When New Hampshire resident Duke Smith first heard the cry of a Fisher cat he thought he heard a baby dying slowly. The shrieks were constant, high pitched and their resemblance to human voice was really eerie. Several nights and a few missing cat notices later other residents of the neighborhood confirmed that these were the sounds of a Fisher cat.
Fisher cats are ferocious predators belonging to the weasel family and are known for their eerie screams and liking for house cats.
The sound of a Fisher cat is very shrill and resembles someone calling for help. The shrillness lends a certain high pitch to the sound and makes it sound like a woman or a child. Most people who hear the Fisher cat call for the first time are fairly convinced that they are hearing a human calling out for help.
The Fisher cat is a nocturnal animal and the fisher cat cry is sometimes a hunting cry and at others the Fisher cat call is just a mating call. It is well established that the Fisher cat makes the sounds to mate and attract other Fisher cats but people have also noticed the Fisher cat animal scream out just before or after a kill.
There is a lot of eeriness associated with the Fisher cat call and most of it is to do with the ferociousness of the animal and the creepy sound of the Fisher cats screech, compounded by the fact that it is found in the wilderness and can be heard mainly during nights. For example picture yourself in the place of this family that are going through this lonely wooded area in the dark and hear this lady like screech in the distance.
Loading ...While you can’t be sure whether this is a person or the fisher cat animal, you can be sure that being in such environs and hearing such a scream will run a chill down your spine.
Fisher Cat sounds are usually constant and you can hear them at a regular interval like in this video
Loading ...In the video you can notice that the animal screams out every few seconds and the pitch and the volume is constant. While the animals do not prey in the day time they can still be spotted moving about. The sounds are much more prominent during the night and people have witnessed these animals screeching on for hours and hours together. More often than not the Fisher Cat sounds are going to be constant and it will become a haunting experience. The Fisher cat sounds especially weighs on the minds of people who have pets like rabbits or cats. This is because Fisher cats are really dangerous and have the reputation of pretty much killing all small animals in the surrounding areas that are not kept indoors. While much of this sound like old wives’ tales the incidents that happen every year across United States give real evidence that the animals are deadly predators.
Usually the one off sound means that the Fisher cat animal is either closing on a hunt or has already killed its victim.
Next time you hear these haunting sounds make sure that all your pets are indoors and that you comfort your children and not let them get too scared by the sound.
Are these sounds from a Fisher Cat or Red Fox screech?
Fisher cat screeches are often mistaken for red fox cries. Here are two different examples as pointed out from one of our readers:
These are fox calls or screams on this video
This is the possible sound of a Fisher Cat
Unfortunately this video is not active anymore, we will replace it soon!
Where can I hear the sound I don’t hear anything!! I thought I would be able to hear it!!!
You can hear it on this page:
There are brown links in the page body where you can listen to the sounds a fisher cat makes.
You people obviously are not woodsmen. That’s obviously a Bobcat. Fishers make very little sounds
tom
This site provides zero evidence that fishers actually screech. Is this site a joke? Seriously, is it?
The leading expert on fisher research, Roger A Powell (who raised fishers for nearly 20 yrs) confirms that fishers do not screech at all. They can make low, quiet sounds. Never once, even when living with fishers, did he hear them scream, screech, or otherwise make a loud, high-pitched noise.
Your links all point to ambiguous amateur videos that prove nothing. Many of the sounds people are calling fishers are actually red foxes. For good red fox sounds goto:
http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/thefoxden/redfox_distress.wav or http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/thefoxden/faroffcry.wav
Finally, if this is a joke – you got me. But if it’s not, you’re really spreading poorly presented mis-information.
Sincerely,
Dan Gardoqui
http://www.WhitePinePrograms.org
These are fox calls on this video
This is a Fisher Cat
And we hear these critters howl in the night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HN_WSjN6DU&feature=related
we have those in our woods found 10 dead deer in the past week!
That sounds like a house cat, not a fisher cat.
when fishers make a sound it sounds like someones getting murdered in the bush
I heard a noise last nigt that had many different sounds it started like a small dog getting hurt to almost monkey sounds and a couple of snorts. It freaked out the house.
I hear almost the exact same sound as in the “Screeching Sound in the Woods” clip every single night for… the past week and a half. My neighbors told me there was a fisher cat living in the neighborhood, but there is also a family of red fox (vixen and two kits) living in a den just off the back of our property, so I wasn’t sure which I was hearing every night. General knowledge question for all: do fishers hunt wood chucks? There were a bunch sniffing around early this spring, but I haven’t seen one in a while. I’m hoping that the fisher has eaten them. That would be excellent! I can have a garden again.
Clip one \Weird noise behind my house\ is the sound of a red fox adult male. This is the territorial sound they make at night.
Clip two \Screeching noise in the woods\ is definitely the sound of raccoons fighting over food.
The final audio clip…is that of a regular house cat mating call.
Clip three is a male domestic cat. I should know, I have 3 of my own.
Clip three is definitely a male domestic cat. I have 3 of my own.
The \Screeching Sound in the Woods\ is actually two Barred Owls. You can hear one making the crazy \Hwah-hwah\ sounds (most likely the male) while the female does a high-pitched coo-ing sound. You can hear them both at the same time at approx. 21 seconds into the clip.
I hear barred owls all the time and get a huge kick out of the crazy sounds they make at times.
The first video is a fox, and the last video sounds more like a cat. By the way, these animals are called fishers, not `fisher cats`!
The last is a cat. No doubt about that.
First is probably a fox. The sound is a terrible indicator of size. We have small cat sized foxes that sound like they are terrier sized.
Fishers make a scream sound, but it’s only in the spring when mating so far as I know. I found a baby Fisher with a broken leg today, saw it’s dad a few months ago, big animal, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t hear fishers on any of the tapes. It’s a more childish scream, assuming that’s what I’ve heard out back.
Wild turkeys can sound like the neighbor is strangling his wife. Those are the ones that keep me awake some nights. I’ll have to get a tape of them one day.
These are all mostly fox sounds. A fox makes many different sounds. The female makes the scream. The male will respond to her scream by barking to let her know he is on his way. the fox has about 5 or 6 different sounds.
The final recording here that claims to be a Fisher sounds like either a bobcat or a domestic cat.
Bobcats can also scream like a fox but it is a much deeper screem so it sounds even more like a woman being murdered.
Wow. Spooky stuff. This helped me because I heard a strange noise, definitely not your typical cat fight. Fisher cats are in my area but I had never heard one before. We do have a lot of cats in my neighborhood and thank god mine was inside!! Thanks for helping.
well, The fox was creepy, I really didn’t like it to be honest. The first video/audio sounded like a husband and wife in a fight and the husband was beating her. And that’s all I have to say because i didn’t see the “fisher cat”/ fisher in any video exsept the third one and you could barely see it.
i was just woken up by mewlings/cries at 3:50 a.m. i thought it was my cat in pain. i found him okay in the kitchen. the yowlings kept going. over and over. i turned on outside lights and found a fisher cat eating one of my hens. YES they DO make this sound. yes it sounds like a house cat. but louder and deeper. i tried to rescue the hen but too late. i was 3 feet away from the fisher. s/he was not very afraid of me.
About 20 minutes ago i heard crazy screeching, like a demented LOUD deep cat scream, but all up n down n crazy. They ran across my yard.. they sounded BIG when they were in the woods in my back yard, running/walking/jumping in the brush. Then I heard a few other noises, then saw 2 animal silhouttes from the side shadowed from the moon WAY up in a tree face to face making so many different noises.
I heard:
grunting
growling
crazy screaming
some raspy low barking literally “woo woo woo” noises
and snorting. friggen SNORTING
These animals just sound insanely demonic. And they’re LOUD. I don’t see how anything that weighs 4-15lbs can make those noises.
I don’t know if they were mating, or if it was 2 of them fighting after 1 killed something, but whatever it was, it was effed up.
