Night call - fox?

luckat

Out in the garden last night, the dog going crazy, and there was a strange kind of high, shuddering call. Was it a fox? I know there are foxes around.

Is there a website with animal cries and what they mean? (As in would this have been a hunting call or what.)

boneless

The fox call is a high pitched whine or keen. I always wondered if this was the origin of the Banshee wail. It seems to be a bit late in the year for a fox to be looking for a mate, though. (This is the usual reason for the calling... territorial as well). Just a lonely fox out there?

luckat

This sounded more owl-like, kind of whuh-whuh-whuh-whuh, very fast and rippling and high.

I've heard foxes calling in early summer, sounding like a cock crowing or a hen screeching. This wasn't like that.

Flukey

Foxes can make some very strange sounds. For a while earlier this year I was hearing some strange noises in the vicinity of our garden some nights. They were really weird sounds, even chilling at times. I didn't know what they were. Recently I realised that they were being made by a fox. I've seen foxes in the garden over the past few months. Last night, while in bed, I again heard some really weird noises, but I knew what they were. It sounds like you have foxes in the area.


Try this site for different fox sounds:
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/4707/FoxSounds.html

luckat

Oh, I know I have foxes in the area ok, I hear them all the time. But this call wasn't like anything I'd ever heard before.

Flukey

Well foxes can make all sorts of strange sounds, so I presume it is what you are hearing. Check that link I gave you and then look for others too.

luckat

Aha, the one described as a happy bark is what I heard all right. At least it sounded like that from what I could hear over my dog going crazy and rushing out to the garden when I played it!

boneless

So the mystery is solved!! I still might give you a shout about the owls, luckat. It's a while since I surveyed the areas you mentioned.

Flukey

I am glad we seem to have gotten to the bottom of this. They do make an incredible range of sounds. You'd think they just be like a dog, but they seem to have more variety. That is what had me so confused earlier this year.