Everytime I step into the secret garden,
An ominous sound greats me;
And upon hearing that shrill,
shriek or strangled-inspired sound yet to be determined —
My skin protrudes six-feet,
My heart skips a beat,
And my survival-system* screams keep
Still. What is the origin of that god-awful sound?
Is it a snake?
Is it a bat or a gnat?
A brushtail possum or cute koala with a sneaky sqwak,
Or is it a relative of the lizard from my garden playing skat?!
In this "secret" garden
good and evil battle,
In sounds,
Relying on our vivid,
Hyper-sensitive,
And highly traumatised imaginations
making us livid enough to stay away!
Feb 2
Feb 2, 2026 at 3:17 PM UTC
Everytime I step into the secret garden,
An ominous sound greats me;
And upon hearing that shrill,
shriek or strangled-inspired sound yet to be determined —
My skin protrudes six-feet,
My heart skips a beat,
And my survival-system* screams keep
Still. What is the origin of that god-awful sound?
Is it a snake?
Is it a bat or a gnat?
A brushtail possum or cute koala with a sneaky sqwak,
Or is it a relative of the lizard from my garden playing skat?!
In this "secret" garden
good and evil battle,
In sounds,
Relying on our vivid,
Hyper-sensitive,
And highly traumatised imaginations
making us livid enough to stay away!
*Fight, flight and freeze - there are others too, but they are the most well known survival responses.
Wish I could add sound recordings so that someone could solve the mystery!
Apparently, the Bush Stone-curlew is most famous for its piercing, nocturnal "screaming woman" call, could it be them haunting my morning walks?!
Funnily, I didn't hear the sound this morning maybe it went on vacation?!
