Dreadful fox (?) noises

[Sue]

Have just become aware of what sounds like a fox in pain and being hit by a stick or something.

I've been outside but can't really identify what direction it is coming from.

It isn't the usual fox screaming, and there are thudding sounds as well. Really hoping it isn't a fox caught in some kind of trap, because it is quite distressing :(

Can anybody else hear it?

ETA: I live off North Cross Road.

ETA: It is still continuing. I hope it isn't a dog somebody has been given for Christmas and left in the garden.

ETA: 12.39 - has stopped. Whatever it was, I hope the animal is OK :(

[pinecone]

are you sure it wasn't just a regular fox barking? it is quite a unique sound.

[SteveUK1978]

This may help....

Then again, perhaps not.

[louisemurray]

Its just fox sex/mating calls - they sound dreadful but are perfectly normal for this time of year, should finish up by end January.

[DulwichFox]

Sue..

I heard something very similar to what you are describing in the area close to your house. 2/3 night ago.

Was not coming from street. Sounded like it was coming from behind the houses on our side of the road.

21.00 ish

It was not Foxes mating. It was a Whelping sound. Like a distressed animal.

If this goes on will need investigating... Could well be a Christmas pet.

DulwichFox

[intexasatthe moment]

The thudding sounds are really worrying . Someone else must have heard it .

[Sue]

pinecone Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> are you sure it wasn't just a regular fox barking?

> it is quite a unique sound.

xxxxxx

No.

I hear that all the time, as would anybody who lives round here!!

And I am well familiar with the sounds of mating foxes, for the same reason .....

Somewhere between 2 and 3 I heard the sounds again, and there was definitely another sound associated with it which sounded like a stick thumping on wood, that's the best way I can describe it. I went outside again but couldn't see anything.

Someone who lives in my road has just told me that her cat, which apparently has a very loud yowl, did not come home this morning, for the first time ever. I sincerely hope this is not related :(

[Sue]

The missing/yowling cat has been found stuck on a roof and taken home, so that's one possibility eliminated should the sounds happen again .....

[fl0wer]

I think you need to ask a policeman or someone from the vet's or the RSPCA to come and help investigate. If some poor animal is tied up or trapped by accident, and desperately thumping at a shed door or post to get out, then it needs releasing, full stop.

Could it be a squirrel stuck in a roof space?

[arthurthecat]

Sue, I'll keep an ear out tonight as our gardens almost back on to each other.

[lane lover]

Its foxes mating. Its a horrible sound, but nothing new to ED.

[first mate]

Lane lover,

Sue has already stated that she is very familiar with the noises foxes make through the seasons. She noted that the noises that alarmed her were different to the usual sounds foxes make- many of us have heard the blood curdling shrieks made by mating foxes and foxes fighting over territory. Sue was very clear that the noises that prompted this thread were different.

I hope that the securing of the lost cat was the cause and that the noise has now stopped.

[voltore]

I heard what must've been the same noises that night, same time. I'm near the Great Exhibition pub.

Also familiar with the usual fox wailing but this stood out as being different.

Didn't hear any of the thumping sound though, maybe too far away.

[Sue]

There were no noises last night - or at least I didn't hear any.

I am so hoping that it was something to do with Larry the tabby cat stuck on a roof in Crystal Palace Road in a house quite near mine, who was rescued yesterday morning, particularly as his owner told me that he had a very distinctive yowl (though I don't know what the thudding noises could have been, in that case).

fl0wer, if I had been able to pinpoint even vaguely the location of the noise, then yes I would have contacted the RSPCA or police, however I had no idea at all even whether it was coming from the direction of the back or the front of my house.

Sound travels in strange ways and bounces off buildings etc.

Also I'm not sure they would have welcomed a call in the middle of the night. The RSPCA are not always the most helpful of organisations and I'm pretty sure the police would not consider it a priority :(

Anyway, let's hope that either the cat was the cause, or else that the animal is now out of its misery :(

[impressrecruitment1]

good post