Fox Calls

*PLEASE READ - Q&A in description. In this video, you will learn a few different fox calls and sounds, and what they mean. Foxes can make up to more then 40 calls and sounds; contact calls, and interaction calls. Foxes are normally quiet animals, and their calls are mostly heard durning the mating season when foxes are calling out to each other and fighting over territory. Fox cubs are very quiet, and only make sounds when they are playing, fighting, or nursing. Most of the time, fox calls are mistaken for the call of another animal. *I do not own the audio or the pictures. This video is for educational purposes only.
Q&A
Q: Are pets safe from wild foxes?
A: Foxes will stay well away from dogs, even if the dog is smaller then the fox. Foxes don't normally attack cats. In fact, most fox/cat meetings end with the cat chasing the fox away. Foxes don't normally fight unless they have to. As for smaller pets like rabbits that are kept outside, a very hungry fox may look at it as an easy meal, and same goes for chickens. Healthy foxes don't normally pose as a threat to cats or dogs, but a fox carrying rabies is a very deadly animal. And foxes are extreamly protective of their cubs, and will attack anything, even bears, if they feel their cubs are in dager.
Q: Are silver foxes different from red foxes?
A: Silver foxes are red foxes, just with a silver or black coat rather then a red one. Red foxes are named for their red coats, but different colored red foxes have nick-names for a different colored coat. Silver or black colored red foxes are called silver foxes, and red foxes with a dark coat with red, cream, black, and silver with a dark stripe down its back and across its shoulders is called a cross fox. Red foxes can also be white, cream, or marble colored.
Q: Are they good as pets?
A: No wild animal makes a good pet. They will always have wild blood in them and can never be fully tamed. Foxes like to climb and dig. Most places won't let you keep a wild animal as a pet unless you have a license to keep one. You will also need to keep it updated on all it's shots, and most vets will not or can not work on wild animals unless they are licensed. Plus, there'd be big trouble if it ever bit someone.
Q: Can foxes climb over fences?
A: Foxes are really good climbers, they would have no trouble climbing a fence. Red foxes and gray foxes are known to climb trees, and gray foxes are sometimes found sleeping in trees, giving them the nick-name "tree fox".
Q: Are foxes a danger to humans?
A: Healthy foxes normally keep their distance from humans. They fear humans, and for good reason. Urban foxes may have less fear of humans, and may come rather close. However, foxes can carry rabies, which is deadly to humans if not treated right away. Urban foxes may seem friendly, but never try to touch any wild or stray animal.
Q: When are they most active?
A: It depends. Some fox species are active only at night, and if a fox has cubs to feed or if food is hard to find, they may be active though out the whole day. But foxes are mostly active at dawn and dusk. They like nap and play during the day, and do some nighttime hunting.
Q: The alarm bark and vixen's scream almost sound alike, how do you tell the difference?
A: The vixen's scream is mostly only heard during the mating season, which is at a different time for different species of fox and different places around the world, but for red foxes in most places around the world you may hear the mating call between December and April. A nother way is the alarm bark is more of a "raaww" while the vixen's scream is more of a "whaaa"

[@brittanyhaas5574]

I think we all know why we're here.

[@Ketta139]

i feel so bad for people who go camping and have no idea what foxes sound like. honestly foxes screaming sound like someone's being murdered

[@KaleidoscopeKiller]

Now that I know this, it's going to be super hard to explain to people what a real fox says. "It sounds like a mixture of a dog, cat, owl, and a woman screaming."

[@LeothirNanirhandel]

How about working on an imitation instead? :)

[@KaleidoscopeKiller]

Totally.

[@MikeDunn]

Vixen's Scream is *very* fucking scary in real life. It sounds like a teenage girl getting stabbed, especially when heard from a distance.

[@leiarae8131]

Here's your answer Ylvis

[@kid_whodoodles1190]

What does the fox say? SOMETHING I DON'T WANNA HEAR TRYING TO SLEEP.

