Have you ever wondered what a spider love song sounds like? Me neither—but only because it never occurred to me. Nevertheless, the matingcall melody a spider taps out on its web might well be titillating.

Nature sound recordist Jeff Rice has a passion for capturing insect, animal and environmental sounds that might escape the casual outdoor enthusiast. Rice is also one of the founders of the Western Soundscape Archive, a searchable online library housed at the University of Utah’s Marriott Library that catalogs nature sounds including utterances of mammals, insects, spiders, amphibians, birds and reptiles.

Come hear for yourself the elusive calls of the endangered Wyoming toad, the song of the sage thrasher and whispers of other intriguing critters at Rice’s presentation Sounds of the West.

Perhaps you’ll even learn a few charismatic-yetsubtle wooing techniques from our eight-legged arachnid friends.

Sounds of the West @ Utah Museum of Natural History, 1390 E. Presidents Circle, 801-581-6927, Friday, Dec. 18, 2-4 p.m., Umnh.Utah.edu