Howling in the Fog

Well, it's August in Richmond, as you can see from this picture here. I ran this trail today, and it would have been rather unblog-worthy, were it not for this crazy fog, and what I heard just after I took this picture.

I was running down the trail, listening to some salsa, as is normal for my long runs, when I started to hear some kind of screaming in the background. I thought it was the song, and was confused for a moment, so I turned my iPod off and realized it was not the music, but sounds coming from the left of me, off toward Havey Canyon. I thought for a brief moment that it was a child, but then the high-pitched barking/whining came through, and I figured out I was listening to coyotes calling back and forth across Havey Canyon. If you have never heard coyotes call back and forth to each other, it's something else. You can tell they're communicating-- Neko could definitely tell something was going on. I did have a brief moment of worrying they were barking because they were trying to tell each other about a mountain lion's presence, but then decided that I was already out there, so I might as well run on and stop thinking about it. Rather cool though-- not something I have ever heard in Wildcat Canyon. I have run into individual coyotes while out on the trails, but never heard such a call-and-response chorus.

My running companion was totally unconcerned by the fog, as you can see here.