What kind of thing SCREAMS at night?

[kableguy118]

When I was doing some section hikes on the A.T. I heard the same thing one right and I asked a local naturallist and he said it is bobcats. I've heard it since then and always assumed it to be a bobcat.

 

[turtlebird]

I don't know if you have ever heard it, but a rabbit makes a hideous noise when fighting for it's life.

 

[rooster brandon.]

All my golly the same thing happened to me it was a terriable almost like nails on chalkboard mixed in with cats fighting!My guess is chupacabra lol but no i have no idea what it is it sure does creep me out though enough to lock the doors!

 

[gmendoza]

rooster brandon. :

All my golly the same thing happened to me it was a terriable almost like nails on chalkboard mixed in with cats fighting!My guess is chupacabra lol but no i have no idea what it is it sure does creep me out though enough to lock the doors!

Ok so far the tally goes as such:

A demon
Yeti
La Llorona
banshee
Jersey devil

and now Chupacabra

any more???​

 

[ailurophile23]

Having lived in an area that has foxes, deer, coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, rabbits, a variety of owls, numerous other forms of wildlife, and cows and other livestock, I'd have to vote with the screech owl. Those tiny little guys make a horrifying and haunting noise that is most consistently like a woman screaming. I often go out in the evenings just to listen to them and see if I can figure out where they are on the ridge. They will sometimes sit in one place while calling/screaming. If you hear the noise again and can pinpoint it to a tree, that may rule out some of the numerous options provided here. And while a screech owl might put your chickens (and you) on alert, I sincerely doubt the small owl would ever go after a grown chicken.

 

[ChooksChick]

I know you said you knew the fox cry, but there are different cries they make- listen to this. I had one of these in my neighborhood for awhile. I almost called the cops the first time I heard it, because it sounded like a woman fighting for her life!

 

[foxinachickenhouse]

I have read the posts and so far no one has mentioned porcupines. Since you describe the sound as fluctuating and since you heard something rustling near the house, I would put my .02 in at porcupines mating. I have never heard anything else like it. I thought it was a wild cat for years and then they were on my porch one night and I realized what it was. Sound is just like a human wailing, starting low and then going high pitched. They also move around a lot and would make rustling noises.

 

[dewey]

Quote:
I don't know if that's what she heard but it sure freaked my indoor cat out when I played it.

He instantly started doing the low run, heading for a hiding place. Had to turn it off quick, lol.

Cats mating make a very wide range of terribly scary sounds. Rabbits screaming are one of the worst sounds in nature if you ask me, but I've never thought of them as sounding like a woman screaming.

 

[lukus]

La llarona, good grief! That's a Texas/Mexico border tall tale that goes back to (at least) the 1800's. Now she's followed you to SC?

I've heard cougars scream and they do sound like women screaming. I don't think that's what you heard. They are SO loud that if it was in your neighborhood, your "fight or flight" would have taken over and you would be long gone. A mile away and they sound like your ordinary woman screaming for her life; but then, you can tell it's a long way off. I've also heard plenty of rabbit distress noises, but they sound (to me, anyway) more like small kid screams or babies crying.

I'm going with an owl. Like others have suggested, probably Barred or Screech. An amazing variety of vocalizations from owl. So the owl screeches and the noise in the bush is a rabbit or neighborhood cat jumping into the bush for cover.

Quick story: My friends and I used to go camping all the time when I was in high school. A favorite area was Colorado river bottom. One time a nearby woods was filled with maniacal laughter. And by that, I mean a bunch of off-the-charts crazy, nut house escapees, laughing up their freedom and future evil plans (or maybe escaped monkey radiation experiments). We were always well armed and we could tell it was animal, so we were only creeped out and not scared. The next day a neighbor farmer told us "them are rain crows makin that noise". We never heard of rain crows, so a little investigation found that was another name for Barred Owls.

lukus

*edit* Now I've googled "rain crow" because I was thinking about that time. Turns out rain crows are another name for cuckoos. These weren't yellow-billed cuckoos, I'm familiar with them too. Our investigation at the time was talking to the neighbors and granddads. I'm sure we got a "pfft, he means barred owls, not rain crows" answer. I've heard them make this same noise since, just one or two though, not a whole woods full of them like the first time.

 

[Lunachick]

When we first moved here about 18 years ago, we heard screeching during the night and early morning. We thought it was a cool wild animal sound Oh Boy!! We also assumed it was a screech owl. Later on we found out it was a fox. It would come over to our back yard and stare at our house and yowl and screech. It was fascinating to watch. I enjoyed his company until he just didn't show up anymore. Probably due to houses being built in the area, even though we still have a good sized chunk of woods behind us. I'll never forget that sound, and look forward to hearing it again one day.

What I heard the other night did not sound like a fox to me. The ground was frozen, so I couldn't see any tracks. We had a light dusting of snow yesterday morning and I went out looking around just in case, just little birdy feet prints and squirrel prints.

Here's another fox sound:

LOL!!