If its not a bobcat trying to eat my chickens, something else is

[llombardo]

Coyotes are pack animals. Coyotes howl and chottle so that they can keep up with the other members of the family or pack. Therefor, when you see one coyote there is a good chance that there is a whole pack just over the horizon.

PS: The same is true for raccoons, and coons like coyotes also seem to respond to strange coon sounds.

I have been woken up by both. More recently raccoons and they were pretty loud. I live off a prairie path, which everything travels. It's common to hear the coyote pups making a whole bunch of noise and you can tell when they have found food or food was brought to them. It can be a pretty chilling sound.