I went outside because one of my cats wasn’t in the house, and I saw her hiding in a tree in my front yard, thank god. She ran right to me and purred when i picked her up and brought her inside.
I want to go outside and make crazy human noises back at these animals and show them whats up ahahah. Really though, for something as small as people say they are.. they sound extremely intimidating.
After researching and hearing the audio on ‘Screeching sounds in the woods’ I realized it was a Fisher Cat that came right up to my decks this morning @ 10am, July 10th. First I heard the noise and realized it was going after my cats. Thankfully I was able to start hooting and hollering before it did any damage. He/she ran off into the woods. Really gnarly looking animal!
Paralyzingly frightening sounds from the woods “out back”. Undecided after listening to these audios, as to whether they are Fisher Cats, or Red Fox. Continuous screeching though, deep in the woods in the darkness…creepy.
Turned on all the lights, on the Southside of the house, and the screeching now seems to have abated….what drives them off??? Horrors!
I was hearing the noises such as the first video several times a night for about a week. I often allowed my cats to go out at night until my 1 year old didn’t come back…. A few days later I saw what looked almost like a combination of an overgrown long haired cat/weasel slowly walking up my driveway and into the woods – it kind of sauntered and walked almost like a beaver would. My St. Bernard barked at it several times, it stop and seemed to have no interest and continued into the woods…. It has been almost a year and I haven’t heard the sounds nor seen the animal since…perhaps they move through certain areas and only stay a short period. VERY scary noises, makes you really creeped out. The fox, however, does make similar noises, and could easily be confused with the Fisher, but fox doesn’t seem to make the noise with such avengence .
I just right now experienced a thing were as there were two “cats” sitting on my wall although one of them was crying and was very large in size with pointy ears and was gray. We thought this was the fisher cat because we have had past experiences had this animal start crying as if a baby were crying.
Hey fellas im 16 years old and one day me and a couple of my friends were laying down around 2 am in my room than i then heard for the first time a FISHERCAT so me and my pals walked outside and we walked down the street..then it stoped for some reason so we walked back home then layed down. about 30 mins later i was the onlny one up..i heard that scary fucking sound again i was really freaked out because i didnt know what a fishercat was but now i know there in my nieghborhood one of my cats havent come home in 5 days i think a fisher might of gotten him my mom said she heard horrible noises i wanna find those sons of bitchs and kill em all!!
The “weird Sound Behind My House” IS A FISHERCAT. I heard this every year now for some six years, between late April and July. Much more intense than the recording here. It is sporadic, goes on for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or longer. Several times the fishercat and its eerie and haunting screech has been within 100 feet of my back porch.I have been mesmerized by its cry, almost like that of an unfinished cry of a baby. My two daughters have also listened with me since they were 10 and 15 respectively. We have never seen it, in daylight or at night. But we have listened awed and speechless for lengthy periods as the cries, not howls, not owls, not fox, not feral cats (which have interestingly diminished in the past few years) either moves toward or away from our small yard that enjoins the extended wooded area.
Our urban neighborhood buffers some 24 acres of immediate woods, with hundreds of connected acres through several smaller suburbs, all with thousands of acres of woodland, rocky cliff areas and sliced by I-84 Interstate. But there are numerous overpass areas that lead to heavily wooded, uninhabited acreage. We have numerous hawks, deer, two fox dens, the source of the Quinnipiac River with a very active stream flow in spring and heavy rains. Coyotes are also numerous, as are wild turkeys in the Fall. We see these fauna regularly throughout the entire 12 month of any given year, and have lived here for some 15 years. When you realize that there are about a quarter of million people in a 20 mile radius of where I describe, the urban/suburban wooded areas of CT are teeming with wildlife. Only this Spring a moose came through the immediate area. Bear sitings are annual as close as a mile from the site of this fishercat. I have no doubt that in the deeper wooded environs of the Northwest and Northeast corners of CT, where, bear are plentiful, not only are there fishers, and bobcats, but the elusive mountain lion/puma.cougar sitings are very real no matter what the Wildlife/EPA folks say. After hearing the fishercat, anything is possible. I can’t wait to spot one.
i HEARD ONE BEHIND MY MOMS HOUSE LAST MONDAY NIGHT. nEVER SAW IT THOUGH
Here is the real sound of a fisher, I saw it the other day near our house then we all heard it one night later
Tom:
obviously you are not a woodsman. fisher do make a screeching, screaming sound that is extremely loud at night. They enjoy domesticated cats, rodents and like to fish.
Geez- this video is like watching the freakin’ “Blair Witch Project” (which was terrible the first time).
I need help with what the Hell is making the horrific howling that almsot sounds like maniacal laughter- seriously. Anyone? How ’bout you, ‘I’m a Woodsman’? Please.
Sorry- I meant “almost” sounds like.
The first 50 seconds of things that scream in the woods is a pair of Barred Owls. I am not sure about the rest of the recording- but it’s my impression that the recording is a selection of scary animal sounds edited together- not the sound of a single animal.
Here’s a great page demonstrating the variety of sounds of the Barred Owl- listen to them all! The third features crazy almost monkeylike laughter https://www.owling.com/barred-owl/
i heard this sound about 200 yards from the house in a creek bottom where i saw some bobcat tracks a week or so ago. sounds more like a bobcat to me. i also saw and heard a fisher cat, once climbing out of a persimmon tree right next to my house (i live in the woods). both times i saw it, it took off like a grayhound. then out in the darkness i heard the screem like a child, similar to the red fox i heard on the internet. we have no fox around here i am aware of. i’m always in the woods hiking or deer hunting, and have never seen a fox here.
That very first noise sounds like something I’ve heard out behind my house off and on for the past two years at night and never could figure out what it was! I live in the woods also and have persimmon trees. Coming home tonight I saw an animal running up the side of the road and couldn’t figure out what it was, but on researching am pretty sure it was a fisher. I saw paw prints out back earlier today that I couldn’t identify either. Lately, I’ve been hearing an animal up in my walls and on my roof, and it sounds like it’s tearing off pieces of the roof! Could this be a fisher also?? Seems like it would be too big to get into the walls. Any other ideas if not a fisher? It’s way too big to be mice. I can’t get to the roof to see any damage, but I threw some rat bait blocks up there earlier and under the house also (mobile home).
Thank you for the website. A nice confirmation of what I thought I was hearing. Wonder how they do up against a coyote that is out back as well. lol
Absolutely, I agree with the comment above that clip three is a domestic cat. I have one that sounds identical.
Interesting sounds. Glad to know what to protect pets from.
Re: badgers etc.: People who enjoy watching one animal tear another animal apart are truly sick.
February 18, 2010 4:30p.m.
Branford, CT. I looked out my back window onto a wooded area and saw a black fisher cat. First one I ever saw. I had to look it up to make sure what it was.
i heard the same noise, but ive been studying mountain cats like bobcats, fishercats, red foxes and etc they are all definetly fishercats dying, mating, or fighting!
I myself are explore New England and came face to face with a Fisher Cat but,my partner was atacked by a fisher.That fisher soon bit me.My friend had a big gash on his leg and I had some scrapes and bruses.
Yup we have those around where I am and man they are really creepy, my parents hear them a lot and I was just seeing if these fishers were actually the “screams from a lady getting ripped up” were fishers.
Just saw 2 fishers in the woods today in Rutland MA middle of the day! 1 chasing the other, problably out for some snatch.
Creepiest sound i ever heard soounded like a woman’s high pitched scream, like she was being killed (not strangled). It was blood curdling and almost ethereal. Scared the horses, scared me. I don’t think it was a fisher cat, the red fox sounded more similar.
