small valley and creek on the other side
Sound travels down that valley very easily and also on real still
nights you can hear the radio in truckers cabs from 3 miles away on
the hwy.
You and your sisters, should be ashamed 'o yourselfs......
1st 'ya say......
>This has been happening at least once a day for the last 3 months and
>we are frustrated.
> Any ideas?
Then its.......
> It only happens in the heat of a hot summer day - no wind, no ac.
> Windows open. And only maybe once or twice a month.
Which is it?.......
..............
.........................
..
......
.......
....
Did I ketch a 'troll?
Shh!.......................
Well, I'd rule out the ghosts were I you. This just goes to show that
even if you move out to the boonies you are still maybe going to have
noise issues. I'd swap you mine, though. My real estate's expensive, but
my house run down. My brother lives where the land isn't as valuable,
but his house is pristine. I tell him he should be grateful it's so
quiet (I've never noticed noise issues when staying with him). I don't
know if he appreciates that.