[@TheNewFlutist]

1:36 that's the worst. Woke up from that last night, that same scream slightly altered into sounding more like a little girl. When they do that particular scream over and over, it almost sounds like a child screaming for help... abducted in the middle of the night... O_O

[@DerpyPotater]

Oh my god, I heard this call right out side my house and I was freaking out like IS THAT SOMEONE'S INTERMITTENT SCREAMS OF AGONY AND TORTURE AT THE HANDS OF A BRUTAL MURDERER OR SOME DOG BEAR WOLF MAN HUMANOID CREATURE PLOTTING TO TAKE OVER EARTH.

[@MegaEnderCreeper]

i thought the mating call was a person getting stabbed before this video

[@StarFoxFan4641]

The Vixen's scream is commonly known as a banshee scream, but it's very likely it was an alarm bark. If the fox has a family, this is the time of year where the young foxes start exploring the territory, and if the fox is worried about its family being out and about, it could be warning them that you and your dog are near by.

[@evildrew81]

1:11 Ding ding ding ding ding da-ding.

[@Majessty333]

1:11 what does the Fox say? Yeah he was accurate then... just a biiiiit.

[@MissKerrylicious]

HAHAHAHA that is what I just told my friend. XD

[@VirtualInsanity15]

Thank God for that! I just freaked out thinking a woman was being bloody murdered or something. Shit me right up! I looked out my window to see a fox running down the road. So I was thinking "I bloody wonder what a fox sounds like" and now I feel better! :')

[@robbieann100]

I heard the "vixen scream" for the very first time last night around midnight! I live in the woods backing up to the Smoky Mountain National Park. I was alone on my front porch, and it scared me like I've never been scared before! Seriously! !!!! Thank God for KZbin. ?..my husband asked me if I was hallucinating when I told him about it this morning! !!! So I went online and found your video!!! Thanks! !

[@Vulcanic74]

as a kid i would hear the mating calls in the cornfields at night it used freak me out hearing a bunch of them screaming like banshees lol

[@joannpriepke7938]

The fox terriers my parents raised years ago, were true to their name. The wild fox that lived along the river behind our farm would call to our terriers in the evening at sunset and our dogs would answer back. We often wondered what their conversations were about.

[@JinxiiMinx]

Thank you for this video. Been hearing this in the woods near my house and it's freaking the horses out as well as myself! Was able to identify the sound thanks to this video. I never knew foxes could sound so terrifying! It gave me chills...

[@BadBartholomew]

I came here not because I wanted to know what the fox says, but because I heard that creepy-ass "vixen scream" behind my house. Needless to say, I thought someone was being murdered. D:

[@de0509]

found foxes cute before they were cool

[@nustiuma]

heard the vixen's scream once while camping with some friends, if i knew a fox made that scream our little camping trip would've lasted longer than 1 hour

[@Bee0613]

A fox barking is exactly what I have been hearing outside my house the last couple of nights! I couldn't work out what it was at first, but this video has cleared that up for me, Thanks :)

[@dumburd]

Vixen scream sounds like a women getting attacked or something spooky

[@pkonneker]

After listening to all of these I guess the song isn't that far off. XD

[@Rottnar]

I was utterly alone in the woods pretty far away from civilisation and had just tucked myself in my sleepingbag after reading a pretty creepy crimenovel... I was just wandering into sleepyland when I woke up to screams pretty much right outside my tent! In my woozyness I thought the blairwitch herself was trying to get in and allmost pissed my pants! I had to that night never heard a fox screaming so you can probably imagine how I felt...

[@laurensabino182]

I just heard the "vixen scream" in my yard which is weird, because in living here for 21 years, I've never had a fox once

[@Tchernobog]

thanks for uploading this, I can stop panicking now haha I thought it was something/someone being tortured out there... really disturbed me.

[@lonefoxbushcraft]

I LOVE FOXES

[@jasonworkman2535]

thanks for collecting these sound bites and posting them. I really had no idea what sound the fox makes. finally a pop song leads me to interest and true knowledge in real life.

[@Kasonas]

I heard this noise (vixen's scream) once driving down the road. I almost called 911 because I thought it was a woman screeming. I called my husband and he said "oh that's a fox" I went home and looked it up on the internet and sure enough it was exactly that sound. I've seen foxes crossing the road there, so I always go real slow. Thatnks for posting this.

