A scream in the night

[Cabin Fever]

I know others have posted in the past about hearing screams at night and wondered what the sounds were.

Last night we had the window cracked open above our heads as we slept. (yes, I know the temps were in the teens) About 3:30AM, I heard a scream/screech that lasted for a second or two. The sound was immediately followed by the familiar "who cooks for yooooooou" call of a barred owl.

This got me wondering if the barred owl also had a scream/screech call. I did a little research and indeed they do!

So, if you hear a scream/screech in the middle of the night, it may be a barred owl.

YouTube

[tallpines]

I've heard that.
I always assumed the sound was coming from the rabbit the owl had just snagged.

[Ross]

You sure it wasn't the 4 people it took to replace you here?

[meanwhile]

When we first moved to our property, one night we heard such screaming we thought someone was getting murdered in the back yard. Indeed it was an owl! Once we figured out what it was, it was most fascinating. We heard it two nights in a row and then, have only heard it about once a year since.

Local people (long timers) around here also claim there are still "wild cats" or "Panthers" in the woods and especially in the Greenville Water Shed lands. They say the sounds are like a scream. We have found large cat tracks but are not sure if it is a large Bob Cat or truly a "panther." Locals say the scream is like a woman screaming in fear. We have heard it twice but are not sure what type cat it is.

[chickenista]

Last year I heard screaming from the ridge across the way.
There is a house up there and the folks that live there.. well.. it didn't seem out of the realm of possibility that they were torturing a woman up there, you know?
It was a multi-toned and horrific scream.
I almost called 911.
But I decided to come online and check for animal screams on youtube.
Good thing too..
It was a fox.
Whew.
I would have looked like an idiot.
But that scream was so human-like and awful...

[meanwhile]

A fox? I wish we would see foxes up here again. I guess our dogs run them off. We do see them on the neighbor's trail cam at times. Foxes are beautiful animals.

Wonder if the fox was hurt or just bragging it caught something?

Animal noises are interesting. I love living out here.

[Nimrod]

I had a fox out behind the chicken coop one night at 3 am. The fox calling out is the closest to the call it was making but it was louder and more ringing. You can hear very interesting sounds when you don't have sirens and traffic noise and rap music to deal with.

http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/thefoxden/sounds.html

[badlander]

A female fox in heat makes a very unique scream. Once you hear it you never fail to recognize the origins.

Thanks for the recording CF. We hear Great Horned Owls regularly around our house and actually caught a barn owl swooping down on a squirrel last fall on our game camera. The camera did a two frame shot. One frame you could see the owl in flight and the squirrel busily gathering acorns and in the next shot the owl and squirrel were both gone. Amazing hunters.

Also the main reason we don't let our cats outside and own BIG strong dogs.

[littlequail]

i clicked on this because last night i woke to a scream it only lasted maybe a sec or 2 but i KNOW i heard it....it woke me up..and kinda scared me since i had no idea what it was...I Even said this morning to my other half "maybe it was a pig?" it kinda sounded like a tape record being rewind.... you know how it makes that very fast high pitch sound? This was it! it was a owl? could it have been trying to get at my geese?

[mnn2501]

Originally Posted by Wind in Her Hair

I just checked the weather station log and it was about 7ºF at 0330am.

Yes, this Texan sleeps with the window cracked open right above her head even when temps are in the single digits. How I survived in Texas is beyond my comprehension.

How you survive in MN with the windows open in January is beyond me. I don't even have my Texas windows open.

If the heat or the air is on, the windows are closed - I'm not paying to heat or cool the outside - whether its to the gas company to in wood I chopped.

[Hollowdweller]

I remember one time I was going to meet my wife and friend the next day to go to a festival. They had both been at this meeting at a ski resort.

I drove most of the way up the night before but being such a luddite I opted to stop and set up camp on the edge of this wilderness area the night before. I could camp by my car there and set up a little pup tent I had.

