It is Northern Indiana, mid-March, around freezing outdoors, and 1:00 in the morning. I am hearing an animal outside–I assume it is a bird. The noise is intermittent, a sort of low trill. Despite the sound being rather low (for a bird), the sound carries incredibly. The volume fades in, holds steady for two or three seconds, then stops abruptly.
Tree frogs sound like that in the mid Atlantic states. Don’t remember hearing them near freezing, but the “spring chorus” or “peeper” frogs sing near freezing this time of year.
I’ll bet a dollar on raccoons. They often make trilling sounds, espescially the young when calling out for mum. I’ve raised an orphan one to adulthood and for the first 6 weeks or so I was woken up twice nightly by a very similar noise. It was a begging for food nursery type noise.
My guess? Screech Owl
It was definitely the screech owl. Thanks!
We have Screech and Saw Whet Owls in New England. Both are coming up to mating season right now. Cute little guys. Check out their sound at the link.
Kudos to you BTW for asking a question about the natural world in your area and actually giving your location. A surprisingly high percentage of people ask these types of questions and don’t think to give any information about where in the wide world they are.
I’ve been meaning to ask a similiar question for awhile, and since the thread is here… We hear what appear to be pack animals on a routine basis at night. They don’t sound like dogs or coyotes, i.e., not barking or howling, more like shrieking (but not quite that either). Maybe like a pack of dogs on drugs before they’ve gone thru puberty.
We do have a den of foxes in our backyard, so we have just assumed it was them by default. But last summer a Momma fox barked at me; I was sitting in a lounger reading a book, Mom walked right by but baby fox stopped to take a look. I proceeded to chat up the baby and Mom immediately jumped up and did a full 180 in the air turn (most impressive) to let us know she was displeased with one or both of us. Her bark didn’t sound anything like the nocturnal pack crowd, so now I’m wondering.
BTW, if foxes were domestic, I’ld get one in a heart-beat. Their behaviour is so cool, kind of like a cross between a cat and a dog.
I’m in the mid-west, St. Louis area, if it makes a dif.
Beware of the grue!
Could possibly be severalBarred Owls (audio link)
Nope, not even close. They’re much higher pitched than that. Thanks for the link though.
sinjin 
That sounds seriously creepy.
Well, when london foxes are making sexytime, or discussing the possibility of it, the noise is something like several small children with cleft palates being tortured to death. Quite disconcerting for new arrivals in the suburbs. :eek:
I think it is foxes. I tried to search for their sounds several times before and couldn’t find them. Somehow I got the right words today and found lots of sites.
They basically sound like this fox on the prarie multiplied by 4 and louder.