I heard a fox shrieking late at night last year so I went for a look.As I walked around the corner of the house she was no more than 10 ' from me.That girl was so lonesome she just ignored me and kept calling for the boys 
Coyote feeding or Bobcat?
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Doug M.
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I've heard pea fowl, and even knowing that they were there, I wanted to call the cops. However, that is less likely to alert the dogs into a growl than a predator.
No gun? In public? Slap yourself.
No gun? In public? Slap yourself.
mc5aw
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Straightshooter2
US Veteran
From your description and the distance of about 60 yards, I'm going to say bobcat. Having heard bobcats and pea fowl at a distance at night, I would go more with bobcat. I've also heard a bobcat from about 10 yards while sitting in a deer stand. 
I came very close to losing bladder control, leaving the gun in the stand and climbing higher in the tree.
CW
I came very close to losing bladder control, leaving the gun in the stand and climbing higher in the tree. CW
rburg
Member
About 20 years ago the Moab, UT police chief would write articles about the events around that town. From time to time he'd write about police reports and Mountain Lions were always good for a few paragraphs.
The one I liked most was the one about a lady in town complaining to animal control about a large yellow dog running through her yard at night and tearing up the turf. Yards are hard to grow and keep in the desert. So animal control set their large trap, baited it, and left. The next morning the lady was calling in and kind of hysterical. It seems they caught the critter and it was large and yellow, but wasn't a dog. So they came out and tranquilized it and hauled it up in the mountains. It took it 2 weeks to find its way back!
So then the next related story was the woman screaming out in an orchard to the west of town. Of course they responded and heard it, but couldn't find her. The implication was the lion was back. Then a few weeks later a guy called from that same area. He'd come outside to go to work but there was a large yellow dog under his pickup truck and he couldn't convince it to come out. So the dart gun came out again, but they became tired of messing with it so they killed it. When you hear a woman scream, keep an open mind. Sure, you've got to investigate but it might not turn out as you expect or want it to.
The poster here is in West (by Gawd) Virginia. Over in eastern Kentucky we have a bunch of lions. The state refuses to acknowledge it but that doesn't change the fact. They do seem to move around a bit so a few hundred miles even is within range for a love sick critter.
The one I liked most was the one about a lady in town complaining to animal control about a large yellow dog running through her yard at night and tearing up the turf. Yards are hard to grow and keep in the desert. So animal control set their large trap, baited it, and left. The next morning the lady was calling in and kind of hysterical. It seems they caught the critter and it was large and yellow, but wasn't a dog. So they came out and tranquilized it and hauled it up in the mountains. It took it 2 weeks to find its way back!
So then the next related story was the woman screaming out in an orchard to the west of town. Of course they responded and heard it, but couldn't find her. The implication was the lion was back. Then a few weeks later a guy called from that same area. He'd come outside to go to work but there was a large yellow dog under his pickup truck and he couldn't convince it to come out. So the dart gun came out again, but they became tired of messing with it so they killed it. When you hear a woman scream, keep an open mind. Sure, you've got to investigate but it might not turn out as you expect or want it to.
The poster here is in West (by Gawd) Virginia. Over in eastern Kentucky we have a bunch of lions. The state refuses to acknowledge it but that doesn't change the fact. They do seem to move around a bit so a few hundred miles even is within range for a love sick critter.
PA Reb
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I gave my opinion above on what I believe the OP heard and I'm not trying to hijack his post but I had to post again on your post above. West Virginia and Kentucky probably do have a few lions around and I can tell you for a fact, PA does also. I worked at one time for the PA Game Commission and had numerous calls yearly on sightings in the mountainous areas of my district. Its pretty difficult to confuse this animal with any other habitants of these woods. A widow of a former officer has recently stated publicly that her husband released one or two in the Pocono Mountain area years back. Of course, just as they currently deny the release of the now overpopulated coyotes here, my supervisors and the state itself refused to admit the possibility in any way, shape or form. The reason all this is happening is this - a good tool used to drastically reduce the deer herd and allow the state forests to mature = more money in timber sales! O.K., on with the original topic!!
mjr
Member
Yep, when I was in my twenties that was nothing for me.
S&WIowegan
US Veteran
I would guess it was a screaming rabbit caught by fox or coyote. Believe it...a rabbit can scream like a woman!!
