Noisy terror in the woods?

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Sieddy

Full Member
Nov 12, 2016
272
70
Oxford uk
I had an impromptu camp in the local woods last night. It was going well, soft ground under the tent, quite mild and dry. Then in the wee small hours I was rudely awoken by some creature nearby bellowing like a banshee. The sound was somewhat like a peasant call, but louder and more blood curdling. It was very close (the sound moved but I didn't hear any rustling in the undergrowth) and kept up it's racket for a good while. As I lay cursing the noisy beast, I wondered what it could be, a Deer or an Evil spirit perhaps?
Thankfully I remained unmolested and managed to get back off to sleep. Any thoughts on what it could have been would be appreciated. Cheers Si
 

cipherdias

Settler
Jan 1, 2014
558
243
Wales
I had an impromptu camp in the local woods last night. It was going well, soft ground under the tent, quite mild and dry. Then in the wee small hours I was rudely awoken by some creature nearby bellowing like a banshee. The sound was somewhat like a peasant call, but louder and more blood curdling. It was very close (the sound moved but I didn't hear any rustling in the undergrowth) and kept up it's racket for a good while. As I lay cursing the noisy beast, I wondered what it could be, a Deer or an Evil spirit perhaps?
Thankfully I remained unmolested and managed to get back off to sleep. Any thoughts on what it could have been would be appreciated. Cheers Si

An owl? They shriek really loudly


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Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
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W.Sussex
Muntjac bellow, mating foxes get locked together and the screams are blood curdling. Badgers also can be very noisy.
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
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Berlin
I assume that's why Americans and Russians tend to carry a gun in the woods. Probably their beasts are even louder.
 
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C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,387
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Bedfordshire
wrong time of year for foxes to be mating, but of the choice of deer or fox, the fox does make more of a blood curdling racket. Muntjac bark loudly as an alarm call, which they make when they discover someone camping in their woods. They tend to circle around a camp, barking, then wander off, still barking but with less frequency.

0:28 in

Roe deer also bark, but in my limited experience they do so with less frequency than muntjac when they find someone camped in their woods.

1:15

Fox
0:28
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,489
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W.Sussex
First time I heard a fox do that I was out at our log shed in the woods late one night to fetch a barrow of wood in. Needless to say, I completely lost it and ran, the tipped over barrow was still there in the morning ;)
 
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Sieddy

Full Member
Nov 12, 2016
272
70
Oxford uk
First time I heard a fox do that I was out at our log shed in the woods late one night to fetch a barrow of wood in. Needless to say, I completely lost it and ran, the tipped over barrow was still there in the morning ;)
I would not blame you for a minute. Its a toe curdling din Indeed!
 

Sieddy

Full Member
Nov 12, 2016
272
70
Oxford uk
wrong time of year for foxes to be mating, but of the choice of deer or fox, the fox does make more of a blood curdling racket. Muntjac bark loudly as an alarm call, which they make when they discover someone camping in their woods. They tend to circle around a camp, barking, then wander off, still barking but with less frequency.

0:28 in

Roe deer also bark, but in my limited experience they do so with less frequency than muntjac when they find someone camped in their woods.

1:15

Fox
0:28
Awesome job. A Muntjac it was for sure! I thought it might have been for some reason. Funny little critters they are and what a cachoponous Bark they have!
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,665
McBride, BC
The bears are silent. It's only when they are on the other side of your tent fabric can you hear them breathing. No food whatsoever in the tent, not even a package of chewing gum. All food in a pack, 20' up in the air over a tree branch.

No sex.

Loons calling on the nearby lake are instantly recognizable.

Owls, especially the big ones, hoot for territory but they don't have much else to say. I watched a Great Horned Owl at sunrise hit a rabbit in silence on the edge of a logging road and fly away with it.

What wilderness mating seasons have you got now for spring births? Do your rabbits scream when they are injured, like ours do?
 
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nigelp

Native
Jul 4, 2006
1,417
1,024
New Forest
newforestnavigation.co.uk
Awesome job. A Muntjac it was for sure! I thought it might have been for some reason. Funny little critters they are and what a cachoponous Bark they have!
I was camped at the site near Savernake Forest last night and heard Muntjaq at dusk and also around dawn. Did about 20 barks close to the tent this morning and moved off a bit further and did some more. Very loud for such a dainty deer.
 
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