# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Hunting & Trapping >  Strange Sounds in Central IL at night

## WhiteHorse3340

Though I'd give this a go here...saw someone else post something like this and it seems like everyone offered sound advice.

I've had two critters making noises out in the woods at night that I just cannot identify...

The first is a rather very good whistling sound followed by snarling, vicious snarling, raises the hair on the back of your neck snarling.  It almost sounds like two different animals fighting, one whistles..and the other snarls, and I'm taking a stab in the dark when I say the snarling one might be a coon.

The other one...I've only heard once, and it was coming either from the place where railroad tracks run through the woods or in the valley that leads up to them.

It was a solid "knock" (almost what a solenoid would sound like if it were failing) followed by what almost sounded like someone trying to turn over an engine (kind of) and then followed by a very, very, very strange "Warbling" sound.  This one is difficult to explain..  Keep in mind, this is in a place with no roads, it's all woods, except for the railroad tracks.  There were no lights coming from up on the tracks that night, nothing like that at all (railroad maintenance or the ilk), which is why I'm leaning more towards animal than human.  Hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about on this one...

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## edr730

The second one, if you were here, I'd say a grouse drumming. You usually hear that more in the spring during mating. I've seen people mistake it for a tractor trying to start if they never heard it before. But, I don't know if you have them, so maybe some kind of woodpecker drumming.
I don't know about the first one. A coon makes a type of coo when it calls that a person makes by kind of bouncing air out of their throat. When they fight over food it becomes loud and high pitched mixed with low pitched back and forth. But, I don't know what the growling would be.

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## gryffynklm

Whistle pig?

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## Rick

Karl, I don't do everything you tell me to do. So there. Oh wait...you meant ground...never mind.

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## WhiteHorse3340

No...looked up and listened to a few grouse drumming vids on youtube, and a couple warblers too. We have many species of woodpecker here, but this didn't sound anything like those, either.  This was odd, very distinctive...it was more like a "Ping" (brief pause) (engine cranking sound) followed by a metallic sounding warble...warble...like...imagine taking a hand saw, but make it about 3x larger and you might have the right pitch...then taking said saw, holding it at both ends, and flexing the blade back and forth so it produces sound, up and down the scale so it "warbles" I don't know, never heard anything like it before.  Keep in mind, I've spent my whole life on this side of town.  The three strangest things I've seen here are probably someone's pets that have gotten away or have been set free...those included a parrot, a python (a big one at that) and a ferret.  This happened about 11 or 12 at night, last fall.  The wooded area is pretty quiet at night, save for the occasional owl's call or coyote's howl, or deer or coon rustling around in the leaves...and the first sound in my original post.  I've heard that one on many occasions.

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## hunter63

So I guess you haven't taken a spotlight and go see what it was?.....Probably not.

Anyway, was it windy, calm, rainy, ....?

Heard a weird noise while out hunting, headed out in the dark....about day break, stated hearing a "warp'warp' kinda sound....wind was picking up about that time.....as it does when it get light out.

Found a piece of tin (steel) roofing stuck between to branches in a tree....when the wind blew it flexed, making the sound....Pretty weird.

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## WhiteHorse3340

I should take a picture of the back yard to give you guys an idea of the distance between me and the wooded area and the railroad tracks...

The nights that I usually hear the first sound are calm, and the night that I heard that second one was very calm.

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## edr730

As Hunter mentioned, the best way is to go out there. If nothing more, at least you may pinpoint the area with the sound. You can bait the area. You can check snow covered or muddy paths for tracks. Check tree lines and other such areas where animals pass. Put out vegetables and meat. That way it will help determine what it eats and what it is. If something hits the bait, you could rake and clear or flour the area to see the tracks. 
I know people hear and see things that aren't really there. But, I don't want to accuse you of that. 
I've seen big cats, fishers and wolves in the woods and we aren't supposed to have them. Twice I've heard wolves howling from my driveway. I know what they sound like since my daughter had one for a pet. 
So check it out best you can. Because until you see it, it will be passed off as nothing.

