Spooky Screams Heard In Howard County Woods: Officials

Ellicott City MD

05 February, 2021

1:19 PM

Description

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Concerned residents frequenting Howard County parks or living near the green spaces have reached out recently to police and park rangers about the screams coming from nearby woods and fields. It turns out there's nothing to worry about. According to the Howard County Recreation and Parks Department, the "human-sounding scream" is a sound used by female foxes, or vixens, to attract males during their mating season, which runs from December through February. The screams are heard most often at night, but it isn't unusual to hear the foxes during the daytime, park rangers noted. The department said residents who hear these screams should not be alarmed but instead should keep their eyes open for young fox kits to emerge this spring. Stephanie Kane Mummert confessed on Facebook that she called the police the first time she heard the sound. "We thought someone was being murdered," Mummert wrote. Facebook user Lucia Patrone posted that when she heard the sound from her back yard, it frightened her and her dog. "Totally human-sounding!" she wrote. Thomas Bross II wrote on Facebook that he has heard the sound during his predawn runs by Rockburn Park. "Talk about horror film shivers!" he wrote. "Hearing those shrill yelps is blood-curdling."