Whistle Using Grass
Blowing over a blade of grass stretched between your thumbs makes a high-pitched squealing noise that often attracts predators. Done long enough, it can lure animals such as mountain lions, coyotes and lynx close. It can also keep bored kids busy in the back yard for quite a while.
Steps
- Select a blade of grass. Thin blades of grass work best, but they need to be flat, not round. Very wide blades of grass that have a crease don't work as well either. In other words, Bermuda grass works great, but be sure to use the blades, not the stems.
- Hold one end of the blade of grass between the tips of your thumbs. With your thumbs slightly bent, press the bases of both thumbs together, catching the other end of the grass between them.
- Carefully straighten your thumbs out to pull the blade of grass taut. If you pull it too taut, it will snap and you'll have to start over.
- Purse your lips slightly, put them right up against your thumbs and blow so that the air goes between your thumbs and over the blade of grass. It should make a high-pitched whistle sound.
Alternate Method
- Get two pieces of grass of the same width and length, or take a thick piece of grass and fold it.
- Hold the two pieces of grass on top of each other using the thumb and forefinger of each hand.
- Stretch the blades of grass taut.
- Blow between the two pieces of grass.
- Relax or stretch the blades of grass as needed to make the best sounds.
Tips
- Make sure the grass hasn't been sprayed. This tastes horrible and is not good for your health.
- It is possible to play music on the grass by blowing steadily and changing the pitch of the sound by adjusting the tension of the grass with your thumbs. The best blades have a range of more than three octaves at their best state. However, it takes a lot of practice to master this skill, at the same time, a good performance provides you with instant attention from everybody around. Remember, practice makes perfect. Good luck!
- Some blades of grass have a thicker strip in the center or are just too thick and hard. You can make such blades better by placing it on a flat surface and rolling it over with some round object (such as a roll of adhesive tape, a can of pills etc). Drying them with a hair dryer or just picking them up and leaving to dry in open air also works.
- Practice this without others around at first, because when you're learning, you might just end up making a whole lot of spit.
- Wash the grass properly before you begin because you do not know what has been on there.
- If you don't get the right sound, try making the grass more taut or even less taut. It can take some practice.
Warnings
- This can be very irritating to some people.
- If you want to call in an animal, be aware that it can take a half hour or more of constant calling. The squealing sounds like a small animal in distress.
- If the blade of grass is sharp, it may cut your lip.
- Be sure to wash the blade of grass if you are not sure if it is clean.