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## WhiteHorse3340

Aye, I hear you there.  I really wish I could get my hands on a parabolic microphone...just so I could make a recording and post it up.  The ground is still soaked from all the freezing junk and rain we have had lately...and that part of the woods is still covered in snow.  It won't be until later on this year that I would be able to put out some flour.  That part of the woods is pretty quiet this time of year...whatever it is seems to stop as soon as the cold weather starts to hit.  Other than the occasional deer passing through at night, or water flowing through the creek, it's pretty quiet.  I live on the North Eastern edge of the city, and...true story...I'm so used to hearing the sounds of wild life that WHEN...on the RARE occasion I hear people talking, I have to stop and go...whaaaa...what is that?  I'll take some pics and post them up so you guys can get a better idea of what is going on in the area...  Actually...here:

Snarls.jpg

That red area that is outlined is the area where the whistling and the snarling is coming from...and the arrow is pointing to a sunroom...I sit outside at night on a picnic table underneath that sunroom to smoke, and that is when I usually hear "the sounds of the night".  You can't see it on that map, but on the edge of the woods closest to the house is where the creek is.  And the railroad tracks are off to the right, and I know you cannot tell elevation from an overhead pic like this, I'll take some over the weekend and post them.

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## WhiteHorse3340

Alright, got the pictures for that area, and they are in order here, from left to right.

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And that is the view from my basement back door...during the day.  At night you can't see past the creek, which is just a little past the walnut tree...basically where the heavily wooded area begins.  If you look closely at either the first or second pic, you can see houses in the background...compare that with the pic from Google maps and it will give you a better idea of the area I'm dealing with.

The last two pics show the railroad tracks, and the last pic..that is the general area where I heard the second sound, somewhere between where you see that wooded area beginning and up there on the tracks.

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## hunter63

OK I getting a "guest cannot see images" 
Wot up.....

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## crashdive123

Don't know - I can't see them either and since I'm typing this, I'm pretty sure I'm logged on.

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## aktrekker

Must be fixed. I can see them.

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## WhiteHorse3340

hmmm, odd..okay, well...I'll just try it this way then.

backyard1.jpg

backyard2.jpg

backyard3.jpg

bckyard4.jpg

backyard5.jpg

Let me know if those work.

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## hunter63

Now those I can see.....what did you do different?

Look it over for tracks during the day?.....

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## MamaBear

Snarling... a coyote, maybe?  The second sound -- Could it be a raven, crow, or other mimicking bird repeating something they learned along the way?

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## Grizz123

I heard opossum make those types of noises when my dog had one cornered

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## hunter63

I think you have a chupacabra  around.......?

http://www.chupacabrasightings.com/

At least that sounds cool..........

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## WhiteHorse3340

Okay...was out smoking with my wife last night around 11:30 at night, and was I ever surprised to hear the first sound...in winter!!  Same thing...snarling/whistling, and I was thinking MAN I wish I had a parabolic mic/night vision...well, I got kinda lucky, because I think I've identified one of the animals.

That section of the woods is generally dead this time of year, save for the occasional deers that pass through, or some other random nocturnal animal...but that is rare.

I say I got lucky because...the next time we went out to smoke, I saw a raccoon, so I am willing to bet dollars to donuts that is the "snarling" that I'm hearing.  The other whistling cry though...it's like an animal in distress almost...

Does anyone know if raccoons make that beastly snarl when they kill something?  I can't imagine that a raccoon would get mad enough at its prey to snarl at it to death...most predators are quiet while on the prowl...lest it's two raccoons fighting over what one has recently caught, maybe it's not dead yet...and it's still...crying out trying to cling to life.

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## MamaBear

I agree, raccoon sounds very likely!  Could it be sweet young love?  Perhaps the raccoons are just gettin' it on.





> Okay...was out smoking with my wife last night around 11:30 at night, and was I ever surprised to hear the first sound...in winter!!  Same thing...snarling/whistling, and I was thinking MAN I wish I had a parabolic mic/night vision...well, I got kinda lucky, because I think I've identified one of the animals.
> 
> That section of the woods is generally dead this time of year, save for the occasional deers that pass through, or some other random nocturnal animal...but that is rare.
> 
> I say I got lucky because...the next time we went out to smoke, I saw a raccoon, so I am willing to bet dollars to donuts that is the "snarling" that I'm hearing.  The other whistling cry though...it's like an animal in distress almost...
> 
> Does anyone know if raccoons make that beastly snarl when they kill something?  I can't imagine that a raccoon would get mad enough at its prey to snarl at it to death...most predators are quiet while on the prowl...lest it's two raccoons fighting over what one has recently caught, maybe it's not dead yet...and it's still...crying out trying to cling to life.

