- Here are some noises you definitely don’t want to hear when out in the woods.
Nature is scary enough as it is, with countless creatures that could off in a second. Some of them don’t need huge fangs or venomous stings, though — just the sounds they make are enough to give you a heart attack.
There are animals that look as scary as they sound. But then there are others that are perfectly harmless, but they sure don’t sound like it.
Here’s a collection of six animals that are guaranteed to scare your socks off if you heard them in the dark.
Red Fox
Foxes aren’t particularly intimidating creatures. At best, they’re a mild annoyance when they tip your trash cans over when looking for food.
But if you’ve lived in an area with a lot of foxes, you’ll definitely have heard a fox scream. And that’s not a sound you’d expect to come from a fox.
Just have a listen.
A fox’s scream is eerie because it doesn’t sound human… But it kind of does. This author has definitely jumped up and screamed back after hearing it, only the stuff that came from my mouth was probably even less family-friendly.
Alligator
Alligators don’t really need to make any sound to be intimidating. But of course these reptilian horrors have to also make an absolutely terrifying sound.
The noise they make is called bellowing. It’s a low rumbling growl that can grow into an eerie roar.
It sounds like something you’d hear a dinosaur make in a movie. In a way, it’s fitting, but it doesn’t make it any less scary.
Fun fact, both male and female bellow. The males just do it a lot louder.
Great Blue Heron
If you happen to find yourself in a swampy area in Florida, there’s another animal besides alligators that might give you a scare. We’re talking about the great blue heron.
The heron itself is a slender bird that some might even call majestic. But the sound it makes when disturbed can be pretty chilling.
The croaking, throaty noise has frightened many a Floridian — and tourist — walking along waterways. We can’t really blame anyone for jumping at their calls.
Lynx
Lynxes are rather pretty large cats and many visitors in Canada and Alaska hope to see one in the wild. But the lynx is an animal that’s better seen than heard.
They can make a whole variety of absolutely terrifying sounds. On the less scary end of the scale is the low purr-growl, which will definitely remind you that this is a wild beast and not a cuddly house cat.
But then there are the screams. The lynx can make a noise that sounds very convincingly like a human screaming “NO!”.
The worst sound of them all is the extended call that sounds like a person screeching in agony. Imagine hearing that when walking in a forest at night.
Crows
The cawing of crows is a horror movie staple used to tell the viewer that something scary is afoot. And indeed, crows squawking can be an unsettling noise, especially after dark.
But the thing about crows is that they make many more sounds than that. Some of them you may not know about and they can take you by surprise.
And then there’s the fact that crows are like parrots — they can learn to imitate human sounds, including speech. If you happen upon a crow that’s spent a lot of time around people, it just might hit you with a “what’s up?”.
Bet you wouldn’t be expecting that.
Trumpets
What do we mean by “trumpets?” Is there somebody practicing their instrument in the woods?
Well, no — or maybe there is. Nobody really knows what causes these bizarre sounds that seem to emanate from the sky itself.
The eerie, unexplainable noises are fairly common in Canada. People have heard them everywhere from the deep wilderness to city centers.
Some experts suspect that the noise could stem from tectonic movements, the Aurora Borealis, or from the Earth’s magnetic field. Others shrug them off as hoaxes or pranks — which some of the videos probably are.
But those sounds that are actually real… What on earth could cause this kind of noise?