Running at Dusk

After dinner last night, Abigail decided to go run just on our street and stay close by. It was still light out, so we said that was fine, but I don't like her being out there by herself, so I went to get my running clothes on. By the time I made it out the door, Abigail was finishing up and it was starting to get dark. Since I already had my clothes on, I decided to just make a quick run(I can't resist a chance for a run)...not my normal longer route. After about 3/4 of a mile or so, I heard some howling to my left, which at the time I did not think that much about. It seemed out in the woods a ways and it wasn't quite all the way dark yet. But then, before I even had a chance to figure out what was going on, what I thought was a fox(it was a dark orangy color) ran out in front of me. He froze as I startled him and he just sat there staring at me....then another came out of the trees on my right side. This one was BIG and grey and looked like what I saw months ago on an early morning run in a horse pasture across from my house. The big one went off the road and into the brush and sat there very close to the road...I think he thought I could not see him. I switched to the other side of the road. I wasn't sure what to do...I didn't want to turn around and go back. That seemed wrong to me, so I just kept running at a slower careful pace. Then about 20 feet further down the road, there came another big one in the street. It stopped like the first one then went into the brush and kept his eyes on me. It was like a pack of them trying to cross the road or something. They were trying to go towards where the howling was coming from. (I realized this later.)

After passing by the animals, I was pretty spooked. I clapped all along my run...especially in dark areas, because I knew if they heard me they would stay away and wouldn't be startled like when I ran up on them. You never know what a wild animal will do if they are scared or caught off guard. So, I clapped all through my quiet neighborhood as I ran a very quick pace 2 1/2 more miles home. That was the longest 2 1/2 miles ever! It seemed to take forever to get home.

I thought it was foxes at first, but on facebook a friend said that foxes hardly ever travel with more than one fox at a time and are actually usually alone. Even I was thinking that these animals were larger than the foxes I had seen before....so I googled it when I got home and figured out it was coyotes. In fact, I found a picture that looked exactly like the big one I saw. Afterall, I was literally only a few feet from the largest one so I got a good look at him.

So,you will NEVER find me running at dusk or night again. Nope, I am done.