Last night, following the Pens’ Game 3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings, I walked with my dogs out into my backyard where I heard what sounded variously like a child screaming and a wailing bird. It was loud and clearly came from the woods across the street. I had never heard such a sound before, and it went on for at least 10 minutes. Here’s what I heard:
It’s a red fox. Spooky, eh?
The first time I heard the red fox it was in the middle of the night and I called the police. I live across the street from a nursing home and I thought one of the patients had wandered off the property and been hurt. I hadn’t heard the cries again until last night. They only lasted about a minute or so this time. We have several in our area and have recently seen them wandering around during the day.
I toohear our little friend cry. He’s a scraggly looking fox with both redish brown and black markings. Gracefully, he sat in our backyard at 6am crying. This time of year (march into April), we always hear him. We always thought it was a fisher cat, who also makes an eery sound.
Tonight I heard one. It didn’t sound exactly like the one in the link, but it was enough evidence to prove that it was a fox. It sounded more like a cat trying to get away from something that was hurting it. They are very loud as well. I heard some rumors about being foxes in the woods near us, but now I know that it’s true. I’ve been living in the same place for three years and tonight was the first time I’ve heard it.
I heard one behind our house last night, and can’t believe I was lucky enough to figure out what it was. Thanks for posting the sound file!
I’ve seen 3-4 red fox in the area in the last 3 weeks… They don’t bolt or seem bothered by my presence at all.