Getting used to Coquis

[kimo wires]

Article in The Tribune Herald today.
I'm used to the Frogs to an extent. They don't bother me if they're at a distance. I noticed when I was at a friend's house who has lots of plants close to the house there were a lot more frogs. LOUD frogs. He seemed oblivious to it
.http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/local-news/study-people-growing-tolerant-coqui-frogs

One Thing I can always be sure of is that things will never go as expected.

[VancouverIslander]

It took me about 2 days to adapt to the cocquis. They seemed to be a nice carpet of noise that drowned out barking dogs off in the distance or the occasional person taking a pot shot at a pig in the night. In the mornings when the coquis tend to fade out and the birds start to fade in, that's my cue to wake up and get on with the day. I really enjoy the routine of early to bed and early to rise when at our place in Eden Roc. It's so hard to do that when back on the mainland for some reason.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Permissible OSHA noise level allowed on a eight hour work shift, 90 db. Coquis have been measured up to 120 db.

What? Did you say something? 'Cause I sure didn't hear anything.

[MattKarma]

Anything that eats BUGS is ****Goood****. Creatures that produce them not so good.

[MattKarma]

... want REAL IRRITATION? The Myna birds in Thailand have learned a few words. They will perch right next to your bungalow window at night and screeetch LOUDLY "Ohhhhhhhhhh.... OhhhhhhhHHHH.....PHuuuuuKKKKHHEEER" or "Ohhhhhhhhh...OOOOOOHHHHHH... KuuuuuuuKUUUUUU!"

[Punatic007]

Nope, not a healthy idea or goal to "get used to the coquis" with their damaging decibel level. Better to focus on creating a DMZ around the house. The latest is peppermint, grow it as a ground cover and no need for poison. I've been spraying diluted peppermint oil in and around the house and on the porch....so far very good results. Pahoa Natural Healthy food store has a potent 4 oz. bottle for around $20, that will last a long time.

[Punaperson]

The several recent chilly nights we’ve had that have quieted the little invaders remind me of the peaceful nights we used to enjoy here in Puna.

I miss the quiet.

[pbmaise]

I moved from Chicago and my condo. Immediately to the East was the fire department that roared out with horns and sirens after any fender bender. Immediately beyond that a major commuter railroad into Chicago and out to Naperville.

Immediately to the West was Lake Street. Busy all night with a manhole cover that went generated a ka ching then a rapid following ka chunk.

Immediately behind a second railway served coal trains and these were within 100 yards of my bedroom window. Some nights the locomotives would idle and wait hours and my windows would rattle.

Above the flight path to O'hare airport.

Missing from above were stars.

Inside my condo there was one very expensive brand new Steinway that was best kept at constant humidity and a narrow temperature range.

That piano prevented me from opening my big panoramic views of railways on all but a few days a year. So Winter heating and Summer air conditioning regulated those.

Now that life, that life, was actually on the top floor of a condominium with views in three directions in River Forest. A high-end neighborhood with Frank Lloyd Wright homes and tree lined streets. A life with access to theater, concerts, clubs, and luxury gyms.

Moving to Kalapana represented an incredible change. A piano sold, and an even temperature meant I could have windows wide open on all but a few Kona wind days. Nights were black as ink and more quiet than an orchestra hall.

I learned the ultimate luxury in life is not a 5 star hotel, New York, or Paris.

Ultimate luxury is the absence of light, air, and noise pollution, especially coupled with quite sounds of the breeze and distant surf.

Luxury is not being able to afford a piano costing more than most houses, Brazilian flooring, and granite countertops with under-mounted sinks.

Instead it is the quiet night, the sound of my distant Hawaiian neighbor greeting the day with chanting, a slatted bamboo floor, and a well shared with a cow.


It was incredulous to me that I heard soon after arriving in Puna some were headed out because lower Puna had already become too polluted by man.

When I walked the streets of Royal Gardens for the last time, I more fully realized how much of the original atmosphere of lower Puna was lost. I couldn't hear hardly anything. There wasn't any light pollution. There were no street signs every 20 yards.

These people left BEFORE the cocqui invasion.

Well, I have been now to places like what lower Puna used to be like 25 years ago.

Last night the distant sound was of someone playing a guitar and singing. The people here consider themselves poor. To me, they are the few last truly rich left.

[terracore]

So people in Hawaii afflicted by the frogs have gone from hating them to toleration? What's next, celebrating the frogs like people do in Puerto Rico?

I'm no frog supporter, but they are more soothing than cicadas, some crickets, freight trains, barking dogs, roosters, and screaming meth head neighbors. If I were to cast a vote for one obnoxious noise to remove from Puna, it would be those sounds created by humans, followed by roosters, then dogs, and then if all of those things are silenced I'd have to make the decision between crickets and coqui frogs. At this point, I'm thankful for the frogs drowning out the more irritating sounds, however I do take measures around the home to keep the coquis off in the distance. I have been unable to do that with the sounds coming from people and their dogs.

[snorkle]

The human brain possesses a sort of "Noise Cancellation technology" of it's own. Repetitive sounds (like a faucet dripping) are pushed to the background and pretty much go unnoticed after awhile. The dripping faucet is brought back to consciousness when it stops.

I think the same holds true with the Coqui. I often don't notice them until a cold night brings silence. That's when I reminisce about the Owls screeching and the distant boom of the surf miles away.

So we've adjusted to them; But that's not necessarily a good thing. It just is....