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Being inherently quite sociable and sensitive creatures, chinchillas subtly respond to the intonation and mood of the owner, and can “tell” him a whole gamut of sounds about their feelings. In a calm state, the rodent gently cooes or grins, if it is dissatisfied or frightened by something, it makes loud sounds similar to a grasshopper’s tweet or tweet. A wary animal reports an alarm with a jerky bark, a very angry one can growl. The pain experienced by the animal is signaled by a piercing squeak.