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## crashdive123

Here ya go.

http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Raccoon_Sounds_audio

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## WhiteHorse3340

None of those really hit the mark, but you got me thinking...and I've been looking it up when I've had time to the last few days, and I think I hit the "snarl" on the head...many people in this post have said it, but every sound I listened to fell short, until I found this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkncjNn-ygE

So that's one...now if I could get to the bottom of the whistling sound...

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## Rick

I wonder if it could be a deer. It's sound is somewhat like a whistle. I equate to a girl's scream but it's sure piercing. The first time I heard one I was about 6 and it scared the bejeesus out of me. Probably some of the things that are wrong with me today. But I digress. 

http://www.deerhuntingguide.net/can-...r-whistle.html

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## WhiteHorse3340

I have researched sooo much... rabbit death cry, squirrel calls, opossum, different birds, deer whistling, raccoon calls, etc.  But I believe I have finally solved this sleuth.  :Detective: 

There have been nights when I have turned on the porch light down there and all you see are the reflective eyes of animals peering back at you, mind you, in warmer weather.  Unknown what those eyes belong to, can't help but feel a little spooked, it's even creepier when you turn the light on and see a deer's eyes 5 feet off the ground glowing in the dark while your eyes are still adjusting trying to see what it is before you have to change your underwear  :eyepoke: 

But, hearing the sounds I was hearing was like...what on God's green earth is going on over in that timber?  You'd hear leaves rustling, the horrid growl of opossum, and my guess is that the opossum is simply trying to climb a tree that the raccoons were sleeping in, the chirps and growls of raccoons, followed by that whistling sound.  And this takes the cake...finally!!!

What nocturnal animal fights raccoons and makes 'woop woop woop' sound?

That "Whoop whoop whoop" sound you are hearing is the raccoon kits up the tree where the mother sends them when there is danger. That sound is like a homing signal so that they can find each other after they scatter from whatever the danger is. It might be a cat the mom is fighting with, or another raccoon or any number of things.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_noctu...sound?#slide=6

 :Banana:  :Banana:  :Banana:

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## Rick

I wouldn't think it would be kits in February. They should be mating about now. Sounds of ecstasy or of rejection maybe.

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## shiftyer1

Is it a whistle or more of a scream,  like a dying rabbit?

Oops just saw u figured it out.

I'll never forget a couple years ago when my son came in to tell me we had monkeys in the woods,  "they're there dad I heard em".  Finally he heard them when I was with him.  The monkeys were owls. lol

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## hunter63

Well, I have always be a tad leery about noises that went "bump in the night".

You question and concerned has caused many to fear, for as long as there were humans.
Glad you figured it out.

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## WhiteHorse3340

Yes, although I'll probably never figure out the 2nd noise...that one was verah, verah odd.  I've never heard it before, and I'll probably never hear it again.  Ack, can't think of any thing else to say, haven't had any coffee yet, brain isn't working.  CAFFEINE!!

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## WhiteHorse3340

> I've seen big cats, fishers and wolves in the woods and we aren't supposed to have them. Twice I've heard wolves howling from my driveway. I know what they sound like since my daughter had one for a pet. 
> So check it out best you can. Because until you see it, it will be passed off as nothing.



Just this past summer there was an article in the local newspaper about a hunter who caught a picture of a panther with one of his game trail cameras, and for something that is supposed to be no where around this area, that's a scary thing to have start turning up.  There is something that Les Stroud once said in an episode...something to the effect of, you know, I've been in front of bear, wolves, coyotes, and a few others, but nothing will put the fear into you like a big cat will.

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## Rick

Cougar has definitely moved back to Illinois and Indiana. I believe some have always been there. One was shot south of Carbondale about 10 years ago or so. Here's one that was shot north of you last year. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/1...n_4324038.html

The Indiana DNR captured one on a trail cam in 2010. 

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/...7030858574.txt

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## WhiteHorse3340

Huh, odd that they'd be as far North in this state as Chicago, especially for a creature that usually sticks to warmer regions.  I was looking into it quite extensively a while back, both cougar and wild boar, which have also started turning up here.  My dad saw one of those (wild boar) a few years back about a mile from the house.  The cougars, on the other hand, are showing unexpected (I guess that's the right word) migration patterns as of late.

..."LaRue says this is probably just the beginning of cougars recolonizing the Midwest. “Now we can start asking more questions: Where are they going to end up, how many are they going to be, and how are they going to interact with their ecosystems?” In the paper, LaRue and her co-authors suggest that wildlife professionals “begin to think about public awareness campaigns in areas likely to encourage dispersing cougars” because people in these Midwest states are not used to living with large predators.  A good model is the California Department of Fish and Game’s Keep Me Wild campaign, which offers tips on coexisting with cougars and staying safe near them. They also suggest the more eastern states follow the lead of Nebraska and Missouri and develop conservation strategies for the animals."

