Anyone who lives a block or two from woodland park zoo (houses, living in)

[IDontKnowWhyIDidIt]

I was taking my nephew and niece to the zoo and this time I noticed the houses right opposite the zoo. I am wondering if people living in these houses can actually hear animals. That would be really cool or is it disturbing?

[Blondebaerde]

(I don't live in that area, but have a couple comments a bit tongue-in-cheek. May still be relevant to your question.)

Last time at the zoo, perhaps ten years ago, I watched a male lion standing on a prominent ridge of rock (or faux-rock) roaring to the crowd. The "crowd" being his pride, and any other creature with earshot, as far as the lion was concerned. Guessing he was 100' or more from my observation point. Couple comments somewhat in-line with your question:

- the sound really carried, in broad daylight. Dunno if lions are nocturnal.
- gave me a feeling of primal dread and awe no doubt dating from the earliest hominids (our plains apes ancestors).

The roar of great cats, current and extinct variations, must have struck a chord of terror for us, across (many) thousands of years, day or night, on the plains or in caves. If I heard that at midnight, I'd probably instinctively go for a gun (spear, sling, bow and arrow). Call me crazy.

On a related note, I spent a fair number of Friday and Saturday evenings on Grizzly Peak Blvd in the Berkeley Hills just east of Berkeley, CA. Along the ridgeline, with spectacular views of SF to the west, and various points north and south. From a particular vantage point, known as "the Wall" (overlook), one could sometimes hear gorillas calling not long after sunset. UC Berkeley had (or may still have) a primate research center not terribly far down slope, on-campus. A rather-haunting melody, that, and somehow soothing.

...going back to that monkey/primate thing, see above (grin).

[Kayela]

A good friend of mine lived 2 blocks from the zoo (across the street and east). Yes, you could hear it. However, even by the time you got to her place it wasn't obnoxious - mostly bird sounds, and fairly infrequent. I found it kinda neat. What was more obnoxious was the concerts and traffic.

[mkarch]

Yes you can definitely hear them, and on rare occasions neighbors have found rogue monkeys in their yard.