I guarantee every child with at least one working TV has seen a movie or cartoon where a wolf howls at the moon. Here’s a video of wolves howling, as if you need a reminder. No matter what you have against bat sounds at night, though, their use of brutally screechy noise is resourceful as most bats are blind and rely on echolocation, which means they need to make a lot of noise to get where they want to go and means humans are treated to a chorus of seriously questionable choruses. Unfortunately, bats can also fly, so good luck with the running. They’re loud, ugly, and drink your blood (at least some of the time), all traits that would leave most people running for the hills. Their combination of chirps, whistles, and throaty screeches are enough to make anyone get a little freaked out.Īnd it’s not as if their appearance or mythical origins help much. If you don’t know what bats sound like, check this out.Īlright, another obvious one here, but I’d be a fool to exclude bats from this list. To annoy suburban residential dwellers: Although I’m sure this isn’t on purpose, there’s a good chance they figured the more they scream, the more the humans will leave them alone.Claiming and protecting their territory.They actually do it for a range of good reasons like: Thankfully, foxes aren’t going screaming in the night to freak humans out. And if you don’t know what’s making the sound? Well, there’s a good chance you’re halfway on your way to call 911 to report a murder. It is by far the weirdest, creepiest sound you will hear in your life, and its eeriness will touch your soul if you allow it to. Well, then you’ve never heard a fox screech. Have you ever been woken in the middle of the night by the sound of a woman screeching in extreme fear or pain? No? If I was sung to, I probably would have done the same. I can’t believe I’m about to say it, but it makes me think some of today’s men could learn a thing or two about wooing a partner from their slimy, slippery little friends. Apparently, humans aren’t the only ones who think being serenaded in the twilight is romantic. Like owls, frogs croak for a particular reason: to attract a mate. These sounds can range from deep, belly rumbling croaks to high-pitched chirps depending on the frog and the circumstances, but each call is distinct, and it’s pretty easy to recognize if you may or may not have a frog infestation. Whether it’s coming from your garden pond, a lake, or a river, the throaty, croaking sounds you hear at night are most likely made by frogs. FrogsĬlick here for frog croaks in all their glory:Īlright, another entry on the list, and these guys are only here because their sounds are weird. I mean, if it’s enough to scare a human, it’s probably more enough to scare away other birds and animals the owls aren’t exactly thrilled about having around. Their eerie “hoo, hoo” vocalizations are enough to chill you to the bone, especially if you realize their sounds could very well sound like a person calling out from the darkness.Įven writing about it makes me shiver a little, and don’t let me get started on their screeches.īut before I descend into owl-induced paranoia, I must admit owls are, generally, very cute animals and that their noises are actually quite useful to them when they want to protect their territory or feel threatened. It wasn’t until I watched the Harry Potter film series that I first heard the sounds they make, and believe me, they can be a little strange, especially when you consider the best time to hear them is in the woods. When I was younger, I would always read about the birds hooting at night or calling out to each other in an eerie way. The nocturnal calls of owls at their finest:Īlright, I’m pretty sure if you asked a child what animals make weird sounds at night, even their first answer would be “owls,” but I mean, they do sound a little weird regardless of what bird lovers may tell you. If not, I present to you my complete list of things, or rather creatures, that become vocal freaks at night. If you’re going camping, traveling, or even just live near the woods, you may even be familiar with a lot of the animals on this list. I mean, I can think of quite a few domestic animals that are great at freaking people out with their unusual grunts, so surely there must be even more animals all over the world able to freak us out with a simple whistle or growl. Some were about as weird or scary as expected, but a few were so chillingly strange they’ve stuck with me all along.Īnd it recently got me to thinking: African wild animals can’t be the only ones that make weird sounds at night. Throughout that trip, we’d go on to hear dozens of different animal noises, from hyenas to bats and everything in between. One of my favorite memories of safaris in South Africa was the first night we were out camping, and I almost peed myself at the sound of a lion’s nighttime roar.
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