On a hill above Trieste, Italy, at the western edge of Slovenia, I heard the golden jackals howl.

This was my second night out with Miha Krofel, a conservation biologist at the University of Ljubljana, driving rural roads through farmland and forests.

The night before, along with two volunteer researchers — one a photographer who had become something of a jackal specialist — we had visited four locations where Dr. Krofel had heard jackals.

Sunset came late , so we didn’t start until around 10 p.m. and finished close to 2 a.m. At each spot, we played a recording of a jackal pack howling and then waited about five minutes for a response. Played it again. Waited. We did this three or four times at each spot.

Away from human habitation, the night soundscape is as rich as the night sky. We stood quietly, not speaking, and listened to insect songs, nightjars clapping their wings and roe deer barking. The small deer’s rough cough startled me when it came from a nearby thicket.