[@karp1091184]

I remember playing manhunt as a child and hearing the Vixens scream. All us kids ran home in fear that someone was getting killed in the woods. To top it off almost calm and went to be half way asleep I heard it again. Had nightmares till I saw a Vixen do it where I could see her. Awesome and creepy all at once.

[@208disneygirl]

Is it just me, or do almost all of these noises sound reeeaaaalllllyyy creepy???!!! The first one sounds like a dog barking, though, so that's not as creepy.

[@centralintelligenceagency9003]

I have learned from this that my back yard is the seat of the foxes' central council. Also lots of cats in my area and they all love my garden.

[@timbone34]

Wow. Thanks this is the exact sound I'm hear every night around 1am. Coming from the woods and couldn't figure out what it was. So foxes do make sounds

[@CeruleanRipple]

It's disturbing how much they sound like screaming women. D:

[@rockerGRITS]

I now know that a woman was not being murdered in my neighborhood. It was just a fox's vixen's scream!

[@SteeleOkami]

So THAT'S what the Fox says!

[@StarFoxFan4641]

That's great to hear. :) I'd sure love to have a family of foxes playing in my yard. They are very fun to watch. Careful not to scare them, or they'll move away.

[@StarFoxFan4641]

Foxes are very curious animals. As long as they think they are safe, they'll keep a safe distance from people, dogs, cats, and other animals to watch them.

[@LucetLux]

So, basically they bark, in a very weird and disturbing way.

[@vykarion]

I always thought that was part of the joke of the song to be honest, the fox makes a wide variety of sounds.

[@GraceMeyer0203]

My sister was singing "What does the fox say" I sent her the link to this video.

[@holymolly2520]

Warning: do no play with 2 big dogs next to you as you go to have a drink of coffee... Scared me right off my chair (my dogs reaction) and the coffee with the cup is still probably flying all the way up to the moon! what a mess!

[@LouiseVWRARFS]

Thank you for sharing this... We have fox near us and we had no idea what those screams were. I agree with Claire Brennan, it was scary when we had no idea what it was.

[@bobbieparry646]

As you seem pretty knowledgeable, I have a question. Earlier tonight, I heard what was a sort of yip-yip-yip bark, and then saw a fox. Because it was crossing the road back and forth, I hung around, because cars always seem to speed on that road and I was worried. It was definitely an adult or a large juvenile, and it would cross, walk through two or three front gardens, pause every 10 paces and yip-yip-yip bark, then pause as if it was waiting for a response, then cross over and do the same thing on the other side of the road. It was holding one of its front paws off the ground, which took me a while to realise as it kept passing out of sight. I tried to get near to it, gently (I have a lot of experience with animals in general, but not foxes) and it didn't seem frightened or defensive, but I couldn't get close enough to see its paw and in the end I had to leave it. A web search, this video and a couple of other sites later, it sounds like it was a kit calling for its mother, and I can only assume she ain't coming for a cub that size. Is it possible that it would use a distress call type sound (as opposed to an alarm call) for relatives or his mate? Or is he just a kit who left the family and is hoping someone will come for him anyway? Don't mince words lol, I would rather know anyway because I can't get it out of my head. I know I wouldn't have been able to get near enough to help either way but I keep picturing him pausing and listening, and I wonder if anything eventually heard him and answered.

[@helltoyoung]

Oh boy, I would hate to see a fox and a goat in the same room. But now my life goal is to adopt a fox and a goat and have it in my house so the cops can be called on me everyday thinking someone is being murdered.

[@eric-maier]

The red fox is my favorite animal - has been since I was a kid. Thanks for this!

[@laurencebrazier2510]

Who ever made this forgot: gedding ding ding ding ding de ding de ding.

[@SterbenNL]

Eerie, but very beautiful.

[@StarFoxFan4641]

Mating season won't start until January, but calls between mates as they start meeting each other can be heard in December through February. This is actually around the time of the year that young foxes start getting ready to leave the family to find their own territory.

