131 replies to this topic

[PYeomans]

My favorite observing site is "blessed" with whippoorwills in abundance. A far off cry can be soothing but one sounding off at short range is like a steam whistle.

[jcj380]

For me, the eerie one is hearing one coyote howl, and then hearing all of them, plus all of the neighborhood dogs, take up the cry, at 0200, coming from all directions.  It's something I'd expect in farm country or out West, but not in suburban St. Louis.

  I live in suburban Chicago and see coyotes strolling down my front sidewalk now and then.

 

A pack of coyotes decided to start howling ( more like screaming) the other night while I was on the back deck observing. They couldn't have been more than 30 yards away.

There was one hunting the other night about 20 feet from my deck where I observe.  I lit him up with my white flashlight.  He looked mildly annoyed before walking off.

 

The weirdest sound I heard was when I was observing in Door County, Wisconsin.  After some Googling, I'm pretty sure it was a whitetail deer blow, but at 0200 it was pretty creepy.
 

Edited by jcj380, 14 May 2025 - 08:53 AM.

[CrazyPanda]

The weirdest sound I heard was when I was observing in Door County, Wisconsin.  After some Googling, I'm pretty sure it was a whitetail deer blow, but at 0200 it was pretty creepy.

 

I practically jump inside my telescope when I hear those. They're always nearby because they're directed at me. I'm in their preferred path when they cross the yard and if I'm there with my scope, they'll be in the woods behind me making that sound because they're mad at me. Startles the heck out of me every time.

[jrussell]

At our club's dark site the only animal sound you're likely to hear is one of the neighbors dogs that usually comes over and hangs around. Any wildlife that tries to enter the field they're usually chasing it off barking the whole time. It can be a little unnerving though when you haven't heard one of them for a while and then you hear one of them either behind you or next to you while you're completely involved in your observing. There have been other times there though that you can hear coyotes in the distance.

 

The other dark site I go to there's frequently coyotes sometimes in the near distance. Other times it's the cattle that you hear.

[Don W]

We used to go fishing up around Rheinlander when I was a kid.  I just knew there was a Purple People Eater between the lodge and our cabin...

It was probably a Hodag!

[Monel76]

Owls are beautiful, there is one that comes to visit me every now and then, it sits on a post on my fence a few meter from me and stares at me for a few seconds. As soon as it realizes that I have seen it, it flyes away in complete silence. The strangest noise I hear at night is roe deers in love… They makes a sound similar to the barking of a big dog but truncated something like "BAH! BAH! BAH!".The problem is that is very loud and I every time s**t my pants

https://youtube.com/...?feature=shared

[sevenofnine]

Mating raccoons scared me right back into the house!! 

[UP4014Fan]

  I live in suburban Chicago and see coyotes strolling down my front sidewalk now and then.

 

There was one hunting the other night about 20 feet from my deck where I observe.  I lit him up with my white flashlight.  He looked mildly annoyed before walking off.

 

The weirdest sound I heard was when I was observing in Door County, Wisconsin.  After some Googling, I'm pretty sure it was a whitetail deer blow, but at 0200 it was pretty creepy.
 

I'm one of those rotten New Trier East grads who went to college up in Lake Forest.  I remember when the deer population in Lake Forest got so out of hand, they allowed (very controlled and police supervised) bow hunting in the middle of town.

[UP4014Fan]

I suppose this doesn't count, but when I used to go tent camping* at AirVenture at Oshkosh, the sound of bad Karaoke drifting across the North Forty from the bars on West 20th could be a bit eerie...

 

*A bunch of us rent a house now.  Real showers.

[penguinx64]

When I'm alone in the dark at night, the sound of humans bothers me more than animals.

[Jhunt]

Not sure if you have a smart phone or not, but the Merlin Bird app will listen to bird calls for your location and tell you what's around you. Pretty useful app for IDing birds. 

 

 

There is what the app looks like. Just sit your phone down and let it pick up the birds around you

 

The Wilson Snipe call is kinda creepy, I always hear it but i can never find it to photograph. 

[TayM57]

Noises have never bothered me. I don't even notice them at night, or in the daytime for that matter. 

[harpo80]

The weirdest sound I heard was when I was observing in Door County, Wisconsin.  After some Googling, I'm pretty sure it was a whitetail deer blow, but at 0200 it was pretty creepy.
 

I was convinced there was a velociraptor in my backyard hearing that one night.  Yeah, irrational....

Edited by harpo80, 14 May 2025 - 01:31 PM.