"The Midwest might not be the cougars’ final stop in their habitat re-expansion. Last year a male cougar traveled at least 2,400 kilometers from South Dakota to Connecticut before being killed by an SUV."

“They’re doing what we think is a stepping-stone dispersal,” LaRue says, “going from a primary source to another patch of habitat, establishing that habitat and then moving farther and farther east.”

There is a very interesting article (quite long) where the above quotes were taken from here:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...han-100-years/

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## Batch

> Just this past summer there was an article in the local newspaper about a hunter who caught a picture of a panther with one of his game trail cameras, and for something that is supposed to be no where around this area, that's a scary thing to have start turning up.  There is something that Les Stroud once said in an episode...something to the effect of, you know, I've been in front of bear, wolves, coyotes, and a few others, but nothing will put the fear into you like a big cat will.


Splitting hairs here. But, cougars are the largest of the small cats. They are in the sub-family of Felinae while large cats are in the sub-family of Pantherinae. The primary difference besides size is that the "Large" cats have an elastic tendon that allows them to roar. Cougars are more related to house cats. 

I went to Coconut Creek High and we were the Coconut Creek Cougars and our year books had the latin name Felis Concolor you know like Felix the cat. They changed the genus to Puma Concolor in the early 1990's.

But, since this is a post about animal sounds. I figured I would throw it out there Cougars scream and purr. They don't roar..

We have an abundance of wild hogs in south Florida. But, in areas of highest panther population they have been unseen for about a decade. We have an unnaturally high population of panthers in south west Florida. 

Here is some hogs in a field at Dinner Island.

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## aktrekker

> Huh, odd that they'd be as far North in this state as Chicago, especially for a creature that usually sticks to warmer regions...


They go pretty far north, up into Alaska and the Canadian boreal forest. They don't seem to mind the winters.

Cougars may not technically be "big cats" but they are still pretty big for a cat. And amazingly strong for their size. Cats are like one big muscle with needles.
I love cats, and a cougar is just a big pussycat. Not one I'd cuddle up with, but I still love them. Beautiful animals.

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## hunter63

You still have bob cats and lynx, that are a whole lot more abundant through the Midwest.
They can make some hellious noises as well.......

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## WhiteHorse3340

> You still have bob cats and lynx, that are a whole lot more abundant through the Midwest.
> They can make some hellious noises as well.......


Yeah, you DARN skippy about that.  We used to have bobcats here in abundance, but it seems that their numbers have dwindled around here for about the past 10-15 years...

I was probably in my early twenties when I basically played another episode of "What the heck is that noise"...we were young and dumb, over at my friend's house drinking...and we heard a bobcat, only we had no idea what that demonic sounding growl was back then (another make-the-hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck-stand-up-situation).  I researched and searched and researched some more, and thanks to a sound file on some of encyclopedia brittanica's first electronic copies, I was able to listen to the sounds of a bobcat on there, and figure out what it was.


Oooh, and Batch; I do apologize...I said one thing and meant another.  It was a panther, not a cougar on the game trail camera.

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## Rick

Panther, cougar, mountain lion and puma are all names for the same animal (Puma concolor).

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## Wildthang

It is obviously a Bigfoot couple. He's whistling at her and trying to flirt, and she is snarling and don't want anything to do with it! She was trying to start her car and leave him there in the woods because he won't leave her alone!

Well that's my theory :Smartass:

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## Wildthang

A male Fox can sure make some weird sounds! Go to Youtube and some fox recordings use to be on there!

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## Rick

The verdict is out on the Bigfoot couple. Now, if we get fuzzy pictures that will be proof positive!

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## travisz

I'm 100% sure it's a mountain lion!

Here's the one I hear outside...
(with seals in the background)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p7vigy3mp4...untainlion.wav

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## Tokwan

Anyway to link this thread to the one we had back a couple months ago..it was something about the sasquatch or omething like that..could be that?

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## hunter63

Just start a new thread with a reference both threads.....

Just watch a History Channel swamp monster program....or I should say was on in the back ground....talking about the Rougarou.

Legendary  swamp sprit 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rougarou

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## Tokwan

Like the Cryptid?

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## Highhawk1948

Set up a trail camera or a blind and wait it out.  You gotta know!!

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