# What the...! Fox! (vocalizations/sounds)



## GobbyGruesome

I'm sure this is common knowledge for a lot of folks, but...

So my wife has been watching the British Midsomer Murders on Netflix and she noticed that 50% of 'em have this freaky little scream repeating off in the distance in the night time scenes. We both listened to it and figured it was some kind of wounded raven or something. 

She looked up the sound on google and discovered that it's actually a fox. If you're looking to add another layer to your unsettling Halloween ambient mix, this might be the ticket.


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## scareme

I love those shows too. I noticed that sound on one show is all. Your wife is quite the detective, maybe you guys should get your own show.


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## 22606

Very interesting. Personally, I find the howls and screams amusing, but I can see why they would be able to creep some people out.


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## JoyfulCrow

Foxes do indeed sound terrifying! I once listened to one screaming in the distance for an hour or so late at night and all I could think was that if I hadn't known it was a fox, I for sure would've thought someone was being murdered.


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## GobbyGruesome

ˆExactly. And then you hear it again 10 seconds later and think..."but that guy's already dead!?!" And then fifteen seconds after that "Wow, now HE'S having a REALLY bad day."

If it weren't for the repetition, without any context or knowledge of the fox call, I'd definitely be thinking there was was someone being stabbed.

As far as my wife being a detective, she said she used search terms like "England, nighttime, birdcall scream" and the very first result was a forum where someone was asking "What's that scary birdcall on Midsomer Murders". So apparently it's a common question. 

Had a thought just now and googled "Midsomer Wilhelm scream" and found another thread talking about foxes!


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## DandyBrit

It's usually the vixen that does it - try being in a woodland late at night and hearing that. Quite a shock I can tell you.


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## ooojen

Great videos/audio!
We have so many coyotes around here that we no longer hear (or see) foxes very often. Raccoons can make some darned scary noises, too. I've been hissed at while walking at night, and I've heard them scream outside out bedroom window (though having a very large dog helps limit that!)

Our local PBS station used to run Midsomer Murders. Just about the time I started to get into it, and took note of what night it was on, they quit running it. Netflix sounds like a good option, for this winter when I have more TV time.


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## ReelSore

What use to get me when I deer hunted was a screaching owl. That'll startle you when easing through the woods early in the morning.


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## GobbyGruesome

ooojen said:


> Our local PBS station used to run Midsomer Murders. Just about the time I started to get into it, and took note of what night it was on, they quit running it. Netflix sounds like a good option, for this winter when I have more TV time.


I think there's only about 17 zillion seasons of it. I think it might be the equivalent of Law & Order, where the same actors get recycled in different rolls because there just aren't enough actors.

I'd bet you it's one fox doing all the barking too.

But if it weren't for Midsomer we'd be in a serious britisih show hole.


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## Saruman of Many Colours

Our old house backed up onto some woodlands with a small creek running through it. Sometime after we'd moved in, one night we heard that bloodcurdling scream, sounded like a woman being murdered.  Freaked my wife out, until I did some Googling just as you did.


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## boo who?

LOOOOVE MSM too! Acorn TV already has Series 18 out.

Oh, and my cat did NOT enjoy that video.


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## scareme

GobbyGruesome said:


> I think there's only about 17 zillion seasons of it. I think it might be the equivalent of Law & Order, where the same actors get recycled in different rolls because there just aren't enough actors.
> 
> I'd bet you it's one fox doing all the barking too.
> 
> But if it weren't for Midsomer we'd be in a serious britisih show hole.



We should start a new thread about the best English murder mystery series. I liked Inspector Morse, my sister hated it. Lovejoy was a lot of fun. It's neat to see some of the actors before they were big. Like Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect. I should hold my excitement for a new thread.


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## boo who?

Good idea!


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## GobbyGruesome

Started one here...
http://www.halloweenforum.com/off-topic-stuff/147551-british-murder-mystery-television.html


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## matrixmom

Only haunters would understand trying to figure out what the sounds were....and for what? for Halloween of course!! They would be a great addition to any haunt. Nice catch GG


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## Halloweiner

There's two things that have reverberated the crap out of me while deer hunting. Walking along trying to be silent, and a turkey takes off flying out of no where. The other was the first time I heard a buck grunting off in the woods where you can't see it. As an inexperienced e d Hunter you could swear it was a bear or something because her than a deer.

The only wicked scream I ever heard late at night in the woods was a cougar out behind my Uncle's house. It sounds just like a woman being murdered too.


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## Becca Ann

scareme said:


> I love those shows too. I noticed that sound on one show is all. Your wife is quite the detective, maybe you guys should get your own show.


The fox cries are in nearly every show.


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## GrinningReaper

Another layer of weirdness to add to any ambient sound mix for outdoors would be the call of a peacock. Similar to the fox, it is a sound frequently heard in movies. It has that same cry of something human, and yet not. Thanks for the fox post... it's one that I've never heard within this context.


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