Beep! Beep!

Growing up I remember spending Saturday mornings watching Wile E. Coyote try is hardest to catch that rascally Road Runner. Dynamite that never went off where or when it was supposed to, Acme anvils that always missed and fake scenery that never worked. The Road Runner always got away. That was the point.

This past week, I've chased a roadrunner of my own. Well, not really. For at the rate I run, it would be nearly three times ahead of me within a mile. (Roadrunners run 26 miles an hour - the fastest flying bird ever clocked.) But Mr. (or Mrs.) Roadrunner and I meet almost every morning as I leave for work and again every evening when I come home. He lives down near the old windmill, and I have a feeling he and his wife (or she and her husband) have a nest somewhere around there. I'm thankful to say no coyotes have been chasing them. I haven't seen a coyote around in over a year.

I did a little research on roadrunners since I really don't know much about them except they're cute little birds and they usually do run. I've seen this one fly, but only a short distance before it went aground and ran off into the brush. If they have a nest, the eggs will hatch in 20 days and fledge in 18, so they may be around for just over a month. They're members of the cuckoo family. They are sometimes referred to as "snake killer", and I can appreciate that. The less snakes I see the happier I am. However, I don't believe they eat grasshoppers. Which is very sad because we could stand to lessen the plague of them. The horrible things are everywhere more than ready to destroy whatever they didn't get at last summer. I will also add they are much nicer neighbors than the ugly opossum and cute but hungry raccoon that hang around our garage and dig around our house. Apparently roadrunners do eat small mammals, but there is nothing small about the opossum or raccoon that have made themselves fat feasting on the cat food.

I have to say that while I don't care for Texas weather, or scenery, or lifestyle, or...well, almost everything; the creatures that live down here can be interesting...as long as they don't bite, or poison, or destroy every green thing available (which isn't a lot once the 100 degrees hits on Sunday and last for what - a million days straight?). And, I suppose, even the ones that bite and destroy display God's creativity. Personally, I just like the roadrunner type better.