Built a nice little fire and made some dinner and drank a big Fosters and looked up at the stars. Anyway finally time to go to bed and laid down there in the total darkness and quiet and in about 2 minutes 2 owls behind the tent spent about 10 minutes screeching at each other. I knew what it was of course but gave me quite a start.

[poppy]

Originally Posted by Hollowdweller

I remember one time I was going to meet my wife and friend the next day to go to a festival. They had both been at this meeting at a ski resort.

I drove most of the way up the night before but being such a luddite I opted to stop and set up camp on the edge of this wilderness area the night before. I could camp by my car there and set up a little pup tent I had.

Built a nice little fire and made some dinner and drank a big Fosters and looked up at the stars. Anyway finally time to go to bed and laid down there in the total darkness and quiet and in about 2 minutes 2 owls behind the tent spent about 10 minutes screeching at each other. I knew what it was of course but gave me quite a start.

Try climbing in a tree stand in the dark and sitting back half asleep waiting for dawn when a big owl screeches in the tree right about your head and takes off flying. You'll be glad you are tied in.

[tallpines]

Originally Posted by mnn2501

How you survive in MN with the windows open in January is beyond me. I don't even have my Texas windows open.

If the heat or the air is on, the windows are closed - I'm not paying to heat or cool the outside - whether its to the gas company to in wood I chopped.

But ........ It's so nice to breathe in that cold crisp air while snuggled down in a quilt!

Makes for the BEST kind of sleeping!

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by Hollowdweller

I remember one time I was going to meet my wife and friend the next day to go to a festival. They had both been at this meeting at a ski resort.

I drove most of the way up the night before but being such a luddite I opted to stop and set up camp on the edge of this wilderness area the night before. I could camp by my car there and set up a little pup tent I had.

Built a nice little fire and made some dinner and drank a big Fosters and looked up at the stars. Anyway finally time to go to bed and laid down there in the total darkness and quiet and in about 2 minutes 2 owls behind the tent spent about 10 minutes screeching at each other. I knew what it was of course but gave me quite a start.

Was it kinda like this.....

YouTube

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by mnn2501

How you survive in MN with the windows open in January is beyond me. I don't even have my Texas windows open.

If the heat or the air is on, the windows are closed - I'm not paying to heat or cool the outside - whether its to the gas company to in wood I chopped.

There's nothing so refreshing as enjoying that cold, crisp air coming thru that 1/2" crack in the window at night. Our house is so airtight that I'm sure other homes that have all the windows closed are infiltrating more outdoor air that ours is with the window slightly cracked open.

BTW, did you see how those Texans who were tailgating outside of Reliant Stadium were dressed on Saturday? Mittens, parkas and stocking caps....it was 46ºF degrees outside in Houston!!!!

[Tad]

That reminds me of the time my uncle went to the Alamo. He was on leave from Minot AFB and was doing some sightseeing. It was 38 degrees out and he was walking down the street in a hooded sweatshirt and shorts and he walked passed a guy in a down parka, hat, gloves and scarf. They both looked at each other like they were nuts!

[woodsy]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

There's nothing so refreshing as enjoying that cold, crisp air coming thru that 1/2" crack in the window at night.

Agree, year round fresh air plus the call of the wild amplified slightly.
Along with Barred owls, we get coyotes yipping many nights.

speaking of owls, took this pic recently , probably a barred owl print on fresh snow coming in for a rodent:

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by woodsy

Agree, year round fresh air plus the call of the wild amplified slightly.
Along with Barred owls, we get coyotes yipping many nights.

speaking of owls, took this pic recently , probably a barred owl print on fresh snow coming in for a rodent:

That is a very cool photo!

We've seen similar patterns in the snow where we've flushed ruffed grouse.

[woodsy]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

That is a very cool photo!

We've seen similar patterns in the snow where we've flushed ruffed grouse.

Lucky find, was investigating some holes dug in the snow by a fox and that print was about 6' away.

[haley1]

Bigfoot?