In late September 2009, I walked toward a small copse of trees north of the Obstruction Point road, in Olympic National Park. I heard a shrill call. At first I didn’t know what made the call, so I walked in the direction I thought the call came from. Finally, I saw several Olympic Marmots, Marmota olympus, standing up and looking north. I recorded the call that day and another a few days later.

Wondering what the marmots were calling about, I walked around a bit, and finally looked downslope to see a coyote far down toward the valley. It seemed to be just resting at first, and then looked up at me. After a bit, it wandered casually farther down.