New Year's Eve ...

Another bright and warm day! Off with the OFH...

Showed up with all black hair for the costume party, funny looks and of course we have no social intimidation filters.

"Hey Staghounds, what's with the freaky hair?"

"Well I have this smoking hot 28 year old girlfriend..."



"No really, what's with the hair?"

On point outside the first draw...

Well that was quick! Hounds struck almost immediately, a quick swirl around and toward us. Coyote crossed the road.
You will now have to endure several pictures of the coyote as an antidote to my usual "he was just here" pictures.

He loped across at a fairly leisurely pace. Then I saw that thing that always interests me-
He stopped, turned around, and thought about it. It was almost as though I could see his mind working. "What is all that howling? Is this a problem? Do I have to pay attention? Are they getting closer or farther? Hmm..."

For all the world like someone out hunting in a take your own line country. He walked a bit farther...



And stopped again to listen. And it occurred to me, since coyotes and hounds are probably the same species, do they understand each other's language? When hounds speak, are they yelling every kind of malefactor at the game? And is the coyote thinking, "Hey, I don't even know you characters!"


Anyway,
"I'm out of here!"

Hounds came along a minute or two later,
and right on the line.


His direction ran toward an inlet from the river, did he go all the way to the end?
Pictures are funny,
this horse is hustling on down the road yet the camera makes it look like his front end is just walking.

Didn't cross by us, but farther back up the road- gone away signalled the old fashioned way .
Hounds on...
It is a good thing they don't care how they look,
like me this hound must have done something awful to Louis Daguerre in a previous life.

And it turned into another one of those long straightish runs this pack is producing regularly.

We managed to get well ahead, in time to see one of those irresolute, tentative checks that feel like overruns.


Sure enough, back they went to the huntsman's call. FWIW, I believe these may have been the second half of a divided pack, and the ones we heard still in the woods were the front end.
Frolic and Detour came along afterwards and tried, but not too seriously.

Most all on, and drawing back toward the original plan.

And what do you think? They struck again! And again the original sort of path. Was it the same coyote? I never saw him, but it would not surprise me. He ditched us this way before...




Plenty of ponies out...

Across the road and back, and then nothing. End of day...
Oh well, mysteries of scent.