We have lions/cougar/panthers here in Iowa and our DNR constantly pooh poohs the sightings. But, they occasionally get themselves hit by a car. A hunter dropped one out of a tree two years ago. DNR still not convinced. Those lion bachelors can travel unbelievable distances looking for a mate.
We have lions/cougar/panthers here in Iowa and our DNR constantly pooh poohs the sightings. But, they occasionally get themselves hit by a car. A hunter dropped one out of a tree two years ago. DNR still not convinced. Those lion bachelors can travel unbelievable distances looking for a mate.
Texas Star
US Veteran
For some time, I protected a private residence in north Dallas, where a stream runs through a very wealthy neighborhood.
We had quite an array of wildlife there, inc. gray foxes. Big blue herons sometimes fished in the stream.
But it was the calls of the Screech Owl that scared some other security officers so badly that they wouldn't work that post. I replicated the sound as best I could over the phone to an ornithologist at the Museum of Natural History and described the locale. He confirmed that the calls were from screech owls. Little bird; big voice.
More disturbing was the presence of the Great Horned Owl. One made a pass at me as I sat in my car between the client's house and the servants' quarters. It hit my radio antenna as it swerved at the last second. I think it realized that there was glass between us. I was concerned it might go after me as I made rounds. These are MUCH larger than the little screech owls.
I drew my my gun on a gray fox a few times as it seemed very aggressive when we encountered one another. I called the zoo and they agreed that it was probably being teritorial more than rabid. Female foxes with kits seemed to ignore me if I ignored them and gave them a wide berth as we passed one another on a trail behind the main house. Sometimes, one would growl, but if I continued along , they resumed their own pace.
Both foxes and owls preyed on cottontail rabbits there. And big Dobermans would sometimes escape the owner's yard and walk around the neighborhood. One reason why I loaded .357 ammo in my S&W M-66 (occasionally a Ruger GP-100) was those big dogs! Fortunately, I was always sitting in my car when they passed.
SOMETHING would often go after roosting birds in the trees and they'd set up a tremendous fuss. Gray foxes can climb trees, but I think it was cats. During the day, I saw a HUGE fox squirrel a few times. It was 2-3 times the size of other squirrels. I think maybe squirrels were eating nesting birds.
I loved that post for the dark neighborhood when I avoided the grounds lighting. In the dark places, I could do some amateur astronomy, and brought binoculars partly for that.
There were human dangers. I once ran off some would-be arsonists trying to burn out a lawyer who lived next door, and the basic reason to be there was death threats against the grouchy old lady client, who was thought to have cheated her late husband's sons out of an inheritance in the millions of dollars. But I liked the animals, except for the times I felt threatened.
Anyway, I am very familiar with the calls of Eastern Screech Owls, and they don't sound like what the OP described. There's more of a trilling element than a scream.
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Rahjerz
Member
I lived in northeast Kentucky for a while. In the spring the bobcats would go into heat and scream their way around our hollow at night. Talk about making your hair stand up! Walked down to my truck about 4:30 one morning, about a quarter mile walk, when I got down to the creek I heard a big cat scream(sounded like the cougar in the old Lincoln commercials). Figured it wouldn't do any good to run and just kept walking. There were some sightings of panthers in the area where we lived.
PA Reb
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LMAO ~ I believe I just did the same thing
laughing at that post except I have no lap to go sit in. That's just plain hilarious and I would have hit the like button a dozen more times if I could 
!
Cocked & Locked
Member
This post ain't no good without a picture.
OK...this is what he did. Then he got bored lookin at gun stuff and went back to sleep.
My queries about nocturnal wildlife calls are maybe wearing out my welcome with my biologist friends and contacts, I'm afraid, as I've been paying more attention, lately, asking more questions, and coming up with fewer answers. Unless you are able to wander around at night and actually able to observe these behaviors/vocalizations, anticipate ambiguous answers...
Roadtrash
US Veteran
If Bigfoot woke up next to Rosie would he chew his arm off to keep from waking her as he slipped away?
Bluecoat76
Member
You have a Cougar in your neighborhood sir. We have some big ones here. Don't go out walking your dog during the late hours of darkness with a pet. He wants your pet but will go through you to get him. Carry with a Crimson Trace and a flashlight if you do. These big cats leap long distances (I've seen them) and can break your neck before you even know it. He or she's hungry and maybe injured and old. No small animal here.
