We've been light on wildlife lately in the conservancy land behind the little cottage, a few night owls, a few morning crows. Bobcats and coyotes and hawks have been rare. Even gophers and bunnies are scarce.

This morning though, this coyote came out and spent 20 minutes driving the dogs wild while calling her mate. It's not a lovely sound, at least to human ears, pitched high and shrill and with an insistent oh-my-god-please-stop rhythm.

About halfway through this 70-second video you hear a dog bark. The coyote spins and listens, dismisses the sound as not what she's waiting for. There's also a thump from the neighbor below, who heaves something into the field. But she just keeps up her call, the percussive force shaking her entire body.

I'm pretty much alone in enjoying these coyote visits and I know the layers of eight-foot fence here, plus the lack of coyote attacks on my pets, have everything to do with the luxury to appreciate their strange and feral presence.