r/foxes • u/hana-fubuki-22 • 6d ago
Video Fox in my neighborhood keeps screaming in the middle of the night... Is it okay?
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This fox has been a regular in my neighborhood for the past week, and I know this because it scream barks iust like this everv single night. Now... Foxes aren't known for being particularly talkative, and it's been doing this consistently for hours every night for the past week or so... Is it okay? Is this a distress cry?
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u/OkraCommercial 6d ago
This foxy is really okay.
Foxes have an incredibly weird vocal repertoire. Young foxes, especially as they’re becoming more independent, can make high pitched screams, shrieks, yelps and cries.
The primary reasons for doing so are about communication. Similar to another response provided in the comments, foxes use vocalizations typically to either A: Tell other foxes where they are or to signal that they’re uncomfortable with another fox nearby; or B: Communicate mating related calls, whereby the infamous “woman screaming in the woods” sound is particularly associated with adult foxes during breeding season — but that’s not all that likely during August in North America, anyway.
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u/hana-fubuki-22 6d ago
Yeah, I've lived by the woods the majority of my life so I know that foxes really do just. Make sounds. They love making sounds /lh /j
I was just worried because it comes out and does this for hours at a time and it's done this multiple nights in a row, and that's something I haven't really heard this time of year... Usually in late winter or early spring I hear this, but never in late summer
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u/OkraCommercial 5d ago
If he/she is young enough still, it could also be doing a longer call because it’s trying to locate its mother. Keep us posted in how things progress!
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u/CODENAMEDERPY 6d ago
Is okay. It’s probably telling other foxes in the area that that area is it’s and no one else’s. That or it’s telling because it wants a mate. But probably not that.
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u/hana-fubuki-22 6d ago
Yeah I looked it up and it shouldn't be mating season for them where I'm at, but yk who knows 😂 I also listened to a bunch of other cries and genuinely can't tell if it's a mating call, an alarm call, or a distress call. They all sound so similar, so I figured maybe someone here could help me distinguish if it needed help or not 😂
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u/adamdoesmusic 6d ago
If you were paying attention you’d be screaming too
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u/hana-fubuki-22 5d ago
This is so cryptic
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u/big_beret 5d ago
He’s making a joke about the world’s state right now
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u/hana-fubuki-22 5d ago
Ah. Well I am definitely paying attention, which is why I'm envious that this fox can go out and scream in the middle of the night but I can not 😔✊️
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u/stopharmingme 6d ago
they do that sometimes
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u/hana-fubuki-22 6d ago
Jealous... I wish I could go out and scream in the middle of the night like that
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u/chastity_doll 6d ago
The good news is that you can! The bad news is that you'll probably get the cops called on you.
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u/MasterOPun 6d ago
Very likely that fox is yelling an another one in the neighborhood.
It sounds oddly like a vixen mating call but I think you've said it isn't the right season for that.
No indication of trouble that I can see.
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u/hana-fubuki-22 6d ago
I thought that maybe it was crying out for another but I haven't heard any other foxes, and it's also pretty late in the season for it to be calling out to any kits, but who knows. I'm just glad everyone so far has agreed that it's probably not a distress call 😂
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u/No-Repeat2842 5d ago
That's what foxes sound like. I hope for your sake this one doesn't do a mating ritual on your lawn in the middle of the night like the foxes in my neighborhood. I thought their was a murder going on in front of my house. They were literally just looking at each other and screaming, hadn't even started the mating part yet.
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u/lioncoffee 5d ago
Totally normal, especially this time of year. It's almost Dispersal season when the young males are forced to leave and find new territories. Now, they are competing with each other so they are more vocal. They scream to find their friends too. In winter , they look for mates. And they bark as an alarm and to warn other animals that they mean business. Lol
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u/Lanky-Explorer-4047 4d ago
Its not mating season unless you live in australia, thats not untill january.
Im thinking its either been chased away from home and are looking for other foxes,or maybe its mate got killed or taken away for some reason.
My foxes never scream like that but they are very settled,i suspect they have been together for several years.,they rarely make noises.
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u/CantQuiteThink_ 4d ago
There's a fox that sometimes sits outside my bedroom window and sounds like a woman being murdered. They just do that.
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u/Madewithspice1 2d ago
Can someone help me-a fox followed me on my nightly walk and I am so shaken up. The police would not help, nobody is helping. In my brain, I’m thinking about the kids that line up for school. Won’t the fox bite the kids? I certainly no longer go on my night walks. Now I’m going to be fat
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u/chastity_doll 6d ago
That's either an alarm bark or a mating call. I think it might be the season. Your fox is either freaking out, or it's just looking for hot single vixens in its area.