Coyote chasing

While going for an easy run this morning, I once again spotted a coyote* and once again was too far away and too slow in switching my smartphone to camera mode to get a picture. (This is just a stock photo, sadly.) The coyote was trotting ahead of me on the descending portion of my run, which was on a two-lane paved road alongside a preserved forest. Then he stopped and turned his head back when he sensed me, and stared at me for a long moment, giving me momentary hope that I could close the distance and take a picture.

* For all I know, it's the same coyote that I've seen before.

Having seen enough of me, he resumed his downhill trot with greater alacrity and then darted right down a steep trail into the forest. At this point, the wise thing to do probably would've been to keep running, but while I am in my mid-forties, I sometimes still have the reckless enthusiasm of a twentysomething, so I paused RunKeeper and ventured down the trail slowly.

Alas, the coyote was nowhere to be seen. The trees were dense enough that a small creature like a coyote could easily disappear like that.

Disappointed again with my lack of pictorial proof, I trudged back up the trail, got to the main road, resumed RunKeeper, and continued my run. I'm not sure why coyotes intrigue me so much. I've seen deer several times without feeling anywhere near the same sense of missed opportunity when I fail to get a picture.

Anyway, it's one of the cool things about living in the Pacific Northwest. Having grown up in Southern California, I obviously didn't see this kind of North America wildlife.