A second attack on a cat last night. By yes a fisher cat, and yes they do sound like such above. Get a clue. Many people know what these animals are. Don’t need to be a “woodsman” .. It is a terrible sound and wakes you from a deep sleep. If you have experienced hearing them you know that they are truly a scarry animal..
my bff woke me up this morning at 415 am for a ride to work becuz of a fisher being outside her house,,,there was no way she was walking down her long driveway!!!
heard something early morning that sounded like the zombies were in the woods of Bow NH
I really figured that last night the Banshee was a real deal. my cats freaked out, and I went for a little drive to find the small dog that had been hit on the road or whatever that awful noise was. I didn’t find anything, but it sure did scream awhile. all the little birds in the woods that would be normally singing at that time kept going quiet. so creepy! We have barn cats… I’m hoping they’re smart enough to stay put in the barn at night.
I live in the woods in northern Wisconsin and see fishers more often than I care. Never seem to have a weapon near enough when this happens. This is the most useless animal on the planet. Born to kill! That’s all they do is hunt and KILL! Cats are top shelf on the menue, don’t let the so called experts tell you anything different! I have had friends have a cat killed at the front door on the deck with a single bite to the throat! I know another guy who had a small dog torn to shreads by a fisher and his second small Yorkie ripped up and survived. His son literaly snatched the little dog from the fishers grasp. Believe it or not, the fisher chased after the boy and the dog! They kill small and new born fawns. A friend has a small shack behind his house that he noticed a fisher going in and out of. He checked it out and found about 20 tiny hoofs from fawns under the flooring. Another Wisconsin DNR move to control the deer population.
A fisher has one thing going for him, they are extremely elusive and can blend into the trees or back ground and escape in a hurry! I lost a cat about 6 years back and swore to kill every fricken fisher I get the chance at. I’d consider running my truck in the ditch to kill one, AND I DON’T REALLY LIKE CATS! I simply hate fishers. As for medium size dogs, they don’t stand a chance with a fisher hanging on his throat while he runs for home bleeding from his jugler! You people who comment how cute they are when they are little are correct, they really are! Just remember, they grow up and turn into ALF, the cat killing martian pet from Mork and Mindy! Save a dog/cat and kill a fisher!
None of these sounds display the blood-curdling snarling-screech of a fisher cat. It is prolonged, lasting 10-15 seconds with pitch changes from a low growl-like pitch to a shrill squeal. When you hear it you’ll have heard a noise like no other.
whenever I have a question I simply Google my question -and in a split second I find that dozens of others have already asked my question. I want to thank everyone that submitted the audio and video clips. I am certain now that the hair-raising noise I’ve been awakened by lately was a red fox. I wondered if it was a fox, since I have been seeing them sculking around my property. One day at 3PM I saw a pair together. I lost two guinea hens to those beautiful red menaces. Thanks again for your contributions.
I don’t know “Woodsman” Tom, I’ve heard these same sounds for a few years now and there hasn’t been a living Bobcat seen or heard by anybody in the state of Rhode Island for almost 60 years. The last one was shot and killed in the 1950’s. There are many Fisher Cat sightings however. Speak for your own woods.
After listening to these statements its clear I have both living in my woods my biggest fear is my pair of mallards will be lunch to either. But also the fisher cats are the scareyest sounding animals ever and I fear they will wipe out all the wildelife living in our area. We have wild turkeys, deer and our neighbors probably don’t even know to keep there pets safe from these evil menaces.
I heard one of these things last night outside my house…i thought it was someone being murdered!!! It kept me and my dog awake all night. I’m really nervous to take my dog outside at night now..she’s small..about 20 pounds..is there anything that will scare it off?
There’s no need to be alarmed. Just take precautions: keep pets indoors at night (cats, dogs, rabbits–whatever goes or stays outdoors); lock up your chicken coop if you have one; NEVER approach a wild animal, even if it seems tame–they’re often rabid when they seem tame and will attack without warning; if you see a wild animal in your yard or in close proximity to you, and it does NOT flee within 10 seconds, turn around and walk away slowly. It will sense you’re neither predator nor prey: a predator would stand its ground or advance; prey would run. But no need to get dramatic about it. Be sensible.
Human activity outside will probably keep them away during the day, and just take precautions at night. I’ve only seen one, and it took off the minute it saw me peering out the window. I don’t have pets, but we get a lot of wildlife here: deer, coyotes, raccoons, foxes, possums, turkeys, hawks, owls, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and other wild birds and rodents. In 20 years, we’ve never had a problem with any of them, aside from the coyote chorus that woke us at 1am one wintry night, and the squirrels getting into the birdfeeders.
Coyote pee might deter them from coming into your yard. I don’t know. I can’t find anything online, either.
Look up “predator urine” on google and you will find many sites that have much stronger predator urine and you can read more about how to use it and how it works. Good luck.
was down by the connecticut river with a fire goin… noticed some noises that continued on for a good while… at first we thought it was a bird or something but as the noises got closer they got louder and more screeching…we continued about our business until we heard the rustling in the bushes, then shined a flashlight into the bushes where the noises were coming from…i saw 2 small green glowing eyes, said holyshit its RIGHT THERE!!!! then it ran away and the noises continuted for afew hours on and off… i really believe i saw the elusive fisher…
i have been hearing this sound for a while. the only reason i can think of is because we have some cats at home. once i heard this cry i put out one of my traps and put dead fish guts in it. after about a week i went in the wood to find a fisher cat in it. i didnt no what to do so i called fish and game and they told me to let it go so i did. little did i no was that i was going to come back. about a month later one of our cats went missing and there and then i new that it was a fisher cat. now that i no that they are back i put my traps back out and i hope i will catch it again.
We live in RI and I DID see a Bobcat in our backyard (wooded area of S. Tiverton) about 5 years ago, perched on his hind legs, under our bird feeder. Recently, and about this time every year, we have the “screamer” as it’s called locally. Not sure if it’s a bobcat, red fox or what. Today, I saw what I believe to be a fisher crossing on the road, about 1/3 mile from our home. All of the above animals are indigenous to our area. I did check w/ DEM of RI and they don’t know of any bobcats (some suspected) but, I KNOW it was a bobcat I saw. Very cool!!! 🙂 The screams are blood-curdling and freaked me out when we moved in 12 years ago. Used to it a bit more, but still wakes us and our 3 dogs up at night. Wise to bring in small dogs and cats. Part of living in the woods is the nature that surrounds us! Like Judy, we have so many animals in our yard.
the fisher is mostly a noctural animal he starts hunting when the sun goes down usualy but i saw a few hunting during the day specialy in fall time. they hunt more cuz of protein reserves. Here in northern quebec winters are long and cold. they need this extra fat to get them thru winter. I walk a lot in woods around my place it is very quiet and calm and during the past few years i saw that there was almost no squirrels, rabbits, and partridge. thats why the fisher is comming towards our houses and looking for food. A cat a small dog, tame ducks or anything he thinks he can get at will do for him.Its a matter of survival. i heard this loud cry many times at night and i can tell you it still gives me the creep .
the best way i found to get them away from my house is to let a radio (music) play outside all night and sometimes when i hear one crying i press the panic button of my truck lol they dont stay around . I leave lights open all night outside ( motion detector lights would work good ).
I heard a Fisher cat in my backyard. I live in the woods in Massachusettes, and I can honestly say that I have NEVER heard something so frightening in all my life. I thought at first that I was dreaming….It was evening and I am so apprehensive about venturing out in the woods alone now.
this is the sound of a fisher attacking an animal no doubt about it .
foxes as almost the same sound as a fisher cat they use it to call one another. when a fox hunts he doesnt make a sound.
These sounds are great. Just heard this horrible screaming, like something shredding another animal and we wondered if it was a fisher…wonder no longer
Essex county in MA
thats a weisel
Yah, its around 11:47, about 15 or so minutes ago i heard a scream like a young woman screaming as if being attacked and mutilated..sorry to go into detail, but thats exactly how it sounded..and I have heard that there are fishers and red foxes in the woods behind my house, but..have never seen or heard any before tonight..my hearts racing honestly..
and later on, maybe not tonight..but some other night, i might be walking my dog and hear one again..if I’m not exactly close to the house..anything I should bring with me incase i happen to run into one?