[@pangaeus]

The Vixen's scream got my dog's attention.

[@betanycaballero2438]

You might appreciate that I used this video of yours to identify the sounds in the wooded area behind my home. The foxes back there have made various sounds.

[@Rocky4719]

THERE YOU F***ING GO YLVIS. THIS IS WHAT THE FOX SAYS

[@hsvpicguy]

Now I know what the noises are behind my house at night. It gets wild when several join in doing the vixen call. Ive had a mother raise her young in my back yard den for 3 year in a row. It's really neat when the babies emerge for the first time.

[@shirel.a8421]

Oooh okay, I heard a fox doing a alarm call and I mimicked it because I had no clue what it was

[@FrankenXANA]

Did you know, that the Vixen's Scream is also thought to be the cry of the banshee? FX

[@abcdefgqwertyuiop1324]

Heard the scream at 2am thinking it was an injured dog or something, went out to see and a fox ran right by my legs! 😂 Scared the crap out of me though since I could barely see what it was!

[@drezi8705]

i think we all know why we are all here

[@StarFoxFan4641]

I've already had two others ask for more calls and information on them a few months ago. I've only just gotten more audio of new calls from different types of foxes a few weeks ago. I never thought of making a part 2 until people asked for more calls from different species of fox, and I had wanted to add cub calls to this one, but didn't have any audio before. IF I do upload a part 2, I'll wait until the Ylvis craze dies down first, as it'll be for educational purposes, and not for the views.

[@linzy123able]

Fox howl, bark and scream sounds beautiful it's close to a wolf almost

[@FoxyandthePhoenix]

Very helpful.. Thank you, we wondered we were hearing and what our dog was freaking out about and this solved it perfectly.

[@StarFoxFan4641]

It was first thought to be a mating call used by female foxes only heard during mating season. But now it is said to be a long distance call used by both males and females that can be heard all year round.

[@tahirabranch9787]

Ring-ding-ding-ding-ding-geding-geding.

[@guestguest9]

I have foxes living at the bottom of my garden and they bark ALL NIGHT and thanks to this guide I found out that they have had Cubs (I think that's the word). Great guide thanks!

[@ChiyuStar]

That scream... I remember one night, being in bed, and hearing that exact scream. My ex and I were suddenly wide awake and wondered if someone had just gotten murdered in the forest. I'm glad it was just a fox! (Or so I hope.)

[@h1r43th4l1v3]

hearing some of these sounds during nightime when youre in a wood is scary as fuck

[@gottaplayusa]

I heard this noise early one morning last week and had no idea what it was! Thanks for posting this!

[@ZeroFrostea]

The sound sounded like an old lady crying for help, but also like a cute little puppy

[@gailsohns806]

Thank you! Now we know for sure what has been waking us up at night (and starting our dog into a barking frenzy!).

[@BlackVulpine]

Some of the sounds are indeed reminiscent of the song, like the so-called 'gekkering'.

[@Rock.Nagasaki]

i find the fox's howl kinda cute

[@Kaiouri]

Foxes make beautiful sounds. :)

[@nunyabees5585]

Thank you for this post. I heard a scream last night that scared me to death. I'd never heard it before. I've been on KZbin listening to animal screams. It was definitely a Fox.

[@meggydoodle3327]

The other night my sister and I were asleep (we share a room) and we were woken up by this terrible noise. To her it sounded like to old ladies screaming at each other but I thought it almost sounded like a mix of a dogs bark and a coyote. I now know that it was the vixen fox... Thank you very much this helped a lot!

[@ryanlauer1586]

1:03 is fucking terrifying. That second batch of screams are identical to a fox in my neighborhood right now. I haven't heard it for two weeks now, but it'll come back. It just screamed and screamed at like 1-4 in the morning. For like ten minutes at a time. I was like bitch what's the problem ;/

[@evildrew81]

Imagine how many views this video has just from people wondering what the fox says.

[@susanstawniak]

This was so informative!!! I have heard just about every one of these calls where we live! I didn't realize they all belong to the fox!!!

