This Deer With a Human Scream Is the Last Thing You Want to Hear in the Woods

We've all seen enough horror movies to let our imaginations run wild while camping or hiking in remote wooded areas. And while they may be technically harmless, the sound that a specific breed of European deer makes would be enough to send a chill down even the bravest of spines.

Roe deer are small to medium-sized deer, reddish and grey-brown in color, which are native to Europe and found everywhere from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean and the Caucasus to Scotland. Even outside that range, the deer can also be found as far east as northern Iran and Iraq.

Roe generally adapt well to cold environments, but perhaps their most distinguishing feature is a unique barking sound.

"Both sexes make dog-like barking noises when startled or alarmed," writes the British Deer Society. "During the breeding season [female deer] attract bucks with a high-pitched piping call. Bucks respond with a rasping noise during courtship. Young roe deer make a high-pitched whistle to attract their mothers when they become lost."

But as evidenced by a recent post on the Nature Is Metal Instagram account, the bark of the roe deer also sounds quite a bit like a human scream.

The short accompanying video features a roe deer bark-screaming, which would probably be more terrifying if you didn't see the sound coming out of a deer's face. But if you were out in the woods and didn't see it come from a deer?

"If I heard this while I’m hunting I’m packing my shit up," quipped one commenter. "Camping in the woods and hearing that in pitch black is CRAZY," wrote another.

"Why it scream like a person though!?" yet another user quite reasonably wondered.

Of course, roe deer are hardly the only animal to make a human-like sound. In North America, red foxes are known for making a noise that sounds like a woman screaming, which can be every bit as terrifying. However, like roe deer, red foxes are also generally harmless to humans.