The folks saying no bobcats in RI for 60yrs are wrong according to their gov. See . We had one in Freetown when I was a kid (not far from Tiverton). I was 2nd guessing myself – figuring it may have been a fisher cat. Then I remembered its tail struck me as odd. -7in. long or so. Not a fisher cat’s. Besides, it just was a bobcat. I saw him 3x & family & neighbors, too. One of those scary marlen (that’s what we called them in N.H., as a kid) critters maimed a cat in Fairhaven, MA last week (say the animal control there).
i saw what i thought were three long black cats crossing the street from my neighbor’s yard to my yard then to a small wooded parcel adjacent to my back yard. i saw them at dusk, and then at 11:00 am the following day. early in the am on the same day, i smelled a skunky type odor. after searching online, i discovered these were fisher cats. i’ve lived in se mass. my entire life and had never seen them before, creeepy!
Our cat of three years is missing. He’s always near our home and comes in before the sun goes down. We looked for him everywhere and asked neighbors. One lady told me her cat has been missing for a few weeks and she heard a screaming sound one night and her cat never came home. Since I’ve never seen these animals, only one red fox two years ago, I was awakened one night two days after our cat was missing with a horrible screaming sound around 3:00 in the morning followed by a hollowing sound from a coyote. In three years since living in our home, there has never been any problems till this week. We are still upset our cat is gone and even more at the thought he might have been killed by some strange screaming animal we didn’t know was around these parts till now.
Just heard a fisher scretching. I didn’t know what it was but my neighbor did. Both my cats were out and after reading this information I’m freaking to know it was probably closing in on one of them. (read it will scretch before or after a kill). Thank God I was able to finally get my cats!! I will not be letting them out anytime soon now that the fisher knows they are here.
I heard these horrible sounds almost directly in front of my back door a few weeks ago. I didn’t know what they were at the time(I described it to friends as a cat either dying or destroying something), but after speaking to my brother and doing some research, it was definitely a fisher cat. There has been some speculation about them being a nuisance in my area on the local news(Central MA), as I have a relatively small range of woods behind my house, but was never certain until recently. Not long after the screeching incident, two of my cats disappeared within approximately ten days of each other. One was seven years old and another was a very loyal stray that we saved three years ago, so I’m positive they didn’t run away. Another cat had disappeared almost exactly a year prior, and several others have gone missing over time. My cats are like our children to my family, so it’s pretty devastating, but the majority of them have been outdoor cats for their entire lives so it’s difficult to keep them inside though I try. This fisher cat, or however many of them there are, apparently aren’t afraid of coming extremely close to human population, so I have no idea what to do. I saw the radio suggestion but I can’t exactly do that at night with neighbors on all sides. I wish there was some way to get rid of these nasty things.
Heard a red fox in the woods behind us last night. Very haunting sound. FYI, a bobcat was recently caught in our town (Simsbury, CT) after attacking a dog. Was euthanized after being found positive for rabies. We also have fishers, fox, coyotes and more bear than we care to count. Thank you to all for posting the audio clips. I was not sure what I heard, but the red fox clip confirmed it.
I just fell to sleep last night, when suddenly I awoke to the sound of my dogs’ toe nails hurrying down the hall and then the younger dog barked at the bedroom door. Figuring something was going on, I got up and just greeted my two dogs when I heard it. It was at the other end of the house outside the kitchen window. Sounded a bit like a kitten at first, then I realized it was something else. So we (me & my girls/pups) listened and then it began a really strange clicking type of sound and then a sound that was almost like a whirring or whooing sound. I had turned on the outside light but couldn’t see anything. I looked this am an didn’t see any evidence of anything there. I figured it was probably a fishercat because I know what foxes sound like which is like a mad or crazy woman wandering the English moors on a foggy scary night. And I know what the coyotes sound like. So it had to be a fisher sounding almost like a cat but not quite. Yet it’s the clicking and whirring/whooing noise that stumps me. Do they do that? Or could this have beeen perhaps a turkey I heard? I know somewhere I have a night video which was down for the audio of some crazy bird schreeching in the woods across from my house. That I knew was a bird from the thumping and squawking sounds. But this sounded like a fisher except I never heard the clicking and whirring/whooing noise before. Any thoughts?
The “fisher cat” sound (the one under the red fox barking) really sounds more like a cat in heat. Are we SURE this is a Fisher Cat sound?
My son approached a cave where we think a Fisher Cat lives. It hissed at him and his friend. He reported that it was a raccoon. We then learned about Fishers and he realized that that is what it was. We used to lose chickens and ducks to predators–not sure if a fisher, coyote or raccoon, but we did know about the bald eagle as we found it with the dead duck in the barn in winter…
We think that the sound that they make, which usually arouses us in a panic as it is so alarming, is just them walking about in search of a mate. We’ve heard the cry and looked out only to see them walking through the yard screaming their blood-curdling scream. We think that they’re just announcing themselves to other Fishers.
We’re cautious with the poultry now, locking in a secure place–the trick is in winter persuading the ducks to go to the barn when their beloved ponds freeze over.
We’re in southern Maine.
Melissa, cat in heat, yes. We think that they’re in heat when they cry…looking for a mate.
I have a cat and he is my best friend. I wanted to thank this website for keeping him alive, or else he would’ve been the Fisher cat’s next meal.
Where can I buy a fisher. I would like to irradicate the cats in the neighborhood. I am sick and tired of stepping/cleaning up their shit.
Actually, cats cover their “poop” so what you are seeing is from another type animal! I raise cats and have NEVER found this from my outside cats.
And,by the way it’s illegal to own a fisher!- or any wildlife
Actually “Max”, I’ve lived in Southern Rhode Island my entire life and I know for a fact that bobcats live here. There has actually been several bobcat sightings in my area in the last six months. Of course the DEM would never let it go public because then people would start hunting them. By the way, there have also been moose, black bear, and rattlesnakes. They’ll just never let you hear about it…
Well, I heard this 2 weeks ago and it freaked me out. Something killed my neighbor’s kitty and I suspect this is what it was. I have to keep my cats inside until it’s found and caught. Some of the younger kids in the neighborhood are getting scared, too. Fisher cats are CREEPY! When I first heard it I thought it was something being killed. And that was when the cat was murdered. It does send chills down your spine. It’s so spooky! I hope it doesn’t kill my cats. =C
-Flower
I believe that I heard a fisher cat last night, and I live in the city – Fall River, Mass. My husband and I both work second shift and had just gotten home from work. We were about to go to bed, when we heard what sounded like a woman yelling “help.” We both threw on our sneakers and ran outside. Our reaction was similar to those on the video, such as “did you heard that?” and “what the hell is that?” When we went outside, the noise stopped. I remember my brother who lives in Coventry, RI, say that the same thing happened to him one night, and he was able to determine that it was a Fisher Cat. It was frightening to listen to, and even scarier to realize that they are venturing into populated areas. Fortunately, my pets stay indoors.
Roflmao!!! people move to the country side to hear strange animal noises! i live in the mountains of va, and ill have to say that those sounds(fisher cat) you think you hear most likely isn’t! Bobcats and mountain lions make thats same sound!! but rest assurred its more likely just a red fox! you people are funny!!
On the first video clip, “weird noise behind my house”, I am fairly certain that is the call of a RED FOX. In the second clip, “screching sounds in the woods”, the first minute you can hear a pair of dueting BARRED OWLS. I believe that this is two audio files together, because after the barred owls I am pretty sure the next portion is a RACCOON fight, which I hear fairly regularly, especially in the fall over wild grapes. I do not think that any of these sounds are necessarily a FISHER, although the short VIDEO clip is definitely a fisher. I have seen fisher twice in my life, photographed them once, and have tracked them in the winter. They have just recently returned to our area. Much of the descriptions here seem fairly unscientific and more like unsuppported scare tactics. If you ever get to GLIMPSE a fisher you will be lucky. I doubt they are very likely to hang out near human habitations unless the wild food supply is very low. Just so you know, I have degrees in biology and have been a naturalist in the northeast for over 20 years. I have spent quite a bit of time in the woods in both the day and the night. The unfounded fear mongering posted in these comments is slightly amusing to me as well as scary from a scientific literacy perspective. You have little to fear from fishers.