[@sro4372]

thank you so much for this video! my husband and i spent 10 mins looking out the door scratching our heads. our cat was out and we had just let her when when the fox started yelling. now we know what and why thanks to this video. btw, cat will be indoors unless we are out.

[@kathylipschutz1666]

I have seen (she's beautiful) the vixen and heard her calling last night, and it wounded like there were babies as well. I live in Central New York, is this mating season. They are so precious and I am honored to live by them!

[@chattycathy53]

Wow! I hear that sound at night. Never knew what it was. I thought it was a bird that got his days and nights mixed up. Thanks !

[@12tinnk]

I was just woken up a little bit ago (around 4:30 a.m.) by a high pitched screaming sound. I was freaking out! I thought that a woman was being attacked honestly. I live in a pretty residential area of PA so it never crossed my mind that it was a wild animal. Turns out it was the exact sound of the vixen fox that you played. This very much calmed my nerves and let me know a grisly murder was not being committed outside my bedroom window

[@INSANESUICIDE]

Actually it is extremely varied, my aunt is married to a guy who owns a fox fur farm, and the sounds those things make can range from cute to downright terrifying and spinechilling. Sometimes it sounds like a cute puppy, other times can sound like a terrified child in pain. Really slept bad when I visited her in my childhood hehe.

[@ellietobe]

I just read your fox Q&A. Glad to see my cats are safe. They love to hunt the woods at night.

[@StarFoxFan4641]

Your cats are more in danger from coyotes if they are out in the woods at night. (if you have coyotes in your area) But most red foxes will tease cats but try to stay out of striking range. They might look aggressive, but a simple mock charge or swat from the cat will cause the fox to duck away. There are a lot of videos here on YT of cats chasing foxes away. Gray foxes are actually more aggressive to cats, but they are smaller and since gray foxes are slow, a cat can very easily out run a gray fox.

[@lucgodwin7365]

The vixens scream sounds like a woman is getting stabbed

[@StarFoxFan4641]

Foxes do make a different screaming sound when they are happy, and they also make a sound that sounds very much like a human laugh when they are happy.

[@StarFoxFan4641]

I would say screaming or their laughing gekker sounds. Like how dogs will sometimes bark for no reason, cats will sometimes meow for no reason, foxes will scream for no reason, but their most commonly heard call is the "wow wow wow" call which is like a "rapid fire" bark. I added that call to part 2 fox calls video.

[@Taijifufu]

Ohhh so that awful scream is the vixen's call! I've been hearing that for years, thought some rabid cats were fighting, or some poor woman was being attacked or something; turns out it was just a fox. Thx for this video, puts mine and my family's mind at ease.

[@mikewhite7734]

All I heard was Ringadingdingdindingding

[@GrantDaily]

What does the Fox say? Who cares about that music video.. this is our noises! :D

[@SparkleBabes112]

See, foxes don't go ding ding ding ding ding a ding a ding.

[@nadsat13]

Thank you! I heard one last night and thought it was an animal being hurt! I got out of bed and looked out all my windows

[@litalepie455]

Love the song. Very, very creative with wild choreography. Heard fox in yard last night and dog went crazy. He was in the house. We've seen many in the Hamptons, NY. Love it, love it, love it!

[@sarayah7215]

I LOVE FOXES!!

[@Kriatyrr]

Started playing, and then the cat came over from the other room, looking very worried. ::switches to headphones::

[@jabtrack123]

whoever uploaded this was thinking 4 years ahead. They knew this would become valuable and relevant information

[@BeHappyNoMatterWhat]

beautiful sounds...I love foxes

[@tacomanjr.7642]

whoever posted "what does the fox say" would look stupid to whoever saw this

[@xxJannaJessiexx]

imagine walking through the woods alone by night and herd all them sounds I think I would run for my life :')

[@mattbratt250]

Thought something was dying outside. Sounds travel really well in my neighborhood so I honestly had no idea what I was hearing. Just some eerie scream. I am glad it is a fox and not a person.

[@gonzisonsbc]

What a beautiful animal !

[@pyroxxx]

Imagine you're alone in the woods hearing that around you, wondering what it could be and not knowing it's actually just a fox #scary