need help identifying a wild animal -- no pics

[Bertha Venation]

I went outside at deepest dusk to put away the bird feeders. I caught some reflecting eyes from the tree line at the back of my property. I thought it was one of our cats, Smudgey, so I called to her. Whatever it was made a noise like this:

rrrrraaaAAAANGCHNKT!

Sorry. That is the best I can do. I hesitate to use the word "bark," but that's as close as I can come to the critter's sharp vocalization. It was most assuredly not a dog. I did my best to imitate it, and it answered back. We went back and forth for about five minutes, until the mosquitoes got to me and I came back into the house.

I have no idea what it is. We get possums, raccoons, foxes (though we haven't seen a fox in a long time, fucking developers), plus daytime critters like squirrels and deer. But I have never heard a sound like this critter tonight made.

Any ideas?

PS I live in Charles County in southern Maryland.

[LiberalEsto]

1. It might be Oscar

the mixed animal

[Bertha Venation]

2. Oscar!!

I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

[elleng]

28. I've missed Oscar! What is s/he???

Where might I see her/him???

[MrScorpio]

31. Definitely Oscar nt

[uppityperson]

3. I wonder how many people will see your headline and think "Oscar"

[petronius]

19. Add me to the list...

[nolabear]

23. Me, immediately!

Oscar is like loup garou; he shows up at the craziest times.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Raccoons can make some very strange noises.

Did it sound like this? http://pelotes.jea.com/racchirp.au

[Bertha Venation]

22. your sound won't play, V.O.

Bummer.

[Bertha Venation]

32. Got the sound to play --

That's not it.

[Nevernose]

5. Whereabouts do you live?

Could it have been a bobcat? I've seen mountain lions in places where there aren't supposed to be any (Arkansas).

Was it high pitched or low pitched? Coyote, which are now found in most of the lower 48, and have creepy-ass eyes at night?

[Bertha Venation]

24. Southern Maryland

Low pitch. Hmm... coyote? Perhaps...

Edit: not coyote. Mrs. V. played several coyote sounds; none came close.

[olddots]

6. "back & forth for about five minutes " ????

I have no idea but five minutes for a critter is a very long time to not attack or leave suddenly .

I go outside to pee in the dark and occasionally hear creatures in the brush which in tern scares the pee out of me but be careful B this could be something icky-creepy and just plain nutty .

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. So it was you! trying to hide ur peepee!

.
.
.



CC

[Bertha Venation]

25. Yes. olddots, it was a good long time.

It walked slowly around the perimeter of our yard, north to east and then south. Exchanging its cry with my imitation every few seconds. I can't imagine what it was...

If things scare you, don't pee outside!

[ConcernedCanuk]

29. Actually, many critters are deterred by male pee.

.
.
.

Including Black Bears.

However, girl pee does not have the same effect, one way or 't'other.

So back to olddots -

keep peein' outside, saves the septic, and keeps the critters at bay.

Back to Bertha - ya got a crazy critter there -

Ya must know at least one crazy hooman, well -

sad to say, there are crazy critters too . . .

Be careful.

CC

[a la izquierda]

7. Bobcat?

[liberal N proud]

9. Racoon

[ConcernedCanuk]

10. Pondered this a bit - olddots comment made sense.

.
.
.

It is very unusual for a wild animal to behave like that.

But a fox, and some others or around that size can behave like that if they are rabid.

Just like humans, there are some frikken crazies out there that do not behave normal.

Stay away from it, shoot it, call whatever ministry/wildlife management department takes care of nuisance animals -

But whatever you decide - STAY AWAY FROM IT!

If it has rabies, it ain't gonna act normal.

Just like an ex . . . .

CC

[Locut0s]

11. Good advise, though I think the possibility of rabies is overstated most of the time...

Apparently there have only been 50 deaths due to rabies in the US since 1990, in a population of 300 million that's very very few. Still better safe than sorry, rabies is 100% lethal.

[marzipanni]

15. OMG- I read an awful story about a crazy rabid raccoon attack

I just googled "rabid raccoon attacks woman on her driveway" to see if I could find it, and There are MANY reports listed.

[ConcernedCanuk]

26. yeah, some people think "it can't happen to me"

.
.
.

But the OP suggests very unusual behavior from this critter.

I'll repeat what I said before

STAY AWAY FROM IT - call local authorities to see how it can be handled.

I live at the end of a dead road - very rough road, so help would not be quick.

If it came near the house - I'd shoot it rather than not be able to sleep.

CC

[marzipanni]

12. Here's a fox, was its voice anything like this?

Or higher or lower?


Fox calling out, warning that this is his territory-
http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/thefoxden/fox_territory_call.wav

Page of fox sounds to listen to-

http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/thefoxden/sounds.html

[Bertha Venation]

27. I listened to several fox sounds

(some quite distressing). It wasn't a fox. Thanks for the link to the sounds.

[Locut0s]

13. I'm sure you are used to every sound a cat can make but...

Some of the strangest, weirdest sounds I've heard have been cat fights or cats in heat.

[digonswine]

14. Raccoon-most likely-

a bobcat would be gone before you knew it was there.
Not a good description of a fox, either.
Raccoons are the only ones that stick around like that. They watch and wait-they will out-wait us all.

Once, while camping-Wisconsin-we saw some coons and thought they were cute. Later, while my wife and I were playing cards outside at the picnic table, I felt fur brush across the backs of my lower legs.

They are just that brave and persistent.

