Scientists believe foxes use this barking sound to identify themselves and communicate with other foxes.Īnother eerie fox vocalization is a type of high-pitched howl that’s almost like a scream.

One of the most common fox vocalizations is a raspy bark. Their vocalizations also resemble a mixture of both dog and cat sounds. Because of their smaller size, though, they tend to hunt more like cats.

Likewise, foxes can make several different sounds (although their vocal variety isn’t quite as extensive as a dog’s).įoxes belong to the scientific Canidae family, like dogs and wolves. These include barking, whining, growling, and howling. We might say the sound a dog makes is “woof,” but dogs can actually make many sounds. One thing Ylvis got right is that foxes can make a variety of sounds. In the United States, you might hear several other types of foxes, such as gray foxes and kit foxes. In Norway, the members of Ylvis might hear either the arctic fox or the red fox. Wouldn’t it be fun if it were true, though? Those familiar with the song may think that a fox says, “Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!” Or perhaps it’s “Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!” “Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!” and “Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!” are also possibilities.īut are those accurate? If you were to hear a fox in the wild, would it say any of those things? Sadly, animal experts will tell you that those things are NOT what the fox says. Millions of people passed the video around on social media. It was even named the top trending video of 2013 on YouTube! Like all viral videos, it quickly gained popularity. Since its debut in September 2013, the video has been seen over 350 million times. And, though they are not always red, they will always have a white-topped tail, she said.What does the fox say? That’s the question asked over and over again in the viral video “The Fox” by Norwegian comedy team Ylvis. In addition to gray foxes, community members may also see red foxes in the Bay Area, she added. In the past couple years, there was a reduction in population in the Palo Alto Baylands as well.” “There have been at least one or two canine distemper outbreaks in the Bay Area that decimated the local population, especially in the East Bay (most likely from people not vaccinating their pets). “It’s great to see that they are making a comeback,” Jelincic told Berkeleyside by email. Though gray fox sightings have become increasingly common in the Bay Area, it’s still not a regular occurrence. The recording is also consistent with gray fox vocalizations, she said. Jen Jelincic, the chapter’s current president, said the animal’s body shape and color pattern, including its black dorsal line and black-tipped tail, support its identification as a fox. Bobcats don’t have long tails like this guy either.” “Bobcats are twice as big and are bulkier. Grey indeed,” wrote wildlife biologist Kristin Tremain, past president of the Bay Area chapter of The Wildlife Society. “It has a bushy tail, so I think this is much more likely a grey fox than a bobcat,” wrote Chris Conroy, staff curator and researcher at The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley. Though there wasn’t much light in the street that night, the animal Berger saw had a large fluffy tail, which bobcats do not have.īerkeleyside emailed several experts and asked for their help to identify the animal in Berger’s photos and audio. The next day, a neighbor told Berger she thought she had heard two of the animals on the block that morning.īerger initially wondered if he might have seen a bobcat, but dismissed that notion after further research. At one point, Niko can be heard making a small growl: “That was the extent of his involvement,” said Berger. It was dark and the video was hard to make out, but he shared the audio (above) with Berkeleyside. Berger, the husband of Berkeley Councilwoman Susan Wengraf, pulled out his cellphone and recorded a video of the animal barking at them.

Grey fox sounds