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Original poster

Spooky sounds in garden at night- which animal? Also now a "voice"

63 replies

daughterof · 21/01/2026 18:04

For a while I have been hearing unsettling animal noises at night in my back garden, it's hard to describe them but I haven't been able to identify them online by listening to recordings of British wildlife. We have hedgehogs visit sometimes and there are loads of cats....

I haven't been too fussed but last night in addition to the noises, there was a "voice" on and off over and hour or so sounding like it was saying "hello" really clearly but not quite saying the word properly. It came from outside our house and didn't sound human.

Rational me really hopes for an explanation as DH works away more than he is home and its just me and DC here.

Woo me is adding that according to maps, a ley line passes through the house 10 doors down from us and DD1 had experiences when she was a toddler here which she now doesn't remember.

OP posts:
DontCallMeBaby · 22/01/2026 18:40

Of my two previous cats, one said ‘hello’ a lot. The other in old age would walk upstairs at 1am making sounds that would have caused me to absolutely shit myself I’d I didn’t have a cat. Really, really creepy.

Sidebeforeself · 22/01/2026 18:39

Meadowfinch · 22/01/2026 18:35

This time of year, the options are foxes, cats, four types of deer, hedgehogs, badgers, three or four kinds of owls, assorted other nocturnal birds

Plus the local drunks, amorous kids and out of control tech.

And ghosts. Don’t forget ghosts.

Meadowfinch · 22/01/2026 18:35

This time of year, the options are foxes, cats, four types of deer, hedgehogs, badgers, three or four kinds of owls, assorted other nocturnal birds

Plus the local drunks, amorous kids and out of control tech.

Redcandlescandal · 22/01/2026 18:32

Foxes

MoonWoman69 · 22/01/2026 18:26

@daughterof I'm all for the woo, but when male cats are searching for a mate, they make sounds like they're saying hello! We have two visiting male cats in the garden who do this! On a night it can sound a bit spooky! Both foxes and hedgehogs can make some very weird noises too!
Our house doesn't really overlook anyone at the back and I don't close the curtains until I go to bed. Our security lights show up anything coming into the garden, which is quite handy!

DramaAlpaca · 21/01/2026 20:04

January is peak fox mating season, so it's probably that. They'll shut up around the end of the month when they calm down and stop shagging.

damemaggiescurledupperlip · 21/01/2026 20:00

Hedgehogs are v noisy shaggers

Thesuperlativesistillloveyou · 21/01/2026 19:55

Get out👻⚰️🪦

Original poster
daughterof · 21/01/2026 19:50

Thanks for replies. I think it's mating cats and cats saying hello.. there are videos of both on Youtube,. had no idea some cats could say hello. The hellos I heard sounded so terifying and nearly human, and also sounded right beside patio doors on floor below so I assume a cat was hoping to come in

OP posts:
TeaandHobnobs · 21/01/2026 19:48

Round here, it’s the foxes, muntjac deer and tawny owls that make the worst freaky noises

Ijwwm · 21/01/2026 19:31

My cat has a certain call that sounds like he’s saying hello - freaked my sister out when she stayed over!

There was an awful noise around 3 the other morning, sounded like something being tortured. I used my Merlin Bird ID app to record it, was advised that it was a Jay.

Theres a website where you can listen to recordings of birds (some have a few recordings - normal call, flight call, distress call, etc) so I often double check what the Merlin app has told me. It was definitely a Jay’s alarm call. I’ll try to find out the name of the site.

Muntjac deer can sound a bit freaky at night. And foxes are an whole other level of thinking that someone is being sadistically tortured!

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 21/01/2026 19:21

There are SO many 'spooky stories' about people hearing screams in woodland and rushing over to find - nothing there!

I bet they didn't look in the bushes, where a pair of mating foxes would be keeping their heads down.

MaloryJones · 21/01/2026 19:15

Kingdomofsleep · 21/01/2026 18:15

It'll be foxes I bet. Foxes make such alarming sounds because it's a similar pitch to a human woman or child. So it sounds like a woman/child yelling in pain for a moment before you realise what it is. We have a family of them on our road and they're always yelling.

