Terror on the Trail

I didn’t want to scare anyone by telling this story but since the mystery has been solved I will share this tale of terror on the Trail.  It was past midnight a couple of nights ago and the moon was almost full.  I was sleeping peacefully with my window open allowing the gentle breeze to blow in.  Suddenly I was awoken by a scream so loud and terrible it made my skin crawl.  It continued to scream as I ran around the house making sure all of the doors were locked.  Then just as quickly as it began the screaming stopped.  I sat wide awake in my bed wondering what the heck was in the woods.  Mike couldn’t offer any kind of reassurance except,  "Maybe it was a rabbit getting killed, I heard they sound like a woman screaming when they are being eaten."  I thought, "The sound the woman makes while being eaten or the rabbit?"  Then he said, "It could have been an owl screeching."  I didn’t think so, I was convinced there was a different type of killer in the woods.  Unlike the people in horror movies I did not go out in search of the mystery sound that night or the next day, but when it happened again, right after midnight, the next evening, I was just as freaked out with the eery sound.  What in the heck could it be?  The next night, just around sunset, while Mike was outside working, he heard it again.  The scream came out of nowhere and ended quickly.  He cautiously walked to the corner of the building and the only thing he saw was our fox friend sitting in front of the bunkhouse.  Then it happened.  The fox opened it’s mouth wide and screamed the horrible scream.  So much for our friendly fox.  Why is it yelling?  I’m not totally sure because most red fox are done mating by this time of year, but in the North their mating time does sometimes go into April.  Could it be the sound of a fox in heat?  I have no idea but if it is then I am happy to have read on the internet that their estrous period only lasts from 1-6 days.  This hopefully means the screaming in the night will come to an end and the terror on the trail will be over while our peace of mind is restored once again.