# Mystery Animal Noises from my OS X? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298 "2006-08-04T07:16:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/1 "2006-08-04T07:16:56Z")
Unless anyone happens to know offhand whats causing a catlike ‘meow’ every couple hours in my OS X, perhaps there is an app I can keep running to catch whatever is causing this bizarre quirk. For the record, here are the apps I’m regularly running are: - firefox - adium - gmail - vlc - msn Why is my computer meowing?!? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/2 "2006-08-04T07:59:26Z")
Have you been stroking it? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/3 "2006-08-04T08:03:03Z")
Seriously, one of the alert sounds is a purr. Is that what you’re hearing? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/4 "2006-08-04T08:05:32Z")
True story: A couple of years ago my pet hamster got free from his cage while I was away, and I had my computer still running. When I got home I couldn’t find him except for a little bit of fur and blood just below the floppy disk port. And ever after my computer would squeek every once in a while. Are you sure your computer didn’t eat your cat? :dubious: [sub]Not actually a true story[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/5 "2006-08-04T11:12:21Z")
Have you checked your clock settings, maybe you have it set to chime with purr alert sound. Do you have your mail set to alert on delivery? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/6 "2006-08-04T11:22:52Z")
On some versions of Windows, or possibly manufacturer-added “enhancements,” there are alternative sets of sound effects that you can attach to things like closing a file or application, clicking a mouse, having an action result in an error, etc. Among them are Robots and Jungle Sounds. This may be what you’re getting. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/7 "2006-08-04T13:35:23Z")
It’s likely an application using the sound as a alert. do a search for all sound files on your hard drives. Look for a meow sound and note the folder. It may be in the ofending application folder It could also be something like this that happened years ago. A motherboard was manufactured using a chip made for something else originaly. Under certain conditions it would play a song, that left a few owners wondering what was going on. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/8 "2006-08-04T14:42:56Z")
I’ve heard that the MacBooks “moo” sometimes, but I’ve never heard of Macs that purr. (Umm, audibly, that is). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/9 "2006-08-04T14:50:01Z")
Adium quacks if you let it, which has alarmed guests on occaision. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/10 "2006-08-04T14:55:28Z")
I know it’s not a MAC, but my new, one month old, HP Multimedia Edition PC has started playing a bird call chirping sound every once in a while. I can’t connect it to any action on my part, and a search of the Microsoft support site is no help. Any ideas on this one? ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/11 "2006-08-04T17:22:02Z")
For the record, I have a 1st generation iMac G5, so that atleast rules out the macbook moo. I’m familiar with the noises Adium makes and this isn’t one of them, also theres never anything happening in adium or any other program that I can see (i.e. no new mail, errors etc). I’ve been unable to locate a clock-preferences pane that gives the option to chime on the hour with sounds? I’ve listened to all the sounds in the ‘sound’ preference pane, including the ‘purr’ which is different to my meow. So far the most likely theory is Sage Rat’s, but I the only pet in my posession is a very large yellow lab, and she’s been accounted for as of lunchtime, so the mystery continues… ---
**Author:** ![Dracona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea5d25/32.png) [@Dracona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dracona)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/12 "2006-08-04T17:34:54Z")
A few months ago, while working as a bank teller, one of my coworkers had a computer that would occasionally meow. After spending a few days becoming increasingly convinced of an imminent diagnosis of schizophrenia, I finally blurted out, “Am I going crazy, or is your computer mewing?” Turns out it was the little assistant on Microsoft Outlook (I think.) Usually it looks like an animated paperclip, but the character can be changed in one of the preferences menus. Someone had changed hers into a cat. It mewed every once in a while, but I never really knew why. ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/13 "2006-08-04T17:42:57Z")
I caught the following oddity in the console.app log: 2006-08-04 03:58:30.754 SyndicationAgent[2370] WARNING: BestCalendarDateFromString - can’t interpret: ‘Fri 04 Aug 2006 00:12:01 -800’ that messages is repeated many many times. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/14 "2006-08-04T18:06:04Z")
I just looked up the Adium site, and on the screenshots page, there’s an link labeled [Integrated Growl notification support](http://www.adiumx.com/screenshots.php?show=growl.jpg). Is “Growl” in this case a sound or an application? ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/15 "2006-08-04T18:27:14Z")
Growl in this case is not a sound, its some complicated interface for adium… ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/16 "2006-08-04T18:42:41Z")
[QUOTE=xiix] Growl in this case is not a sound, its some complicated interface for adium… [/QUOTE] Well, I got nuthin’, then. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/17 "2006-08-04T19:00:24Z")
[QUOTE=xiix] I caught the following oddity in the console.app log: 2006-08-04 03:58:30.754 SyndicationAgent[2370] WARNING: BestCalendarDateFromString - can’t interpret: ‘Fri 04 Aug 2006 00:12:01 -800’ that messages is repeated many many times. [/QUOTE] Have you checked your dashboard for apps having alerts? To access the clock preferences click on the time (top right corner) select Open Date and Time, go to clock. but now, I doubt that’s it though, since it uses voices instead of alert sounds. On OS-9 it used alerts sounds. I’m still leaning toward mail or calendar alerts. There’s a calendar in Dashboard as well as the regular calendar. ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/18 "2006-08-04T19:10:04Z")
re: dashboard apps This is what I’ve got running… - word of the day - dictionary - calculator - weather - post-it notes ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-animal-noises-from-my-os-x/367298/19 "2006-08-05T06:00:37Z")
meow.