Strange/frightening animal sound while camping

Hi all,

Wasn't really sure where to post this but because of the creepy factor, thought I'd post here. I heard this strange and frightening animal noise about a week and a half ago and I'm really left wondering what type of animal would make this sound. It reminded me in a way, of the high-pitched screechy aggressive sound I heard late at night in September of last year that I posted about briefly on the forum which I believe was from an opossum or raccoon. I was in my house at the time, so I wasn't as freaked out by it. Maybe this most recent time it was also from either animal.

Anyway, I heard it a couple weeks ago when I was camping on the Oregon coast at a state park. Woke up in the middle of the night to it, and it caused a level of fear I'm not sure I've ever experienced before. Felt immobilized by the sound, and it seems as if I stayed in freeze mode for a good while after the sound diminished-imagining whatever it was, was still around. The sound may have lasted for several minutes-it's pretty vague now but I didn't get back to sleep for quite a long while after. I was also in a tent alone, which didn't help-though I was next to a tent my cousin and his friend were in. My cousin and his friend said they didn’t hear the sound or wake up to which I found a bit curious because of how loud and close it was, although the friend said he heard dogs barking off and on in the night as I did.

Find it also to be a coincidence that I experienced the reaction I did when I did, as I was reading a book on the way to the campsite the day before called 'Waking the Tiger' by Peter Levine about healing trauma; the part at the beginning of the book where he discusses the freeze or immobility response experienced by animals in the wild. Anyway, maybe this last time it was also a very angry/distressed raccoon or opossum and I just had an exaggerated fear response? Either way, I don't think I'll be camping in a tent in the woods again if I can help it.

If anyone has any input on what animal it may have come from in this area of the country, I'm interested to hear.

Hello Cleo, the sound that mating cats produce can be quite un-nerving.
Maybe mountain lions in the area?

I would vote for raccoon. When they fight with one another it sounds absolutely terrible. Bobcats are also known for pretty horrific sounds.

I can imagine that when you don't know what makes that sound that it can feel freighting especially when being alone in a tent.

Do you know what animals are living in the area? Because then you could for example search on youtube for such animals and if they sound similar to what you heard.

I.e a mountain lion screaming:

First time you hear this night can get your hackles up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBpZTo1dlPM

Cleo said:

Find it also to be a coincidence that I experienced the reaction I did when I did, as I was reading a book on the way to the campsite the day before called 'Waking the Tiger' by Peter Levine about healing trauma; the part at the beginning of the book where he discusses the freeze or immobility response experienced by animals in the wild. Anyway, maybe this last time it was also a very angry/distressed raccoon or opossum and I just had an exaggerated fear response? Either way, I don't think I'll be camping in a tent in the woods again if I can help it.

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I don't know what critters you have in your neck of the woods, but even here in the UK you can often hear some very unusual unnerving sounds made by foxes, which are relatively small, even the domesticated cats can make very weird noises when fighting.

Maybe the more notable part of all this is indeed that you experienced the 'play dead' reaction while reading Levine's book, a hint perhaps to take notice of an area where you may have heightened sensitivities going on.

If I recall correctly, the 'play dead' response is also connected to the Vagus nerve, it's like a super stimulation of the para-sympathetic side of the nervous system, the rest/digest part, which can make us drop like a stone.

Have you tried the Éiriú Eolas breathing programme? That works with the vagal nerve and would be helpful in re-balancing the physiological / emotional / psychological stress load. Too much stress makes us 'jumpy' after all, so maybe the clue is right there?

Cleo said:

If anyone has any input on what animal it may have come from in this area of the country, I'm interested to hear.

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I found this from a quick search:

_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Coast#Terrestrial_ecology

Like many forested regions of the western United States and Canada, many large species of animal can be found in the woods of the region. Most common are the Roosevelt elk and black-tailed deer, as well as bobcats and North American cougar. All four species, though common now, were uncommon in the past, having moved more heavily into the region with the beginning of timber harvest. Likewise, smaller species, including nutrias and opossum can also be found, as well as the Townsend's mole, which inhabits many lowland and floodplain areas.[16]

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So, it could have come from an opossum as it reminded you of the previous time you heard something similar, or it could've been a bobcat as others have said.

Alada said:

Have you tried the Éiriú Eolas breathing programme? That works with the vagal nerve and would be helpful in re-balancing the physiological / emotional / psychological stress load. Too much stress makes us 'jumpy' after all, so maybe the clue is right there?

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I second this. Besides regular EE practice, doing a few pipe-breaths especially in situations like these can help a lot with calming the body down, and the good thing about stimulating the vagus nerve is that it enables you to remain vigilant. :)

What kind of sound are you talking about? Is it something like this one?

I was going to say cougar right off the top of my head. But bobcat and fox are good guesses, too. That marmot scream is really high. That would give me a headache, for sure. (Thanks for that loreta. :)) Marmots are usually found in the mountains, as you can see in the video. So I'm not sure it would be down by the coast.

