road runner
Over the weekend I was startled by a loud “clacking” sound and turned around to see a road runner in the driveway. He seemed unperturbed by my presence. This is the bird we grew up watching in cartoons going “beep beep,” while being chased by a coyote.
According to what I read he eats rattlesnakes! He catches them by the tail and whips their head against the ground to kill them. Then he swallows them whole. That little dietary preference makes him very welcome. Even though I don’t think there are any rattlesnakes on the property, I am glad he is out there looking and I hope he finds them before I do. Howdy-do, road runner!
April 21st, 2005 @ 12:27 pm
I have never seen a road runner. ALl the time I spent in the Nevada Desert, and nary a one!! Saw lots of Coyotes though.
April 21st, 2005 @ 11:08 pm
A few years back, a road runner took up temporary residence in our neighborhood (which is a good mile or so within the city limits and doesn’t have a lot of undeveloped land). I never did figure out the attraction, but he hung around for about a week. I think he gave the local cats fits; they were never sure who was stalking whom.
April 22nd, 2005 @ 4:03 pm
How the heck did you catch him still? Great photo! I might borrow for TT!
April 22nd, 2005 @ 7:29 pm
Thanks for the picture! I’ve never seen one.
April 23rd, 2005 @ 9:53 am
I run into them from time to time out here. They’re a gigantic wren. It’s an odd experience to be going down a road and have one running in front of you for a couple of miles.
April 23rd, 2005 @ 1:12 pm
I’ve always wanted to see a road runner. How big are they? I imagine a bird about the size of a crow, if the books I had as a child depicting road runner tackling small rattlesnakes are any indication. And how do they move? Do they make quick dashes like American robins, or oscillate their heads like pigeons, or do they walk smoothly like cranes? It is such an icon of the American desert areas. Like saguaro and mesquite. Part of a world I have never seen.
April 26th, 2005 @ 9:04 pm
I wonder what they eat when the rattlers are scarce? I wouldn’t imagine they have to eat more than one a week — that’s a lot of meat for a bird.
April 26th, 2005 @ 10:07 pm
Leslie:
They also eat lizards and insects in addition to rattlers. They must eat only small rattlers. I can’t imagine it trying to swallow a 4 foot long snake.
Miguel:
About the size of a small chicken. He moved in quick spurts down the driveway, stopping about every five or six feet for a couple minutes. But I have seen them move much faster when dashing across a road in front of my car.
April 27th, 2005 @ 4:57 pm
I love roadrunners; I was on a county road in Montague county 70 miles north of Ft. Worth in the early 1990’s near Bugscuffle–not on most maps– and there was a roadrunner high in a tree; I stimulated it– by tossing rocks in its direction– to get it to fly. I got a great (reasonably decent) photo of the road runner in flight; looks like a pterodactyl! Your shot is somewhat sharper than mine; I was using a 28 to 200 autofocus Nikon, and got him/her pretty good.
Is Possum Kingdom now your base of operations?
thelrd in TEXAS
August 26th, 2005 @ 5:06 pm
We just had a roadrunner in our backyard. We live in the city in vegas. I guess he got lost…