Howling vocalization sounds heard by campers. witnessed in Surry County, Virginia

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My family and I were trying to get some sleep in our tent on this particular evening (invariably, we always seem to somehow end up next to a bunch of noisy and inconsiderate campers who keep us up until the wee hours of the morning!) However, in this particular case, I was glad to have had other camping company around. The noisy campers in question had finally settled in for the night (or should I say, early morning)and it wasn't long after quiet settled in, about fifteen minutes or so, that I heard a very, very strange and unfamiliar howling off in the distance. It seemed to come from about a distance of a half mile or so from the general direction of the James River.The sound, or howl, had a deep resonating tone that I can only describe as a blend between a mournful human yell and a high piercing screech, which started in a low pitch and quickly pulsed to a higher pitch. Each one of these howling events lasted about 10-20 seconds, they varied from 3 to 10 minutes apart and...