Pretty sure I heard a wolf this morning.

Lying in bed at quarter to five, I was trying to go back to sleep and Torso Boy was trying to get me up with sufficient subtlety as not to get yelled at. He was doing his squirmy-but-not-pushy thing when he froze and growled, and under the growl I heard a sort of chattering noise which I couldn’t place at all.

I shushed him and was rewarded with several repetitions. It was close but not right under the window, maybe as far away as the wash or the top of the ridge. Definitely canine but weird, not like the yips and howls of the coyotes which we hear frequently though not in the past week or so. Don’t know how to describe it except as a high-pitched chattering. Sounded like it was coming from only one animal, not the pack howl with which the coyotes serenade us.

It’s situations like this that made me want a light on the end of a rifle after Laddie joined me. He goes out to the closest juniper to pee first thing, usually in the dark, and normally I light his way with my belt light. This time I lit it with my weapon light which didn’t suit him – he has a thing about long guns, I suspect Mama Liberty tried to get him used to gunfire and only succeeded in making him afraid of rifles and shotguns, but this morning I didn’t care. I’ve lost too many cats to dawn predators, I’m not losing a dog to one.

But of course there was no sign; it probably didn’t come anywhere near the yard.