None of the videos or audio on this page are Fisher sounds. I’ve studied these animals for years. You have foxes, and the last video is a domestic cat. This site in general is pretty good, but the web, and the not-so-ferocious Fisher cat would be better off if this page was deleted.
“Fisher cats are really dangerous and have the reputation of pretty much killing all small animals in the surrounding areas” … really?
They are predators, but eat what they need. This is what people like to say about foxes and coyotes too … or other animals they don’t understand and wan’t to demonize. Keep your cats indoors if you want to keep them away from predators (especially speedy cars which kill far more cats than Fishers).
Barred owls and foxes can make very strange noises. Red foxes almost sound like screaming blue jays, and barred owls can sound like monkeys. My cousin who lives in E. Longmeadow, MA has heard fishers and raccoons fighting. When I was in Wyoming, I heard pine martens fighting, and can those things ever squall (a pine marten’s a smaller cousin to the fisher). Also: to the person who wrote in from RI, don’t be surprised if there are bobcats in your area after all. If fishers can return, so can bobcats. Where I live and work in central NC, we now have coyotes, and river otters have returned–we had one in our lake a work. As for your cats, dogs, rabbits ‘n poultry: you should keep ’em in anyhow, as they can be prey to coyotes: I’d be more concerned about them than fishers and bobcats, cuz they will prey on domestic animals (even so, coyotes eat a lot of mice and rats.)
If, as the author claims “It is well established that the Fisher cat makes the sound [i.e. screech] to mate and attract other Fisher cats but people have also noticed the Fisher cat animal scream out just before or after a kill,” then why can’t I find anything about fisher calls on any of the legitimate scientific websites? Even Wikipedia, whose sources can be dubious, doesn’t mention anything about fisher cat calls. Roger Powell, a biologist who has numerous scientific publications on the fisher, writes the following: “Known fisher vocalizations include a low chuckle (apparently associated with excitement), a hiss, and a growl (both aggressive).” The only sources that ever mention fisher screams are newspaper articles and blogs. I listened to all the clips on this blog and searched for more on YouTube, and they all sound like other familiar animal calls: red foxes, owls, raccoons, and cats in heat. Is the fisher cat screech a complete myth?
I am so happy to see the skeptical comments in some of the above posts. I, too, am a biologist as well as a tracker and naturalist. Fisher “screaming” is most likely urban legend. As someone else pointed out, scientists who have studied fishers for years, both in the wild and in captivity, have never heard a fisher scream. I am currently writing a review article on the fisher, and an extensive search of the scientific literature reveals NO reports of fisher screaming. The only reports are unsubstantiated ones on the internet or in the newspaper.
Most of the vocalizations on the internet that are attributed to fishers are actually those of the red fox, according to my ear. “Skeptical” is correct, in that many other animals scream. In addition to those he mentioned, rabbits will scream when extremely frightened, as when captured by a predator.
Fishers do kill other animals, including small pets, when they can get them. But to put this in perspective, perhaps you should consider the billions of animals killed each year for human consumption. Fishers will also engage in surplus killing, when they encounter more prey than they need to eat. When they can, they will cache this unused prey for future consumption. If that sounds vicious and bloodthirsty, think about what you do when you store steak in your freezer for a future meal.
Please stop the fear mongering and learn to tolerate wild animals.
Wow, if I find one more nighttime video mistakenly calling calling fox calls fisher… What a bunch of complete misinformation. The fisher is all ready misunderstood enough as it is without this website completely misleading people with this nonsense. If you hear a repeating lone call in the middle of the night, it’s not a fisher. This video is of a fox, and no member of the weasel family makes a sound remotely like this. The other references to fishers ‘screaming’… those are raccoon.
Thanks to those who posted informed comments above.
I understand how everyone who hears something in the night wants to put a name to it.
I understand how anyone who loses a cat wants to put a story behind it. If your cat disappeared, it’s most likely that it got hit by a car, caught by a dog or a coyote than a fisher. However, fishers will indeed take a cat when given the opportunity.
The most prolific hunter on the planet however is actually the domestic cat.
As someone who has studied and tracked fisher in New England for over a decade, I can tell you that there are no credible accounts of fisher broadcasting territorial vocalizations of any kind (no screaming, no night calls). As mentioned above, they will indeed growl, while eating, threatened at close range etc. Like other close relatives in the weasel family, they can chatter (one video on this site shows it). All mammals, and many other animals can screech (as seen in the ‘baby fisher confronted by dog’ video) when fearful or when being attached. Raccoons, Rabbits, Mice make similar sounds (the closest thing to screaming) in similar situations.
that is scary!
I have a small cabin in the woods of Northeat PA. and yesterday about 2 hours after sunrise I was walking past a window when I glimsed something very low and long looping through the snow. It bound around and in front of my wood pile and then to the back side out of sight. I grabbed my camera, but to late as I caught sight of it’s tail as it ran into the woods. As I did research to identify this beautiful animal and I came accross this site. I have identified it as a Fisher Cat. I have bobcats, red and gray fox, coyote, many different kinds of owls, eagles, hawks, bear along with the usual skunks, possums, deer and assorted rodents, including flying squirels that find their way into my cabin from time to time. I have been noticing a larger print showing nails in the snow on my patio for a couple of weeks. Now I know what it is.
I have 2 cats that go in and out a geat deal, one of which is 16 years old. I make sure the old man is in at night but my Maine Coon is out exept during cold and snowy nights. Last spring, about 1 in the morning, she brought home a young bobcat, I guess for my approval, but the bobcat was a bit shy, screamed and ran into my rock garden and watched me from a very short distance away. I had no fear for either my cat or myself and enjoyed the fact that I live where I can experience this kind of thing.
I hear many sounds and screams during the night, the fox scream is haunting, and the bobcat as best I can describe it, during mateing season, is a woman in labor with her finger nails being pulled out at the same time. With all these noises I have never had any fear of the nature around me. The thing I fear is human.
That last video sounds like my cat when she’s about to barf
One morning around 10am I was sitting at my computer and almost fell out of my chair because I heard a blood curdling scream. Sounded like a woman being murdered or something. I heard it again and ran to my picture window to see a dark brown animal which I was not familiar with. At first I thought it was a fox or coydog, but after listening and seeing these videos I now know that it was definitely a Fisher Cat. It must have been going after my 2 outdoor cats. It came about 5 feet from my deck. When I ran out on the deck and started hooting, holllering and clapping it turned around slowly and walked off into the woods. It definitely was not intimidated by me. Ocassionally since then I hear the screech in the woods at night after we’ve gone to bed. I make sure to get my cats in the house before dark now.
Two days ago, I was driving to pick up my mail at the East Poland, Maine, post office, when an animal I had never seen before crossed the road directly in front of my car. I knew it was a member of the weasel family, but I had never seen such a large animal this shape. I inquired at the P.O. and the people there guessed it was a Fisher. Today, out of curiosity, I went to this site and learned that indeed, that was what I saw. This was about 11 AM on a cloudy day, within 1/8 mile of houses. The animal looked to be in excellent health with a shiny dark coat and moving along easily. What a treat to see this him! I have lived in New England all my life, ( am 79 years old, ) mostly in rural areas. I am familiar with owl calls and foxes, but don’t believe I have ever heard a Fisher. I’m going to start listening better! I don’t have pets, but I will warn my neighbors with cats and dogs to keep them in. Thanks for an informative site!
a few months ago we had our 3 pound dog out for a bathroom break at 11p.m. she was barking so my husband went out and there was a fisher cat growling at him right on our deck.it did take off but we were afraid for our dog for quite a while. we did not see or hear anything else until march 31 in the morning at 11:30 i was on the porch having a butt and it walked right by me on the lawn. it was beautiful and scary at the same time. they are not afraid of me should i be of it? are they supposed to be out in the day?