I agree
When I first moved to a flat, where there were lots of back gardens close by, and a quiet side road (belonged to the flats) and first heard foxes I truly thought it was a baby been abandoned out there ! I had heard them before, of course, but we were higher up then with no gardens close
Terrifying at first.

deeahgwitch · 21/01/2026 19:02

Kingdomofsleep · 21/01/2026 18:15

It'll be foxes I bet. Foxes make such alarming sounds because it's a similar pitch to a human woman or child. So it sounds like a woman/child yelling in pain for a moment before you realise what it is. We have a family of them on our road and they're always yelling.

I agree.
sometimes it sounds like a child. Worrying when you hear it then you realise it is only a fox.
There’s a legend about the banshee in Ireland. It can only be heard by people whose surnames begin with Mc or O’ ( as in O’ Connor etc ) and it signifies a death about to happen.
My father is convinced he heard it as a young boy playing with his friends.
The friends’ father had died unexpectedly.
His surname begins with Mc and his friends were O’ Sullivans.
I’m convinced it was a fox they heard.

Original poster
daughterof · 21/01/2026 19:02

Kingdomofsleep · 21/01/2026 18:39

OK I see, that makes more sense.

Still, a toddler reporting an experience is the ultimate unreliable narrator, surely!

When my dd first learnt to talk she addressed every man as Daddy.
Was she recognising them from past lives...?
No, she just thought Daddy meant "Man"

Show quote history

Hi, so to give more info if you're interested. She could speak in full sentences by 18 months and would talk endlessly. Once I was sat with her in our then lounge, and I felt unsettled and she started pointing at the ceiling saying "there's a lady there" repeatedly. She then wouldn't go in the room for over a week because "but the lady is there".DD2 had similar things but not in our home.

OP posts:
Zippedydodah · 21/01/2026 18:57

Backing onto woodland we get muntjac, roe deer, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, cats and owls so pretty much the whole orchestra!
A vixen screaming still makes my hair stand on end 😵‍💫

Kingdomofsleep · 21/01/2026 18:39

ChevernyRose · 21/01/2026 18:34

I thought it was the experiences the dd had that were strange not her forgetting them.

Show quote history

OK I see, that makes more sense.

Still, a toddler reporting an experience is the ultimate unreliable narrator, surely!

When my dd first learnt to talk she addressed every man as Daddy.
Was she recognising them from past lives...?
No, she just thought Daddy meant "Man"

WallaceinAnderland · 21/01/2026 18:38

My cat says the word hello in a non human way. So it's probably a cat.

EverythingGolden · 21/01/2026 18:35

nuffinkdoing · 21/01/2026 18:31

Muntjacs out the back of my house had me waking up in the night thinking my son was outside and calling ’help’. Sleep brain!

They’re noisy bastards!

They’re so creepy at night.

ChevernyRose · 21/01/2026 18:34

Kingdomofsleep · 21/01/2026 18:22

Just reread the op and chuckled at this:

Woo me is adding that according to maps, a ley line passes through the house 10 doors down from us and DD1 had experiences when she was a toddler here which she now doesn't remember.

Op, most people don't remember stuff that happened when they were toddlers!

I thought it was the experiences the dd had that were strange not her forgetting them.

nuffinkdoing · 21/01/2026 18:31

Muntjacs out the back of my house had me waking up in the night thinking my son was outside and calling ’help’. Sleep brain!

They’re noisy bastards!

chunkyBoo · 21/01/2026 18:25

Look up sounds of mating foxes, frogs and toads, muntjac deer and roe deer - we had something that sounded like the Tuscan Raiders from Star Wars …. I think it was mating foxes 🦊 … I hope!! 😳😉

abracadabra1980 · 21/01/2026 18:23

Mating season for cats starts around February. They can make a right racket when calling for a mate. Goes on until September. Right now I'm listening to a real loud whine but it's the wind outside my new house!