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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Screaming from across the fields tonight..

133 replies

anaom · 21/07/2021 23:17

Hello,

So I'm currently in bed trying to get to sleep, but all I can hear is an awful, almost human like screaming coming from across the fields.
We live in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields.. only one immediate neighbour.

It sounds awful, like someone or something is in pain! I've never lived around so much open space before so totally not used to the sounds. It's really loud..

Would I be unreasonable to go out and see what it could be? I'm scared someone or something is in danger?

I cant exactly explain the sound.. it's just strange and weirdly haunting looking out the window trying to locate it, and my eye literally can't see past the fence at the end of the garden. It's SO dark.

SadSad

OP posts:
CandidaAlbicans2 · 22/07/2021 07:37

@Sparklfairy, I have the opposite story. A family member used to live in London and one night he heard screaming but assumed it was the foxes again. When questioned by Police the next day all the neighbours that heard it thought the same too. But that time it wasn't, it was a woman being stabbed to death on her doorstep a few doors down 😫 Just awful. It's far more likely to be animals not people making that noise though, thankfully.

DinosaurDiana · 22/07/2021 07:39

Oh the bloody owls waking me up every night.
Then it was a squirrel the other morning.
Yes, the peace and quiet of the country !

Chunkymenrock · 22/07/2021 07:41

Cats can make a dreadful noise too, in the night.

MrsRussell · 22/07/2021 07:45

Don't forget as well, we're only just seeing the butterflies this summer that we normally see in late spring.
That cold wet spring we had has put everything back a few weeks. The jackdaws in next door's chimney are just going for their third brood of the year.

Christmasfairy2020 · 22/07/2021 07:48

I'd love to live in this type of area in the middle of no where what area is it you live in how do you find these type of properties

happystory · 22/07/2021 07:49

Mating hedgehogs make a hell of a racket.. probably not surprisingly....

Lovemusic33 · 22/07/2021 07:58

We get foxes screaming here, it’s a awful sound like a woman in pain. It’s foxes having sex 😐.

Thebookswereherfriends · 22/07/2021 07:59

I grew up in the countryside, but never heard a fox at night. Moved to London in my twenties and 2 nights after I got there I phoned my Dad really upset because I could hear “babies screaming”. He reassured me that it was most likely foxes and when it happened on an almost nightly basis i was no longer bothered by it. Did find it amusing that the only time wildlife has bothered me is when I lived in a city!

Original poster
anaom · 22/07/2021 08:02

Thanks everyone you've all put my mind at ease! I stayed up a little longer last night after posting, as something was setting the neighbours motion sensor light off but we aren't sure what.
I could see a fairly big 'shape' moving along the edge of the field, just next to our fence, but not sure what animal it was!

Either way, I'm sure it was probably that, that was making the horrible noise.

As the night went on, there was 2 other animals making the same noise - so three in total, one after the other 😣🤣

OP posts:
PrettyBlunt · 22/07/2021 08:06

Yes we also get foxes screaming. When I first heard it, I thought it was a woman screaming. Awful noise.

Frazzled2207 · 22/07/2021 08:06

I’ve heard the foxes noise and it’s bloody terrifying.
More than likely it was that.

ConstanceGracy · 22/07/2021 08:08

Muntjac sound even worse than foxes!
Our garden backs on to woodland and there are loads here, they’re cute but the noise is awful

lightand · 22/07/2021 08:09

I was in the exact situation as you a number of years ago,
For 18 months, I would go out at bedtime/night, to see if I could see or find anything untoward. My DH thought I was nuts![he had lived there for years].
But I couldnt sleep wondering if someone or something was in trouble.
I never found a thing! Grin

Branleuse · 22/07/2021 08:21

I think they need to redo the old mcdonald song but with various REAL animal sounds.

On that farm he had a fox. On that farm he had a lamb

CaptainMyCaptain · 22/07/2021 08:24

Probably foxes but peacocks also make a terrifying noise.

NewlyGranny · 22/07/2021 08:41

Two words: Sarah Payne. People heard her screaming in the night, did nothing, and relaxed when it stopped.

It probably wouldn't have saved her if the police had been called, but imagine living with the knowledge that you'd heard but hadn't responded...

If in doubt, call! DD2 had the police out when she thought there was an intruder in the roof space, but they were sweet to her when it turned out to be raccoons.

It's good to learn what the countryside noises sound like, though. Vixens mostly scream in February, but it could be young dog foxes establishing territory.

Peacocks have a distinctive scream bit it doesn't sound human. The different owl calls can easily be learned online. Summer nights in the country, sleeping with all the windows open. What a joy. One summer we had a nightingale in an overgrown thicket in a nearby boggy field corner. And one unforgettable night I sat outside listening to a young owl perched in the wood nearby learning to hoot and being answered by an experienced older one from the next wood across the valley...

Where we live now, it's all gulls!

TheGenealogist · 22/07/2021 08:43

Occam's razor...

What's more likely - foxes, like 99% of people have said, or a child being murdered by a stranger?

Those of us who have heard foxes regularly recognise the other-worldly screeching. Next time OP hears it, she'll recognise it too.

TheGumption · 22/07/2021 08:44

I once called the police because of what I thought was screaming on a dog walk Blush it was foxes...

Whirlywooo · 22/07/2021 08:58

Definitely foxes. I can guarantee that after hearing the screams, there's a post the next day on our local FB page saying, "Was someone murdered last night?"

HopeHappy · 22/07/2021 09:27

@Branleuse

I think they need to redo the old mcdonald song but with various REAL animal sounds.

On that farm he had a fox. On that farm he had a lamb

I'm sorry but that's really made me chuckle.

"On that farm he had a fox"
"With a insert screaming like someone being murdered here"
"A insert screaming like someone being murdered there"

etc!

Now there's a way to terrify a child!

CaptainMyCaptain · 22/07/2021 09:33

Peacocks have a distinctive scream bit it doesn't sound human. I think it does although it tends to be loud shrieks rather than sustained screaming.

DeadButDelicious · 22/07/2021 09:40

@Bananapuppy

Where we are the lambs have just been taken away and the sheep are crying out for their babies. It’s a loud, slightly wailing, sorrowful but alarming sound, very eerie- could it be that?
That's so sad.. Sad
NewlyGranny · 22/07/2021 09:42

Old tip from my student days: if being attacked, scream "Fire!" not just "Help!" as it makes people take more notice. 🤷🏼‍♀️

lubeybooby · 22/07/2021 09:50

Foxes terrified me like this once and I thought it was a woman screaming. I nearly called the police and then I saw the fox in the act of the deafening blood curdling scream. Little sods.

Cherrysummer · 22/07/2021 09:52

I find the responses on this thread, although understandable, sad Sad

It worries me that if ever I was alone and in trouble (I live rurally too) no one would come to my aid because of foxes.

I guess we all need to really educate ourselves of the different sounds so that if ever it is a human we may actually be able to help rather than just ignore!