High pitched screams heard by hikers in the Pine Barrens witnessed in Burlington County, New Jersey

Open Map

Myself and 3 friends were hiking down the Batona trail through the New Jersey pine barrens, when we stopped at a trailside campsite for the night. This was around 2030-2100 hours. At around 2330-2400 hours, we heard an odd high pitched scream. Like a cross between a howl and a whistle. A few minutes later we could hear a large animal moving through the brush, making that scream as it went. It appeared to stop every few minutes before it would continue on its way. It was about 20 yards off into the woods which are very thick at that point. There were on open fires permitted and very dim moon light, so no one could see what was making the noise. The animal moved along his way and the sound faded away. No one really wanted to go out and look since we only had one flashlight. I have hunted and fished that area often and so have my friends, but none of us have ever heard sounds like that before or since. We should have checked the area the next day, but we did not. The total time we heard t...