Looked out the back patio door this morning and did a double take. What I first thought was a large black cat was way too long and scary. The pictures at the top confirm it was a fisher cat. Later tonight after dinner my husband and I saw a red fox run between our neighbor’s house and into the woods behind our homes. All residents living in southern Dover, N.H keep your small animals in at night. In 30 years have never seen this, I’m thinking their habitat has been disrupted.
I had one of these enter my house through the pet door. He almost got my Mittens.I got him with my son’s baseball bat. No more pet door!
what are fisher cats afraid of? i need to trap it because it is terrorizing my neighborhood. do they like rotten meat?
Fisher cat’s SCREAM like little baby’s and I mean scream. We had one in our yard Friday June 10th and Thursday June 16th and this last time I recorded it. If anyone wants to tell me how to put it up here let me know I put it on my video camera and am not sure how to send it.
I live in Medfield next to the track’s.
For your second YouTube video (sound at night), I can tell you that the first sound in the beginning were from a pair of Barred Owls. The next were a couple if raccoons having an argument. Nothing more. I have both in my backyard nightly and the would sound creepy to a person unfamiliar with them. And we also have fishers and red and gray foxes…
i agree with this person -Owls & raccoons fighting.
Absolutely NOTHING here sounds like the fisher cats in our neighborhood. Our house borders a wildlife preserve and the sounds we hear are INDEED clear and quite weird.
I abut Jefferson Nation Forest and I encountered a fisher last evening. It made the same sound as the video. The fox is similar, but a bit more howling to the screech. I described the screech as a mega crow on steroids. I didn’t know what it was, posted it on FB and a friend mentioned the fisher. I have seen these here and believe the video to be that of the fisher. Found it to be very interesting when researching.
Heard a scream like kids or women screaming their heads off, but with pauses between screems, at 10pm last night in the woods behind our house in Shelburne, MA. The best recording I have heard of a fisher cat scream, the closest what I heard last night, is here:
None of the recordings you have hear have quite matched that “either there is a teanagers primal scream therapy session or a murder or animals in heat” eerie scream that we heard in our woods.
This is the exact sounds I’ve been hearing for the last two weeks behind my house,..none of the other videos and sounds I’ve listened to sound like this….this audio you have here is Identical to what I’ve been hearing,…especially the small grunt that sounds like an ape in between the screams sometimes….is this a fisher cat or a fox???….I have in my garden what looks to be fox tracks…
I am from the Connecticut Shoreline. Yesterday my neighbor told my family and I that they saw two Fisher Cats in their yard the day before at 10:00am. Last night I was woken up by a very LOUD and EXTREMELY STRANGE/SCARY noise that was SOOO LOUD it sounded like it was right outside my bedroom window. THIS WAS IT!!! But was even creeper and in longer intervals. SKEEETCH!!
It was probably Bigfoot.
no it was not. i would of shooted that thing and shown yall the carcass
i came yards from a fisher cat a week ago in my town and that was the exact noise that i heard but a lot louder like high pitched like a women screaming. I am 99.9% sure that is a fisher cat
I believe that is a fox You are hearing. Search You tube for Fox calls, think You’ll be surprised
if you live near grove st, I can tell you for certain that there were a family of grey fox living behind my mothers house.
Would that be Grove st South Hadley MA!?
c.d. im from east texas and weve reciently heard this exact thing near our house in the middle of the night…ive only spotted it once and its defiantly some kind of weasel…its not a fox or sreetch owl or bob cat like others have said..ive got abunch of outside feral cats but so far none have been attacked. anyway..defiantly creepy sound..and not a good way to be awoken at 3 am!
I think what you’re hearing is the victim fox the fisher is attacking, the fisher has it’s mouth full…the victim is screaming in pain.
Oops! I was watching a linked video that was after yours…lol ignore my post! lol!
THAT SOUNDS LIKE A FOX
THIS is the sound I’ve heard only twice in my life. Both times within the last couple of months. I’m in north central NC [peidmont triad area]. I looked on wiki and it says that Fishers main area is up north and that they used to be around the Appalachian area. Well, I guess urban growth has pushed these little buggers eastward.. or they’ve spread south.
Something broke into my screened in porch [left a big hole in the screen , and tore loose the bottom of the metal from the wooden door] a couple of months ago and ate my bananas. For years I’ve kept bananas on the porch during summer [because they caused gnats inside] and it’s only now , when I happen to hear this new animal sound, that this happened.
At first , the two things didn’t click in my mind — I figured well it must’ve been a racoon – what else could and would be able to tear open the door that way. But – there’ve always been raccons round here and they never bothered anything. I’m almost certain it was the Fisher now. What if my cat had been on the porch that night? I wonder if it would’ve passed over the bananas or came in and whooped my cats ass? I stopped putting my bananas on the porch BTW.
I haven’t been able to fix the gaping hole in the screen door – yet [I think it’s going to require an entire new door] but I’ve been letting my cat out anyway. Most wouldn’t believe me , but I trained my cat while she was young to not leave my yard , actually to not leave a section of my yard and now that she’s grown much older [8 yrs] she has no desire to snoop around [she was also fixed as a kitten] and stays in the area in my backyard between the house and the garage.
I listened to this sound last night for maybe 5 mins. It wasn’t as close as it was the first time I heard it a couple of months back [which was right next door in neighbors backyard who heard it too but didn’t see it and said it must’ve been a possum – no, possums don’t sound like this] – but it called steadily for probably 10 mins.
My cat wasn’t outside. She doesn’t want out every night, but does most nights.
Do I need to worry about this thing coming into my yard if I don’t have any food stuffs out there?
Will it seek out a fight or do they only attack pets if said pet goes messing with them and messing around on the Fishers turf? Will it attempt to make my yard it’s turf? LOL
I respect wild animals and nature and I understand that urban sprawl and industrialization etc destroys their habitat – which I honestly despise – but if this thing comes on to my property and attacks my cat – it will be shot if [if I can get out there in time].
I don’t live in the city, I don’t live in a suburb and I don’t live in the boonies. I’m in a midway ourskirt semi rural point that is currently being creeped upon by urbanization. They are tearing down woods after woods, building crackerbox house after crackerbox house, apartment complexes, a myriad assortment of businesses and widening the roads. It’s being swallowed up and the poor wildlife catches the brunt of it.
I’d really hate to hate to kill this animal. I will get that door replaced and never have any foods stuff out there. Let’s hope that it stays out of my yard [or at least only passes through].
I hope none of the people that own the land around here sell out because if they do, all the woods and pastures will be gone.
If I won the lottery I’d buy up everything around me, give living rights to my good old neighbors and keep anything else from being built. I’d plant more trees and even buy out the old golf course a couple of miles form here and replant trees there!
From what I have read about the fisher it is a carnivore. Banana’s would be out of the question. Yet, I read one comment saying they feed them and they eat anything. I was told to be cautious of your animal. When they are cornered they can be very vicious. They are the only animal that can kill a porcupine.
I believe a red fox, I’ve heard fisher cats scream and they are drawn out
In N.Calif. they use raw chicken to get tracks in a special container.. to count numbers.I heard one scream recently and I live way out in the hills.I hope now that the cherries are gone so are they. I have an open cat door and am going to be gone ..I lost a cat last year to a bob cat I thought.
yer a dikshiit
Coon Dog: that is a fisher behind your house. I hear the same thing every night behind mine. I live in a residential area in a small town in northern Ontario and these things are all over the place killing every small animal they encounter. I hear it kill a small dog a few streets from my house the other night – that scream is something you won’t forget if you ever hear it.
the 2nd video , the 1 that u ask ” whats that sound”… its an owl
Thanks for the info. I thought I was hearing a Fishercat, he/she past through just last night. Washington, MA.
We heard loud high-pitched screaming last night, pretty sure it was a fisher. But we also have racoons, owls, opossums, and grey fox. I wish i could capture it. I have several outdoor cats that I worry about.