Cougars (mountain lions) make a lot of different screams. Some say they even sound like a woman screaming at times.

Maybe it was a spooky owl call. Oregon has 15 species: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Oregon. If it was any of these, I'd suggest the high-pitched blood-curdling call of a barn owl -


A sampler of some other species calls -

The oly thing i did not see in the replies was coyotes. They can sure make an odd collection of noises.

Thanks all for your input. The sound clip that is the closest so far is the one with the high pitched screech made by the barn owl. When I mentioned the sound to others the other week, most thought it might be a screech owl. Seems like there was a fluctuation in tone too, not just one continuous high pitched screech with pauses in between. Hearing that clip, it could have very well been an owl though.

The place I camped at btw is Fort Stevens State Park, at the Northwestern part of Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia river. The campsite is near an old military installation. We toured several of the gun batteries at the installation the next day. Kind of an eerie place, moreso now due to the reaction I had at hearing that creepy animal sound.

Anyway, I am writing this on my phone. Plan to write a bit more when I can access the Internet on my computer.

Cleo said:

Thanks all for your input. The sound clip that is the closest so far is the one with the high pitched screech made by the barn owl. When I mentioned the sound to others the other week, most thought it might be a screech owl. Seems like there was a fluctuation in tone too, not just one continuous high pitched screech with pauses in between. Hearing that clip, it could have very well been an owl though.

The place I camped at btw is Fort Stevens State Park, at the Northwestern part of Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia river. The campsite is near an old military installation. We toured several of the gun batteries at the installation the next day. Kind of an eerie place, moreso now due to the reaction I had at hearing that creepy animal sound.

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Looking at this image of Fort Stevens State Park, it looks to me like prime barn owl habitat; open terrain with rough grassland and scattered low bushes/trees suitable for hunting small rodents and old deserted buildings for nest sites.



I noticed that you also heard the call near your house. Is the terrain near or surrounding your home similar to that depicted above? If so, it all seems to argue in favour of a barn owl as being the source of the mysterious noises. fwiw.

Hi, meant to have posted this response here sooner...

treesparrow said:

I noticed that you also heard the call near your house. Is the terrain near or surrounding your home similar to that depicted above? If so, it all seems to argue in favour of a barn owl as being the source of the mysterious noises. fwiw.

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The terrain where I live is not so similar but we do have barn owls here. So, that could be a possibility.

Thought this was an interesting video about wildlife at Fort Stevens State Park. They don't mention the presence of owls but do mention raccoons:

Alada said:

Cleo said:

Find it also to be a coincidence that I experienced the reaction I did when I did, as I was reading a book on the way to the campsite the day before called 'Waking the Tiger' by Peter Levine about healing trauma; the part at the beginning of the book where he discusses the freeze or immobility response experienced by animals in the wild. Anyway, maybe this last time it was also a very angry/distressed raccoon or opossum and I just had an exaggerated fear response? Either way, I don't think I'll be camping in a tent in the woods again if I can help it.

Click to expand...

Maybe the more notable part of all this is indeed that you experienced the 'play dead' reaction while reading Levine's book, a hint perhaps to take notice of an area where you may have heightened sensitivities going on.

If I recall correctly, the 'play dead' response is also connected to the Vagus nerve, it's like a super stimulation of the para-sympathetic side of the nervous system, the rest/digest part, which can make us drop like a stone.

Have you tried the Éiriú Eolas breathing programme? That works with the vagal nerve and would be helpful in re-balancing the physiological / emotional / psychological stress load. Too much stress makes us 'jumpy' after all, so maybe the clue is right there?

Click to expand...

For some reason I didn't think to deep breath when I reacted as I did. I haven't actually been practicing EE as much the last few months-a good idea I think to start up again. May be a matter of my imagination getting the better of me as well. I had read part of the first Missing 411 book by David Paulides a few months prior, and I remember (after hearing that sound) suddenly starting to think about the strange goings on in national parks as described in the book and how I was at a park. Also about what had been written in a thread about the book on the forum-anyway, wasn't feeling too safe and thoughts were racing.

Cleo said:

May be a matter of my imagination getting the better of me as well. I had read part of the first Missing 411 book by David Paulides a few months prior, and I remember (after hearing that sound) suddenly starting to think about the strange goings on in national parks as described in the book and how I was at a park. Also about what had been written in a thread about the book on the forum-anyway, wasn't feeling too safe and thoughts were racing.

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Yeah, we really have to get rational and reason things through with ourselves when thoughts/feelings like that start to creep in. If you recall the Coach analogy, that’s when we need to have the driver firmly in control of the reigns, so that when the horses get jittery they can be steadied and guided. Let them run loose and it can ruin your whole weekend eh?