# What animal is making these horrific screams? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2010, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848 "2010-04-30T09:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/21 "2010-04-30T19:28:16Z")
Based on the description, it’s almost certainly a [fisher](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_(animal)). This animal is sometimes referred to as a “fisher cat,” but a fisher is actually a member of the [weasel family](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustelidae) and is not related to the [felines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felidae). We had one come through the woods by my house a few years ago. It screamed at dusk and in the night for a few weeks, then apparently moved on. A few of the neighbors’ cats disappeared around that time, too. I have a friend who lives a few miles away. He’s heard the screaming more recently, and lost about 10 chickens around the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/22 "2010-04-30T20:49:14Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I have a friend who lives a few miles away. He’s heard the screaming more recently, and lost about 10 chickens around the same time. A friend just shot a fisher in his chicken coop after it had killed a rooster. Nasty looking creatures, you don’t want Fifi or fluffy messing with one. ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/23 "2010-04-30T22:41:01Z")
I listened to one of the files from the original download site - I just got a stupid thing about winning some contest, but Xed out so it couldn’t really do much to me. I agree, it sounds very close to the fisher cat that was mentioned (I looked up the sound and it’s very close) That would freak me out. Coyotes are really creepy when they are together and howl and make noise when they get a kill. It chills the blood. I heard them a lot last summer and it’s very unnerving. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/24 "2010-04-30T22:47:39Z")
Fisher Cat. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/25 "2010-04-30T23:38:23Z")
Hannibal Lecter: Then something woke you, didn’t it? Was it a dream? What was it? Clarice Starling: I heard a strange noise. Hannibal Lecter: What was it? Clarice Starling: It was… screaming. Some kind of screaming, like a child’s voice. Hannibal Lecter: What did you do? Clarice Starling: I went downstairs, outside. I crept up into the barn. I was so scared to look inside, but I had to. Hannibal Lecter: And what did you see, Clarice? What did you see? Clarice Starling: Lambs. The lambs were screaming. Hannibal Lecter: They were slaughtering the spring lambs? Clarice Starling: And they were screaming. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/26 "2010-05-01T01:00:22Z")
Probably a fisher. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/27 "2010-05-01T03:52:57Z")
Going by the Youtube clips, it sounds more like a red fox. I’m having trouble finding clips of fishers. Some of them claim to be fishers, but the comments say they’re foxes. I found one clip I think was a fisher, and it didn’t sound like my animal as much as the foxes did. I can’t find that fisher clip now. I know there are red foxes in my area, but I’ve never heard of fishers. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/28 "2010-05-01T04:12:01Z")
> [@FalconFinder](#): > > Coyotes are really creepy when they are together and howl and make noise when they get a kill. It chills the blood. I heard them a lot last summer and it’s very unnerving. Yea, I hear coyotes all the time on our property. Especially when the train goes by. When the train goes by, the engineer will blow the whistle (because there’s a road crossing near our house). The coyotes will howl when they hear the train whistle. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/29 "2010-05-01T11:40:15Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The coyotes will howl when they hear the train whistle. There’s a song in that. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/30 "2010-05-01T17:46:05Z")
Sounds exactly like the Fisher Cat sound [here](http://fishercatscreech.com/fisher-cat-sound-and-audio/). ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/31 "2010-05-02T01:35:19Z")
What spoof virus checkers? It’s megaupload. All they ask you to do is type in a captcha and wait 30 seconds to download the file. (And I’m using Windows.) ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/32 "2010-05-02T12:25:20Z")
I can’t get the link to work. Have you considered porcupines? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/33 "2010-05-02T21:23:57Z")
Your links are a waste of time and endless. The cry of a fox in distress can raise the hair on the back of your neck. You might Google those words. ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/34 "2010-05-02T21:46:50Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > Sounds exactly like the Fisher Cat sound [here](http://fishercatscreech.com/fisher-cat-sound-and-audio/). If I heard that in the woods I would pass out cold. No running, no pooping myself, I’d simply drop like a rock. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848/35 "2010-05-02T23:34:53Z")
The fisher doesn’t sound any worse than house cats mating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-making-these-horrific-screams/537848.md?page=1)