Melissa
Windham Maine
I use to live in Windham off of Varney Mill Rd and awoke to the worst sounds you could imagine one summer morning.When we went outside we found our neighbors cat dead on their porch and a fisher cat taking off around the building so be careful it could happen.
Nice try, but sorry, not very convincing. The first video of the fisher sounds like a hawl or some sort of bird. Also, much of the fisher legend is just that. For one thing, they do not actively prey on cats, according to a study of fisher cats’ stomach contents, a study carried out by the New Hampshire Dept of Fish and Game, in 1994, I think it was. While a fisher may occasionally nab a cat, it is not its first choice of a meal, but keep an eye on your chickens, rabbits, trash cans, road kill, and any baby animals. There are many animals that shriek in the night & there are some people who claim that the fisher cat scream is a myth. I don;t know if it is or isn’t, but just try to find a video on Youtube that actually shows the fisher animal with the sound coming from its mouth. Good luck with that. Okay, so fishers mostly come out at night, but I have seen them in the daytime. And even at night, someone could use wildlife cameras that take nightshots to record the supposed fisher scream, I mean, if it even exists.
well just last night we went for a walk me and some buds through a street and into the forest. When we were walking we heard the same loud screeching exactlly like in the 6th video except it was closer and i live in mass methuen right next to a forest and a huge golf field were there are alot of animals i have seen foxes,deer but what i havent seen but got close to is the fisher cat first time i ever heard one
They will kill a cat when they are cornered. They are the only animal that can kill a porcupine. I had one in my yard last night. My dogs went after it, then I heard the screeching. It wasn’t afraid of my 2 large hound dogs either. Just saying.
I meant to say it sounds like a “hawk”. Sorry.
A fisher killed my main coon cat last night. Bit it in the neck.
While living in Southwest WI, me and my friend heard what sounded like somebody calling for help one night, across the street down by the river. About 1-3 Am, small town of about 500 people. We even called the police and had them come check it out and they found nothing. None of these videos sounded anything like it. Any normal person can tell when something is an animal. Most of these videos just sounded like neighborhood cats fighting or something…. Out of curiousity, we decided to stay up all night out on the sidewalk again and wait for this thing.. it came, only this time it was not saying “help”, it literally sounded like a woman or banshee or something screaming it’s ass off, and it came right for us. This wasn’t a stopping every few seconds, this was a full blown “aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah”, followed by another and then another. Almost like if a chick were to be a lead singer in a death metal band or something. Whatever this was, was huge too, as the screams were coming from higher above ground, and if it were a fox or something, it would have been lower to the ground. This was pretty level with our faces and began to get closer and closer.. yet we couldn’t see anything in front of us. Whatever it was, scared us so bad, that we darted back towards town, and we could still hear this thing following us, running at the same pace as we were, screaming it’s ass off, behind the buildings we were passing. The next morning, I drove past there, and there was no signs of anything. This happened to me when I was 17, and I am now 24. I’ve been up all night remembering these days and trying to find an “animal” that sounded even remotely close to this.. and sadly, I haven’t found any. Not a fisher cat, not a weasal, not a damn racoon, not a screech owl. Whatever I heard, had the lung capacity of a giant and was obviously either intimidating or going to attack me and my friend…. I dont think foxes attack humans do they? And we can rule the whole fox and cat thing out anyway, because it sounded nothing like. To this day I am still puzzled by it and still can’t get answers.
Strange and interesting fact, a year later, my friend that was with me that night, her brother mysterious got into a car accident and hit a light post, RIGHT where we were sitting and had heard these screams… but he didn’t die in the accident.. for some reason they found his body on the otherside of town with a bullet in his head.. They ruled it a suicide… Yet my friend swears up and down that her brother would’ve never killed himself. I found it quite coincidental, that his car was found wrecked, in the exact same location, that this “thing” was coming at us.
Anyway, thought I’d share my story. I’ve been telling myself all these years it had to be an animal, just so I can move on with life, but now I can proudly say, what I heard was definitely strange, and after checking these videos out and others, I am more convinced than ever that what I heard was not an animal.
You must be fun at campfire stories… I don’t think an animal carries a gun…
It was a fox!!! Beacsue the same thing happenend to me!
im with you man. i have heard that not only the fisher took cats but also dogs too. one morning my dog mudbud was gone! now i have 1 dog!
The sound in the video is a fox in my opinion. I live in Greene RI and have two foxes living in my vicinity. Hear this sound alot and last week I was awakened in the night with the scream right outside my window. Looking out, there she was, the red fox. She just kept screaming so I opened the window and told her to go away and she barked at me! Exactly like a dog. They have different calls. The sound in the video is just like the sound she was making right in front of me.
Yes, we’ve had the same sounds two nights in a row, right behind my chicken coop. The foxes are angry with me because I stopped letting my chickens out so they haven’t been getting their daily meal… We do have fishers around but not usually so close to the house. My vote is for foxes screeching.
Ncassidy above is correct on 2nd video sounds-Barred Owl and Racoons
Yesterday in a CT shoreline reservoir woods at 9AM (partial sun)I watched a presumably mother Fisher Cat attempt to lure me away from her offspring by circling and approaching me as close as 25 ft while standing up on her hind legs and swaying to and fro as if to get a better look at me( like a mongoose or otter in water). After about 5 minutes two almost full sized previously hidden young appeared and scampered up a maple to safety. She made only a faint whimpering grunt sounds during the 7 minute encounter
I live in West Haven CT.. a shoreline town and I am less than a block from shore… my neighbors and I just witnessed one of these god awful creatures chase a neighbors cat up treen. After the cat was in the tree this thing lurked around and around the tree screaming…. And like it says above this is a cry you will not soon forget…
Please stop propagating the old myth that fishers eat cats. They do NOT. Though they will kill a cat if attacked by one, the fisher primarily eats small mammals like mice, rats and voles (in fact I interrupted one this morning who was carrying a fat mole across the lane, and she dropped it and ran in fear when she spotted me–sure hope she found it again so she could feed her babies!). A study done on the stomach contents of fishers in an area where “all the locals said the fishers were killing their cats” (so they were apparently exterminating the poor fishers!) found cat hair in one out of 1000 examples. It was most likely an animal, which is much smaller than the average house cat, who was attacked by the cat and defended itself. It’s myths like this which get animals slaughtered to extinction. And the “probable fisher” call you have recorded is just a fox barking. I work at a wildlife rehab center where we have many foxes in and out every year, and we hear that bark all the time.
i live in rural upstate NY. last night i was on my porch grilling something at about 9 pm — my cat came screeching around the wood-pile, through the gate, up onto the porch and in through the cat-door at about 90 miles an hour ——- and about a foot behind him in hot pursuit came another dark animal of about the same size as my cat, who is pretty big actually….. when it saw me there it turned around and was gone——– i don’t know for sure which one of them was screeching. do you think this might have been a fisher?
Bullshit I saw the fisher carrying my cat away
Why do you call them “Fisher Cats?” Time to drop the CAT part of the name. I would love to see one but I do not think they live in NJ. Lastly, the text says that Fishers eat Porcupines. Little doubt that is true but there are much easier and less dangerous animals for them to eat.
Hi…my neighbour just called to ask if I have heard this screeching at night in
our back woods..she was out the other night with 2 of her dogs..and she could hear
something coming and could not believe how fast it moved past her. I told her I was quite sure it was a fischer, my husband saw what he thought was one nearby not long ago. My neighbour has 20 acres of bush behind our home and used to see lots of porcupines, now there are none. Around here they have been known to…tackle anything and are considered dangerous. Neighbours had a fischer in their barn and found many cat skeletons. I also suggested it
might have been the fox screeching…which I only heard for the first time last month. I thought something was dying…my neighbour came out at the same time and called her cat in the house…at the same time I saw the fox running away..it was the fox screeching at the cat. There is a den nearby. A couple of years ago, this same cat used to play with a fox kitten in our back woods..we couldn’t believe it. The same fox used to peek in our front door to see what was on the table for supper and my husband found him sleeping on our deck one morning. I swear he wanted to be a dog. Isn’t nature…just grand!! (We live just outside of Ottawa)
Why is almost everyone against it being the sound of the FISHER. YES!!! it is one and YES it can be proven. Im in Cumberland RI. They are in these woods almost everyday AND night. You can SEE and HEAR them.
