Could it be a bobcat? We have them in the area, and they can sound
unearthly when they call.
Kathy Freise
Beaverdam
On May 14, 2015 10:49 AM, "lindamcbride@xxxxxxxx" <lindamcbride@xxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I am hoping that the Richmond Audubon community can help with a
conundrum. My sister sent me an email about a chilling noise she has been
hearing at night (she lives just outside Fredericksburg in a nicely
forested area). I assumed it was a screech owl. She says it isn't. Any
ideas what may be making this sound? Our email exchange is reproduced
below. Thanks!
Linda McBride
*Do you have any idea what could be making an unearthly noise at night
that is nearly impossible to describe? It's very loud, and it sounds as if
something is moaning/screaming/being killed. Last night I heard it around
10 p.m., and before that I've been hearing it in the middle of the night.
It is really chilling, and I don't know if it's some kind of animal, or
maybe a bird, like an owl perhaps, except that it doesn't sound like any
owl sound I've ever heard.*
I*'m thinking it is an Eastern Screech Owl. What you describe is often
how their song is described. I've attached a link to the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology's Macaulay Library. Play the clip, and see what you think. You
also can Google Eastern Screech Owl song for more recordings. Let me know!*
I* listened to the clip just now, and whatever it is, it is not a screech
owl. It is not even close. It's really impossible to tell if it is a bird
or an animal. Whatever it is, a neighbor also heard it last year. I
remember she told me about a terrible noise she had heard during the night.
She thought some predator had attacked a hawk's nest that was in one of her
trees. I went over the next day, and didn't find any evidence of a
massacre. It makes such a blood-curdling sound that you think something is
being killed or mutilated. I think for now I'll just call it a Sasquatch!*
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