Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Have you ever heard a cottontail scream?

A thread on the Hunters Campfire forum regarding the first things that you hunted made me recall this experience.

I was hiking up a grassy ridge while carrying a .22 rifle. I came upon two cottontails and shot one, which I thought had dropped dead. The second rabbit scurried up over the ridge and onto the other side. I followed it and as I did that, I walked past the first bunny. I looked over the ridge and, while I did that, the "dead" rabbit let out a blood curdling scream from behind me. It was startling to say the least.

I would put an injured cottontail scream right up there with a bunch of coyotes “chorusing” after sunset with sounds that raise the hair on the back of your neck. 😳

yep…pretty loud! No wonder predators come running out of the woodwork for it!

Yup, every time my cat catches one. That's what most of the coyote squealers imitate.

Heard my first one many years ago. Shot and wounded one with a .22 and my dog jumped on it. A hell of a sound.

Some buddies and I were camping out one early fall night and about midnight we were all woken up with a bloody scream. It turns out a bobcat had caught a rabbit not far from our camp and it was screeching I assume because of the pain and fright. My dog was with me and she took off in the direction of the scream and a few seconds later we all heard this growl we are pretty sure was from the bob cat. The dog came running back and laid down beside me like it wanted protection. After the bobcat's growl that was the las we heard of the rabbit. It was pretty spooky.

kwg

Had a Jimmy Carter experience with one once.

Yes, many years ago. I was just a kid, out in the woods by myself…..scared the hell outta me! memtb

Fishing the Kansas river for flatheads at 2am perfectly quiet until a coyote or bobcat grabbed a cottontail on the bank.

MY GOD…. Just end it already… it was like a never ending horror movie

Yes sir
That's what predator calls are made to imitate

First time I heard that, I was a teenage bowhunter and was using empty 38 special cartridges for a blunt tip on my homemade wooden arrows.

My beagle chased a rabbit in a big circle, back to me and I shot it with that recurve... Oh my goodness! I had no idea that they'd scream.

Haven't heard it often, but I don't hunt rabbits all that often either. Heck of a noise.

Guy

Probably the most hair raising noise I've heard in the outdoors is two bobcats fighting. In the moonlight deep in the national forest alone walking out with a bow killed deer in the backpack and when that ruckus kicks off about 150 yards ahead of you it will cause you stop for a minute or two to figure it out before continuing on that direction.

11 or 12 years old, out woods loafing with my trusty Crossman, sitting just below the top of a slightly wooded ridge, mainly junipers and such with a few trees here and there, overgrown pasture, I believe. I heard a gawdawful screaming above me ... several one or two second bursts. I scrambled up to the top of the ridge, scaring off a big red-tail hawk that had obviously just nailed a rabbit. The rabbit took off too. I winged a hail Mary shot at the rabbit, clean miss, but I could see three red stripes down the length of his hindquarter where the hawk had grabbed him. Pretty cool sight for a kid to see.

Not sure in real life. but about 35 years ago I had a cassette tape for my tape caller with a Handwritten label "cottontail being skined alive. Bought it at a small local gun shop. It called a few coyotes, but would make my dog go berserk.

When caught by an animal? Yes many times

When caught by an animal? Yes many times

Funny that you bring this up because I haven’t thought about this topic for 40+ years. When I was a little boy my grandpa and I were real close and we’d spend all summer traveling across the country. Grandma and grandpa had decided to buy property in Apache Junction Arizona so we started spending a lot of time there, especially spring and summer. I was always into guns, hunting, fishing and everything outdoor related with my earliest memories of shooting BB guns and archery. I had a bolt action 22 that mom and dad bought me for Christmas when I was 9 and that’s what I toted in the desert around Apache Junction for rabbits. I had read about cottontails screaming and I absolutely dreaded that. I literally stayed awake at nights fearing a bad shot and having to hear them scream. I spent more time practicing with my 22 kicking a ball and hitting it on the move like a fleeing rabbit. Finally the day came that I was comfortable enough with my shooting that I committed myself to giving the rabbits a shot(pun intended). I started out on the desert trail about 7am, the desert in the springtime is magical with everything being a wonderful assault on all your senses. I had only been on the trail for a couple minutes when the first cottontail flushed behind me and to the left. I instinctively swung and fired hitting the cottontail in the head and instantly killing it. I was PROUD of my first shot and decided to collect the rabbit on my way back to grandpa and his truck unless a coyote or something came along in which case I’d use the rabbit as bait for a bigger trophy. Over the next several hours I proceeded to kill 4 more cottontails all with head shots and not a peep out of them. I killed several big jackrabbits and other assorted desert vermin including a decent sized rattler but for some reason it was the scream of a cottontail that worried me. 😂

On my way back to grandpa and the truck I slowly approached the site of my first cottontail kill hoping to see a coyote or bobcat eating it. I crawled over the little rise to peek into the small wash where the dead rabbit was and I couldn’t believe my 12 year old eyes….there were 3 cottontails eating their buddy. I threw my rifle up and set the iron site on one of the little cannibals and it looked up at me with a bloody face…the 3 rabbits looked demonic with the blood of their fallen comrade staining their cute cuddly furry little faces. I killed 1 of the demon cannibals and kept returning to the site hoping for something bigger but that was it. I never worried about them screaming ever again after that surprisingly gruesome encounter…😂

I've played it a lot but only heard it once. I was sitting in a deer stand and one started. It went on forever. I couldn't see exactly where it was coming from or what was happening, but if it died, it wasn't a quick death.

Saw a coyote catch one while sitting in a deer stand. Dam it was loud

I've also heard a Pine Squirrel scream as it was being chased by a Pine Marten. That chase lasted about 2 or 3 minutes. I was hoping the Pine Marten would get his chattering ass but he got away.