Not the Roadrunner of my childhood...

flickrfoto

When I was a little girl I loved the wiley coyote and roadrunner cartoon. I think I always sided with the road runner and had no sympathy for the coyote, who just seemed petty and stupid.

This was all the more so when I arrived in the southwest and saw roadrunners. They are small, fast birds and roam around the arroyos.

But all of that changed the other day. Into my back yard, where I have a bird feeder...and where I enjoy a vast array of beautiful birds, came a road runner with dinner in its mouth.

Road runners are carnivores. I'm not sure what it had but it was some little baby critter - a bird probably. Well. I became that coyote fast as can be and ran outside yelling at this thing as it tried to have dinner on my patio. My dog came with - she loves to help me discipline - and ran around barking her short bark that says - NO!

Now. I also know that we have coyote around here...but I have yet to see any...I'm pretty sure I won't like them much either...

Or rather, I like the road runners and the coyote, just not in my backyard!