Spooky Sounds & Forest Mysteries
What’s really creeping in the woods of New York? 👻🧟♀️🦇🎃
As October rolls into New York, the days grow noticeably shorter, the air crisp, and the autumn leaves start rustling underfoot. It’s the season of cozy sweaters, pumpkin spice, and…unsettling noises coming from the tree line after sunset.
If you’ve ever been out near the woods on a chilly October evening and heard a blood-curdling scream or a raspy screech, you’re not alone. October is a high-energy time in the forest, and many of our wild neighbors are particularly vocal as they prepare for the long winter season ahead.
Through the lens of Snapshot NY trail cameras, we get to pull back the curtain on these mysterious nighttime visitors and demystify the "spooky" sounds of the forest.
1. The Fisher (Pekania pennanti) – The Myth of the "Fisher Cat Screech" 😱
Few sounds stir up folklore quite like the haunting vocalizations often attributed to fishers. Turns out, many of those eerie night screams come from red foxes! In fact, fishers usually don’t make sound at all! When they do, they produce a range of low hisses, growls, and raspy chuckles when communicating or defending territory. As autumn brings increased movement across their home ranges, these secretive members of the weasel family are busy hunting for small mammals before winter sets in. Seeing a sleek fisher slink past a camera setup in the moonlit woods is always a treat, and proof that the wild heart of New York’s forests is thriving!
Listen for the low “chortling” noise in the sound file below.
2. The Bobcat (Lynx rufus) – Caterwauls in the Shadows 👻🙀
If you hear a sound that resembles a domestic cat amplified by tenfold—ranging from deep guttural growls to high-pitched, desperate caterwauls—you might have a bobcat in the vicinity! As juvenile bobcats disperse to find their own territories in the fall and adults mark their grounds, their vocalizations can sound downright otherworldly in the quiet autumn woods. On camera traps, bobcats are the epitome of ghost-like stealth, often slipping across the frame without making a single sound on the dry leaves.
Listen for the “yowl” sound below:
3. The Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) – The Raspy October Scream 😈🦊
Perhaps the most famous culprit behind autumn spine-tingles is the red fox. Their characteristic "harking" or "screaming" bark sounds remarkably human and can carry across field edges and woodlots for over a mile—a blood-curdling sound that is often incorrectly attributed to the fisher. In October, young foxes are establishing their independence, leading to frequent vocal interactions across territories. Catching a glowing-eyed silhouette and bushy tail illuminated by an infrared flash turns a spooky night voice into a fascinating glimpse of nocturnal behavior.
Listen to the characteristic “screams” often attributed to Fisher:
4. White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) – Huffing and Thrashing in the Thickets 😤🍃
Beyond vocalizations from predators, October brings the start of the pre-rut for white-tailed deer—and a whole array of surprising sounds. If you're out near the woods at night, you might hear a sharp, explosive "huff" or snort cutting through the silence. This loud, forceful blow of air is a deer's way of signaling alarm when it catches wind of something suspicious in the dark. Paired with heavy branches snapping or aggressive thrashing in dense brush as bucks "rub" their antlers against young saplings, these sudden mechanical and vocal sounds can easily trick your ears. Fortunately, Snapshot NY night cameras frequently capture these majestic bucks in action, revealing the hard work they put into signaling their presence to rivals and does.
Listen to the “huffing” sound below:
5. The Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) – Night Whines, Chatter, and Chittering 😵💫
If you’ve ever heard what sounds like a quiet, high-pitched mumble, a ghostly baby crying, or strange teeth-chattering echoing from high in the canopy, you might be standing beneath a porcupine. While usually solitary and slow-moving, October is peak mating season for porcupines in New York. During this time, they become surprisingly vocal, engaging in eerie, theatrical exchanges of whines, grunts, and shrill screams as males track down females. On infrared camera traps, these quill-covered nocturnal creatures look like dark, shuffling phantoms ambling through the autumn understory or scaling hemlocks under the cover of night.
Listen to the “whining” sounds below:
Autumn Camera Care 🍂🍁📸
To capture these elusive autumn creatures, keep your trail camera setups performing at their best through the seasonal changes:
Clear the Swaying Grasses: Autumn breezes paired with tall, dry grass or falling leaves right in front of the lens can trigger hundreds of blank images. Trim the immediate path in front of your camera.
Check Your Batteries: As nighttime temperatures drop, battery efficiency decreases. Fresh lithium batteries ensure your camera doesn't miss a nocturnal visitor!
Submit Your "Mystery Captures:" Have you captured a creature on your Snapshot NY camera that gave you a double-take or left you wondering what made that rustle in the leaves? Got a spooky shadow or mysterious silhouette on camera? Send over your mystery captures and let’s identify them together!
Thank you for being an essential part of Snapshot NY and helping us monitor and conserve New York’s incredible wildlife year-round!