I’d guess fox or other small wildlife, too.
Definitely not a peacock. Our neighbors had them when I was growing up, and they screeched at dawn. Sounded like humans screaming for help. Very alarming to overnight guests, but we were used to it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philster
Owl?
Ah, the dreaded Flightless Horse Pasture Owl. 
Rio by Duran Duran?
I suggest you go and look at the thing, whatever it is, if you really want to know. It seems to be pretty close by, and apparently comes around regularly. The description “boooow” is hard to interpret. Or fix your speakers and listen to the sound clips that romansperson linked to. Peacocks are pretty distinct, if you’ve ever heard them before, so you should be able to rule that out. If there’s a cougar/mountain lion/catamount in your area, that would be a little unusual. BTW, I read somewhere that mountain lions are the only big cats that purr like house cats.
From the description you gave, the second sound file for the lynx from romansperson’s links sounds close to what you said you heard.
Yes, that sound could fit the (very vague) description, but does the lynx live in Virginia? I thought they had a more northern habitat.
I still say Hello Again should go out and try to see what this animal is.
Upon listening to some of those sounds that romansperson posted, it seems like the cheetah makes sounds that are very close to purring–though it’s very loud purring. Maybe it’s just a form of growling.
I forgot to add, I am certain it is not a peacock. We haven’t got any on the farm (I’m sure I’d have noticed by now if we had one!), and I’m not aware of anyone that has one and lets it wander in the 60-acre radius of other farms that surround us.
I’m still thinking my top contenders are: fox - racoon - bobcat (in that order). I don’t know about Lynx but bobcat have been seen in this general area. Fox and racoon seem a lot more likely since they are known to frequent this stretch of land.
I really want to get a look at it now. If I see it I will certainly post an update!
Goddamnit i’m hearing squelchy distorted noise from the roof. About week ago there was a Green Iguana just behind my bedroom window, but this must be something else. Open a raw data on sound editor and that’s the sound.
I guess it’s a raccoon colony 
Nope, it’s purring alright - a happy cheetah is like a two-stroke scooter, it’s that loud.
Lucky bastards ! All that wildlife to choose from!
As I’ve said before in a thread where somebody noticed his bird-feeder beeing torn off a tree, and suspected a bear was the guilty party…just wow. No wait, lemme rephrase that: WOW ! :eek: 
Signed Maastricht, living in the Netherlands. Over here, the only wildlife is seen in zoos. The few times anyting bigger then a cat or dog is sighted, it’s all over the papers. And al lcases of such wildlife so far have turned out to be either mistakes (large domestic cats) or they turn out to be escaped pets or escaped farmanimals.
Here are some fox sounds. They have a wide array of cries, including some scary screaming ones.
The coyotes in the canyon out back behind my house sound to me exactly like what a pack of dogs having a kegger would sound like.
Never, ever, discount the horrible screaming noise that squirrels make. Kind of a barking-screaming-dog-having-it’s-prostate-examined-by-Freddy-Krueger kind of a noise. Horrible.
Fisher cat?
Deer in back yard last summer. Five feet away from where I was sitting.
Last summer’s visiting peahen.
Not available at this moment: squirrels, assorted birds, and mice.
Most foxes say “mark” but in the Boston area, they say “mock.”
Deermake some really freaky sounds. Take a listen, the breathy scream could really be it, and they do kind of a bark as well.
Yeesh, what kind of noise do zombie threads make. 
I haven’t heard the sound in ages. I still think it was probbaly a fox. While there are plenty of deer nearby, they don’t come near the house. BTW, Maastrict foxes, bobcats, racoons and coyotes are not any bigger than domestic dogs.
However to add something to the tale the other night there was a jumbo-sized racoon on my porch – he had gotten his head instead an empty bin of cat food and was seemingly stuck. Me and the cat watched him with interest for 10 minutes or so by the light of the full moon until he freed himself. It was pretty funny.