Greater roadrunner - a bird that doesn't go Beep Beep.

Photographed in Palm Springs, California.

Everything I learned about roadrunners I got off TV.  Cartoons, that is.  You know the one.  A starving coyote, with an apparently endless budget for Acme products, uses his wiliness and cunning in an attempt to capture dinner.  Forever thwarted, the roadrunner outsmarts and outruns his nemesis, usually with fire erupting from behind it.

The truth couldn't be farther from this, although it is nowhere near as funny.  The greater roadrunner, the bird which the cartoon character was modelled after, is primarily a ground dweller but can fly, albeit only short distances.  It is very fast on its legs, but also is stealthy and can sneak up on unwary prey.  Yes, you heard right, the roadrunner doesn't eat birdseed, it is a carnivore.  Lizards, snakes, mice, and even other birds all are on the menu.  They will also take berries and seeds, although this does not form the bulk of its diet.  

It could be said that the coyote and the roadrunner have similar items on the menu.  There is irony in this statement; imagine a new cartoon featuring a coyote and roadrunner, sitting down at the same table, feasting on exactly the same things.  Can you imagine it?  They are both sitting in a banquet hall, a long cloth-covered table between them, with a merry feast of squab, mice, grasshopper, and berries between them.  "Could you pass the roasted hummingbird, please?", says the coyote.  "Yes, it is excellent," replies the roadrunner.  "Try the braized toad.  Very tasty."  

I don't think it would be as fun as the original program, but it would be a lot more educational.  Don't you think?

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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