Maybe this is more GQ, but it seemed borderline, so here it is. I heard a very loud strange animal noise outside my house last night. I’m trying to imagine what it might have been.
The Relevant Facts
Where I Live: I live on a horse farm in rural Central Virginia, more than 40 miles from the nearest thing that can be called a city, and about 5-10 miles outside my town. The farm is mostly pasture, with small sections of woods. All neighbors in all directions have similar set ups (except the farmthat’s being developed into a subdivision ) So there is very low density of people in my area.
The Noise I Heard: Kind of a “Boooow!” or “Yooow!” with a breathy, screamy edge to it. I heard it 7-10 times in a few minutes right outside my house, then it wandered away (I heard the noise a few more times in the distance). Not a dog (I know what a dog sounds like: there’s a hunting dog kennel behind me and the dogs go barkbarkbarkbarkbark all night.)
What My Cats Thought of It: They didn’t seem concerned.
What the Horses Thought of It: I didn’t hear them running. It other words, they weren’t being chased.
I don’t know what a single coyote sounds like, but a pack of them sounds like a group of humans throwing a raucous party. Think, for example, of a New Year’s party at midnight, and the general indistinct roar that rises up. This does not sound like what you described, so a pack of coyotes would be out. And I don’t think that they tend to say much unless there’s some other coyote to talk to, so unless you heard replies from some other direction, it probably wasn’t a single one, either.
My first thought was coyote but as Chronos said you usually hear several at a time. Of course, that coyote could have been responding to a coyote call in the distance you didn’t hear. They do kind of sound like you described.
Raccoons and opossums can make some godawful noises when they feel like it. That would be my guess, given the time of night and proximity to the house. The “screamy edge” part fits, too.
cher3 I thought about it being a 'possum too except for the breathy sounding part. Possum barks and growls sound more like a really grouchy chihuahua to me.
Ooh, I like the racoon theory – frankly, bobcat/puma theory seemed a little farfetched to me. I think the horses would be scared by the smell of a large predator cat. I feed an outdoor cat on my porch and while there is not normally any food there overnight, a racoon might have been attracted by the smell.
The only reason I don’t think it was a coyote, is that I think I heard a coyote a few nights ago, and it was different. What I heard that I thought was a coyote:
Dogs next door: barkbarkbarkbarkbark
Animal noise: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (went on a long time without seemingly taking a breath)
Dogs next door: silence
Dogs next door: BARKBARKBARKbarkbarkbark
About six weeks ago I heard a noise on the deck that scared the hell out of me. No yowling but I thought someone was ripping the screen off a window. Then came a thump. I turned the light on just in time to see the rear end of a huge raccoon disappear into the night.
If the window behind the screen had been open and the raccoon had fallen through, would it have attacked, assuming it was not rabid? Or would it more likely have tried to escape?
Here in central Denver we get raccoons as well as foxes, and even the occasional coyote… My dog and I meet up with a rather unconcerned fox every morning.
She often follows us, but if somebody else comes along, she’ll bark and then run off. My dog seems to know that she is not a dog, and is very interested but not particularly worried (he is much larger.)
Raccoon noises that I have heard can sometimes sound screamish, sometimes almost hiss-like, but usually more chittery.
The fox barks I hear are sort of a funny mix between a meow and a bark, sort of like “mock” or maybe “mark.”
All of the coyote noises I’ve ever heard were more in the yip-yip vein.
Well, I heard it again last night. 10 or 15 Bow! noises around the house around 11pm.
Last night the noises were a bit more barky to start with (more clipped, less screamy) and now I’m leaning towards a fox. This is a big foxhunting* area and I know the property across the street (in the country sense, more than 3/4 mile away) is hunted and has at least 3 red fox in the vicinity.
My speakers are broken so I haven’t been able to listen to the sound files. grrr! However, in a couple more nights the moon will be full and I might get a look. I’m also thinking of keeping a flashlight by my bed.
*“hunting” may be a misnomer. I don’t believe any local hunt has “accounted for quarry” (aka killed one) in over 20 years. Some prefer the term foxchasing as it more accurately describes the activity.
) So there is very low density of people in my area.