I Heard The Most Horrendous Animal Noises Last Night. archived

2:30AM. Windows closed. Wake to what sounds like a baby, a strange animal baby wailing, clearly distressed with another sound, from a different animal, that sounds like low grumbling, like it's mouth was full of animal neck. It was awful and went on for about 10 minutes. It sounded very close by, like feet from my bedroom window. Anyone know what it could have been? It was disturbing. I've heard other things at night like this but last night was terrible because it sounded like a baby.

Oh, and then all of a sudden there was what sounded like a second or two of a loud scuffle, the baby animal or whatever it was tried to cry out but was squelched and then silence. I took this to mean it was dead.

Who knows anything?

Raccoon vs raccoon? Raccoon vs cat? I could go on...

Sounds like Coyotes. We live in CO and get to hear this every night, at first we jumped out of bed in the middle of the night, thinking the kids were in distress. Now, we don't even hear it anymore.

I once heard what you describe and the next day found a dismembered raccoon paw on my deck :-(

Oh dear, what would do that to a raccoon? I don't think there are coyotes over here by the golf course though I have seen red foxes. Could a fox do that to a raccoon?

Me too... Neighbors.

-s.

raccoons. they're sometimes in our trees. i don't know if they're fighting or mating (or both) but it's terrifying!!!

how did your dogs react? ours freak out.

Cats mating also make some unique sounds..

I assumed it was a cat and a small raccoon but whatever it was, it was completely creepy

seaweed said:

Cats mating also make some unique sounds..

Yeah, I've thought that mating cats often sound like someone is killing a screaming baby. It's pretty horrible. (Although Lord knows what cats think about mating humans.)

foxes -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6NuhlibHsM (fox noises)

mbmom said:

foxes -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6NuhlibHsM (fox noises)

Yeah, but what does it say?

Fox and rabbit is my guess.

I agree with @hauscat. Rabbits have a scream, that once you've heard it, you will never wonder what it is again.

And coyotes are all over our area---they are very stealthy and usually stay out of sight, but they are here.

Obviously the Jersey Devil. I guess he has moved north because of the wildfire in Burlington County.

I once heard a very high pitched horrible terrified screaming, but it also sounded like it came from something tiny. Like an elf or a brownie was being murdered. I went outside and saw a bloodied squirrel clinging to the neighbor's chimney while the cat sat below with his tail swishing back and forth. Before then I never knew that squirrels could scream like that.

Coyotes in distress or in a fight sound like a woman screaming. Raccoons can make many noises including screaming, screeching, grumbling, growling and an almost barking like sound. A cat in an all out fight is something else but if a raccoon lost a paw I would say it was two raccoons going at each other. A fox would very unlikely mess with a raccoon, a cat would not get as far as taking a paw off and a coyote would have had you upright in your bed if it was in a fight in your yard.

I have them in my yard fairly regularly now where I live and you won't be wondering what it is ...they are that loud when they get into a tiff.

bobk said:

Obviously the Jersey Devil. I guess he has moved north because of the wildfire in Burlington County.

Deer mating can sound like a violent crime in progress. People have been known to call the police, believing someone is being murdered down in the woods.

well, rutting season is in the Fall.

Racoons fighting...

http://youtu.be/hKMAOJpiDj4

I live next to creek and spring has ALWAYS been a season of all sorts of "activity" between the critters.

We have always been told that the blood-curdling cries and rustling of the bushes are raccoons mating/fighting etc.

This may or may not be true but it is what I "go with" when terrified!

Funny you would think I would be inundated with raccoons down here but so far I have only seen one on the year and a half I have lived here. I guess the coyotes take care of them.

Could be raccoons mating or fighting over a mate. Pixi, I heard that rabies pretty much wiped out the raccoon pop down south.

We have had no rabies cases down here in the Smoky Mountains (Macon County) in several years which is very likely due to very strict vaccination policies for pets and the fact that wild life has so much space to roam ... they don't really need to be around humans. This winter was harsh down here and it brought the deer and coyotes down from the mountains...I am wondering what that will do for parvo and such.

Plus they are great at making vaccinations very affordable. The 3 year rabies vaccine goes for $5.00 at the low cost clinic.

calliope said:

I agree with @hauscat. Rabbits have a scream, that once you've heard it, you will never wonder what it is again.

And coyotes are all over our area---they are very stealthy and usually stay out of sight, but they are here.

Ditto! I've heard the brown rabbits being attacked sound some years ago. Horrid. I felt so sorry for the rabbits; haven't seen any since. :-(

Eek!
Sorry, I think it was me.
Nickel shot night always seems like a good idea until closing time.
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LOL

I heard a very loud animal scream late one afternoon, rushed outside and found one of the wandering neighborhood cats skulking away with a very large rat twitching in his jaws -- hideous! I never knew a rodent could make such a scream.

Yeah, I'm going with cats. That's exactly what I hear coming from my neighbor's driveway far too often. As I've said on another thread, there are packs of them together and there's also a lot of scuffling (I guess the female is not in the mood), which is probably what you heard. It's not at all pleasant and very upsetting -- especially at 2am!