44 replies to this topic

[Blade_Rain]

I stepped outside at about 2:00 a.m. in the morning to go retrieve the paper at the end of my driveway (I'm not sure why the paper was there, it wasn't there earlier :/ ). I stayed out there for a little bit just to enjoy the nighttime air.

Not long after, I heard a strange noise.
Phonetically, it sounded like 'Whaaaa,' or 'Waaaaaa.'
The sounds were quick, a little more than half a second in length. It sounded like the whoop of an animal, but that wasn't my first thought. When I first heard it, I swore it was a human, some guy calling out or something. Then, I heard it again in the exact same pitch, tone, and length. It started out kind of low, then very quickly rose in pitch. They were about five or so seconds apart.

After looking out towards the woods for a few seconds, not out of fear but out of caution, I headed back in. I've never heard a human, let alone any type of animal that I'm aware of, make a sound like that, or even similar. My brother suggested it may have been a bird like an owl or something, but owls hoot. It wasn't a dog or fox or a wolf, because I would have heard howling or barking. I thought for a second, maybe I was just hearing things. But the sound echoed and was the echo you would hear if something made a sound in that part of the woods. It was very real, as far as I could tell.

It sounded both inhuman and inhuman at the same time. I'm really not sure what the hell it was, or what animal would make that sound.

If anybody can clarify what I heard or what that was, or know what animal it may have been, please help me out.

Thanks.

[WalkingDude20]

The noises were probably a mountain lion or some sort of cougar. They can OFTEN imitate sounds of crying babies, so I don't see how making a "waaaa" sound would be much more difficult.

[Blade_Rain]

I forgot to add that I live in central Delaware.
There are no lions, cougars, or big cats here that I know of. This place is pretty flat and unsuitable for those types of animals.

To be honest, the whooping sound was kind of like the sound a monkey might make when hooting, but there are also no monkeys here :/

So I'm still lost...

[WoIverine]

Maybe all you heard was the proverbial tree falling.  

[fandango]

Foxes also sound like a baby crying and very human, we hear them all the time.

[midnight rider]

neighbors trying out the new v1agra prescription

Edited by midnight rider, 25 June 2009 - 01:30 AM.

[DevilDogPratt]

check out all kinds of owl calls, they make some very strange noises

[WGH]

I heard something similar while camping once. Sounded like a woman screaming, each sound lasted about 3 seconds though.

[Lady Amethyst]

What you heard was an animal. Not all animals make the same sounds. Make a recording of it next time if you're quick.

[UFO_Monster]

WalkingDude20 used what I was going to say. Mountain Lions/Cougars do tend to make a "whining" sound like those of a crying baby.

[UltraThunderMan]

That's pretty strange.  When I was little, my dad used to work at a radio station and me, my brother, and my mom would stay at my grandma's house until midnight and then go pick him up.  One night we left out of the house and when we got to the car, I saw a small four-legged "animal" that was all white.  It arched its head back and made some sort of "whoop" sound and then walked back around the house.  I didn't really think much of it because like i said, i was only like 8 years old or so, but I do wonder what kind of animal that's pure white would make such a noise.

[jakersHD]

Quote

Foxes also sound like a baby crying and very human, we hear them all the time.

Yeah I have to agree foxes do make some pretty weird noises, scared the crap out of me when I first heard them.
fox calls
Listen to some of these, but especially the second one "fox calling out".
Hope This helped.

Edited by jakersHD, 26 June 2009 - 03:32 PM.

[Blade_Rain]

Thanks for all of your replies! I'm going to do some research to see if I can find any commonalities with any other animals. To be honest, we've had a fox problem around here lately (one passed about two feet in front of my bedroom window a few nights ago and then ran away), but I've never heard what they sound like.

Again, to be honest, it'd be cool if it wasn't any known animal.

[Blade_Rain]

I've examined the sounds a bit, and found no similarities between what I heard and a fox. What I heard was a distinctly male, human like cry, that sounded animal as well. The cries of a fox reminded me of it, but what I heard was far too distinct to be a fox.

[Stormcrow]

Bobcat or other lynx, are also renowned for their ability to imitate crying sounds.

http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/soundfx/ani..._lynx_wav.shtml