[Jay_Reynolds_Freeman]

I was convinced there was a velociraptor in my backyard hearing that one night.  Yeah, irrational....

There is a surviving variant of the Velociraptor that is nocturnally active but magically transmogrifies into a deer when illuminated by flashlight ...

 

Clear sky ...

[harpo80]

There is a surviving variant of the Velociraptor that is nocturnally active but magically transmogrifies into a deer when illuminated by flashlight ...

 

Clear sky ...

That's not helpful! 

[revans]

This sort of reminds me of something I came across in childhood:

 

From ghoulies and ghosties and long leggety beasties, and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us. 

                                                                                                          - Scottish prayer, @1800

 

Rick

[Marcus1]

https://youtube.com/...?feature=shared

That noise usually accompanied by a foreleg stamp, means that they are onto me and I had better have one lined up in the scope, (different scope) cause I am going home soon.

[Marcus1]

This sort of reminds me of something I came across in childhood:

From ghoulies and ghosties and long leggety beasties, and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us.
- Scottish prayer, @1800

Rick

My Mom scared me to death with that one when I was four or five.

[Marcus1]

Noises have never bothered me. I don't even notice them at night, or in the daytime for that matter.

I keep getting these flyers for hearing aids, do you want me to forward them to you.

Sorry, uncalled for, but irresistible since I’m there with you, can’t hear scat.

Edited by Marcus1, 14 May 2025 - 09:20 PM.

[Don W]

One not-so-bright member of our club one night asked, “What kind of bird is going ‘whipoorwill, whipoorwill’ like that all that all the time?”

[WillR]

A couple of nights ago I was out on the back deck doing some observing with my large mounted binoculars, looking for a few open clusters and a few Messier galaxies.   I'm in a suburban setting with adjacent woods.  As happens a couple of times a month when I'm observing deep sky objects for an hour or two before bed, I heard a non-human animal shriek that mimics the "cry of the banshee."  Turns out to be a night cry of a barn owl.  This was confirmed by my naturalist/gentleman farmer neighbor who raises a few chickens.  Apparently, the barn owl doesn't mind living far from his chickens and has been around for a couple of years now.   Unless you have heard a barn owl calling out at night, you would think you were dealing with some dangerous predatory quadruped like a Fisher Cat (which we also have around).... but the cry of the barn owl is very distinctive.  The only similar sound that I've heard was some years ago when I accidently stepped on my cat's tail. That roughly captures the idea of the sound...

 

Rick

I had the same reaction the first time I heard a barn owl while out observing. Very much of a screech. Then there is the eerie sound of a Screech Owl, which is not a screech. Go figure.

[izar187]

Then there is the eerie sound of a Screech Owl, which is not a screech.

_________________________

 

But they have been used in a lot of spooky movies.  : )

[RalphMeisterTigerMan]

If this creature had glowing eyes, then \i'm afraid that you are being stocked by the infamous "Moth-man". They basically are ver large and scary version of an Owl. You may want to pay a visit to "Ray's Occult" in New York. He has books on just about everything having to do with things rhat "screech in the night". Trust me, you need to work quickly to find a way to fight this thing. It just so happens that "Ray" is an old friend of mine so be sure to mention my name". He will be more than happy to help you.

 

Clear skies and keep looking up!

RalphMeisterTigerMan

[GADify]

I hear coyotes almost every night. Often they're quite close to me. I've gotten used to them and they don't bother me. We get all sorts of other critters, it's the skunk that I really don't want near me.

 

 

Decades ago - probably '93, I was living in an apartment with my soon to be wife. I had my beloved white C8 Ultima Pec and I used to haul it out into the quad to look at the night sky. Probably Bortle 8 if not 9 given all the streetlights around, but planets were still fair game. 

 

One night as I'm marveling at Jupiter in the cold I'm startled by some rustling so I pull my eyes away from the eyepiece to see a fairly large skunk waddling on by. He came within five- feet of me and gave me the side eye as he kept waddling as if to say, "You don't bother me and I won't bother you.". He waddled off to pursue whatever skunk business he had and I kept observing. 

[Sam Danigelis]

Last fall, I was at my usual spot in a conservation area out in the boonies, around midnight. The scope and astrocam were humming quietly along. Suddenly the night was pierced with a loud snarl. I shone my flashlight down the path and saw two large glowing eyes maybe 40 yards away. I couldn't see the body, so wasn't sure if it was a bobcat or mountain lion. I retreated to my vehicle, honked the horn and turned up the radio very loud for a couple minutes. After that experience, I now keep a canister of bear spray handy!