Also--if you have never heard upset raccoons--good. Their noises could haunt your dreams.

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. Maybe Canadian Racoons are different then

.
.
.

Sitting on my couch, I watched a Racoon climb up to one of my bird feeders.

I opened my front door, and racoon took off like a shot.

Never seen racoon since.

hmmmm.

CC

[digonswine]

20. I can only describe good ol' murican raccoons-

surely-it matters where a person is. The more people-the more courageous the animal.

I am in Northern WI--I have no coon problems at all--just skunks rooting for grubs.

Whenever you get an area frequented by my species, though, you get those who notice that we are fairly careless with our food.

We(my wife and I) never leave our food cooler out while camping. I am not opposed to feeding the needy-but I would like it to be on my terms. We plan our meals carefully, and one midnight bandit can foul up the works.

[ConcernedCanuk]

21. that makes sense - I ain't careless with my food.

.
.
.

I even wash my cans before they go in the garbage, food scraps get frozen and only put out on garbage day, so there is never any smell of food around unless I'm cooking or eating.

Even when camping, as much as I like the outdoors, I almost always ate inside my camper to avoid attracting wasps/ants, whatever from the inevitable stuff I'd spill on the ground.

Meat bones got burnt in the firepit I would create wherever I camped - never EVER had a problem with critters - and many times I was WAY in the bush.

And that was before I ever owned a cell phone - even now, with a cell phone - it would be hours before a 911 call could possibly assist me - so I gotta keep my smarts on . . .

CC

[a la izquierda]

34. I was sitting in my friend's den with their dog and cat..

And I felt something watching us. It was a bobcat, who sat at the back door, staring for a long time. Maybe he hoped I'd let the animals out.

[mysuzuki2]

16. Fox will bark.

[ashling]

18. Chupacabra

[csziggy]

30. I don't have an identification for you, but here is a great site for sounds

Macaulay Library
http://macaulaylibrary.org/
The Macaulay Library is the world's largest and oldest scientific archive of biodiversity audio and video recordings. Our mission is to collect and preserve recordings of each species' behavior and natural history, to facilitate the ability of others to collect and preserve such recordings, and to actively promote the use of these recordings for diverse purposes spanning scientific research, education, conservation, and the arts.

Oh - try the first cries on this one - distressed baby racoons: http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/79094

[Bertha Venation]

33. hi, csziggy

Looks like a great site, but since I've already ruled out coyotes, foxes and raccoons, I don't know what to search for. Nothing came up when I searched chupacabra, Bigfoot, and Oscar.

[csziggy]

46. Try fishers or martens (mammal, not bird), not sure what else to suggest

And try more than one audio clip for each animal. The young racoons sound very different than the other racoon clips.

No fishers in their list - try this clip: http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/55373/martes-americana-american-marten-canada-ontario-william-w-h-gunn

[EdwardSmith74]

35. The sound in my head said "crane". Do you live near a wide shallow creek?

[Bertha Venation]

37. No

We live next to a heavily wooded, small stream in a gully. In 12 years, I've never seen any water birds there.

[EdwardSmith74]

38. Weird. That's really what the phoenetics put in my head. We've got all kinds of large water birds.

[Bertha Venation]

41. I'm pretty sure it was a mammal.

Its eyes shone out at me from the ground at the tree line. They were big and round and clearly on a mammalian face -- I thought it was one of my cats.

We see great blue herons all the time. We named them Ichabod.

[LiberalEsto]

36. Could it be one of these?

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Hunt_Trap/furbearers/mustelids.asp
Fishers, weasels, otters, etc.

Or a nutria?

List of Maryland wild mammals:

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Plants_Wildlife/mammals.asp

At least MFM is presumably safely home in Tucson, AZ.

[Orrex]

39. Binturong, obviously

[Bertha Venation]

42. I wish, but I don't think so . . .

I didn't smell popcorn.

[MiddleFingerMom]

40. Many years ago, I was returning from a small clearing deep in the woods where I was raising...

.
.
.
... um... "Australian tomatoes". I stayed much later than planned, so night has
fallen -- no moon... pitch black.
.
I'm stoned out of my gourd (ONLY on the way back) and feeling my way along
the path by foot-feel and memory when suddenly, something 10 feet off the
path and about 20 feet behind me SCREAMS the most awful scream in the world.
.
I freeze, scared shitless (almost). I breathe deeply and soon come to realize
that it was completely natural and not threatening to me -- a small prey being
caught by its predator.
.
My muscles gradually unlock and I continue down the path. I get no further than
30 feet or so when this thought comes to mind:
.
"Sure... that's what EVERYBODY thinks right before FUCKING BIGFOOT grabs them!!!!!".
.
.
.
True story.
.
.
.
BTW, Fucking Bigfoot never did grab me.
.
.
.

[Bertha Venation]

43. great story

Damned fucking Bigfoot, anyway.

[EvilAL]

44. Sasquatch,

definitely a sasquatch.
Good thing you didn't reply rrrrraaaAAAANGIKRBBLE, it would have thought you wanted to mate.

[NM_Birder]

45. it HAS to be a Mermaid,...didn't you see the show ?

[Demoiselle]

47. My big old Kuvasz (LIke a Great Pyrenees only more aggressive) managed to trap a baby raccoon....

behind a box in our backyard. It was a little, still a baby, and it made the most goddawful growling snarling roaring noise I've ever heard. Sound would have worked in a Steven King movie. Needless to say, the dog and I ran into the house in a hurry.