I live in Indiana, where there are no Fisher-cats that I know of. I live way out in the country and am around wild animals all the time. This sound is definitely not a hawk or Screech-owl, but does resemble either a Bobcat or Fox. We have an abundance of both Red and Gray Foxes, as well as bobcats. My Indiana opinion is, that it is a Fox.
I would really be interested in seeing some tracks of a Fisher-cat (footprints). A few winters ago we saw what we thought was a Fisher when doing some wildlife research in our valley. It could have been a Fisher-cat!
Interesting reading…just lost both of my cats -1 week apart from each other. Not a sign of them anywhere. Heard what seemed in my opinion to be this same noise last nite for the 1st time. I live in western foothills of Maine, and we have “lost” cats before and always blamed coyotes…thinking my Hav-A-Heart trap will be put to good use. Hurts not knowing for sure what happened to my beloved friends…
Or you could be a responsible pet owner and keep your cats indoors!
Absolutely – all this talk about stupid owners letting their cats outdoors at night when they know the property is wooded, hearing strange and scary sounds in the night, knowing wild animals roam everywhere, the pet owner who allows their cats (and dogs as well) out at night, do NOT DESERVE TO HAVE PETS.
I heard a noise like that but more like a door creaking open or a baby screaming.
We have not only heard the fisher cats, but now have seen them two days in a row. My rather larger dog chased them into the woods. I think that it must be breeding time. We too have cats and when the cats heard the screech on the speakers they dove under the bed with fur all asunder. They sound to my Celtic mind like the sound of the Banshee. We will call the DEC to come and collect them and put them back in the mountains where they belong. Like much of the country we here in the N.E. are having a draught and that may be why sightings and hearing them has risen so fast.
Fishers AREN’T cats!!!! I wish this misnomer would disappear from the vernacular. They are Mustelids related to Mink and Weasels. There is nothing remotely “cat-like” about them!
They aren’t called Fisher Cats because people think they are cats, it’s because in most places people notice that they are fishing for their cats.
Sorry – none of these noises are fishers. Not a single confirmed fisher cat “scream” has ever -ever- been verified. No biologist, zoologist, naturalist, ranger, or other human working closely with fishers have ever actually witnessed one make the noises they are rumored to make. If you have one actually witnessed (not just assumed) on video – you are the first. The scream is a fox, a bird, or something else.
i have heard of bigffoot; nessie; and the chupacabra but i have never seen anything more terrifing than the fisher! im going into the forest to scream.
you know it may be a panther because of the lady like scream it does in colorado whitch my parents had been before i was born. also im 9 years old. they had a law. it was. my mom said that the scream was SOOOO LOUD it sounded like a lady scream. savvy?
Wish people would use the correct name. It is just Fisher, not Fisher Cat. They are a member of the weasel family, related to Otters, Ferrets, Mink, etc, not cats.
The second video sounded like Barred Owls!
I live in Wilbraham Ma and heard the strange screaming sounds as well. I am not certain if it was from a fox or fisher cat, but I have seen many fisher cats around. At first I thought it was a suffering dog in the woods or that of a child screaming for death. Its pretty disturbing if its your first time listening to it out on a dark night. it definately caught all the neighbors attention.
I heard this sound 3 times in 2 weeks, only at night, and it was quite a scary sound; not something I would like to hear if I were out walking or camping. I live in Rhode Island and have seen may fishurs, but this is the first time I have heard one; however, since it was night and we did not see it, I cannot confirm it was one. We have had many foxes over the years but never heard one. It’s December; is it fishur mating season? Is it sounding for a mate?
HI IM NEW TO THIS HOW DO I GET MY COMPUTER OUT OF CAPS LOCK
I had a pair of Red foxes around my house which I observed for quite some time they sound exactly like these videos. They were a male and female (as I had observed them mating). When they got seperated from each other they kept calling each other and made the exact sound as was heard in that video.
that was the most creepeist sound i ever heared . i was watching this with my boy firend and gave me chills hearing that sound
oh this is a fisher cat
Thats a fox but it stills sounds creepy, Like a woman screaming.
ive hard a fisher and im doing reserch on them because my cats ear was bleedig and then i heard a fisher screehing and atacing a nother cat in my neibor hood
I heard this in the field behind my house in Gill, Mass last night (March 30, 2013). I also heard it last year at this time in exactly the same place. Both times I went out with a powerful light for a look. It was fisher’s, not foxes (both times). My wife does not believe me because they were 50 yards from a fox den (last four years); but she was in bed and I was out in the field. Foxes do make similar sounds with a similar cadence.
I’ll try and get a photo next time. Check back in 12 months.
I mountain bike often here in Western Massachusetts. I have seen fisher’s on many occasions over the years.
Today, my 4 year old daughter spotted something coming out of the woods on our property in Feeding Hills. I looked and our wandered a Fisher. Animal control told me to stay inside that they are very aggressive and dangerous. That was the end of our sunny day fun.
We just heard this outside, we live up in the hills of N. CT by Stafford and it was so loud it was scary. I opened the window to get a better listen, and it does sound like an injured animal or something screaming out wildly with brief moment of silence in between. hopefully they only roam at night, hopefully, because i dont want my dog to get bit while in the yard during the day.
We live in western NY Chautauqua County, two nights ago We heard the blood curdling screeching sound that lasted a good 20 seconds and repeated three or four times . Our St. Bernard was out for her last “business” trip before bed and must have encountered this animal, which we think is a fisher. Rumor has it the county has brought these animals into our area. Never before in my 62 years have i been afraid to go out side at night until now. These animals have interuptted our peaceful small village and I think the county should be obligated to take them away
I just 3 weeks ago experienced almost an hour of these hideous screeches just outside our family camp in Upstate NY. I had never heard this before – I thought it was a wounded animal or a small child screaming! Just outside of Franklinville, NY near Lyndon is where we are located. It was about 2:00 AM when the high pitch screams started and it sounded like it was only 25-30 ft. away from our camper door. I kept the dogs inside and with a bright flashlight I searched the property borders but found nothing. Once back inside the screaches continued for
an hour with only brief pauses between each scream – Our neighbor told us he had seen a Fisher about a month prior in the meadow below us. I am glad to know what we may be dealing with in Cattaraugus County. We keep our weiner dogs close by us now & will carry a rifle at night!
Listen to the cottontail rabbit scream. It is the sound most people are probably hearing up here in New England. It is blood curdling. If people say they saw fishers and then that night heard the sound, it could be the fisher attacking the rabbit. It would be interesting if someone could capture a video of a fisher actually screaming.
You have presented no real evidence of a fisher making a call other than anecdotal and stories. The only real evidence you have is that video of a fox making a call that sounds very much like what multiple people on youtube have attributed to a fisher. The Video clip #1 and #2 on this page sound like owls to me but nothing is known about the location or origin of the video so they could even be tropical monkeys for all we know. Check out these crazy owl sounds that could easily be mistaken for a fisher or something else?
https://www.owlpages.com/owls/sounds.php
https://www.owlpages.com/owls/sounds.php
At around 2:30 AM for the past two nights, we have heard a series screechy ‘barks’. Four to five ‘barks’ then silence. Then it repeats a few times. The first night, the barks were preceded by a screech from an obviously distressed animal. These ‘barks’ are much too raspy to be coming from a dog. We know that fishers are in the area because we have heard their screeches in the past. Do they make a barking sound as well, or is this another animal?
Fishers, as mustelids, don’t scream
Hello to all
In this difficult forthwith, I love you all
Appreciate your relations and friends