Speedy

Roadrunners are an indelible part of the American Southwest. We’ve seen many of them darting across the sand and rocks of the Arizona deserts. They are part of the cuckoo family, and are a delight to watch, but do not look much like the Warner Brothers form I imagine. The cartoon is true in that they are speedy runners, being clocked at up to 20 miles per hour, but that is where the similarity ends. While they are fast runners, coyotes (their main predator) are twice as fast, so he would’ve never outran the Coyote; maybe outsmart him, but not out run him. Their feathers are brown, black, and white streaked, but not blue. Their diet is much more than the seeds Wile E. Coyote always used in his traps. They eat a variety of things including insects like grasshoppers and beetles, reptiles like lizards and rattlesnakes, mice, spiders, scorpions, and small birds, as well as fruits and seeds. Roadrunners can fly, but only in short spurts and usually only to escape predators. The sound they make is more like the cooing of a dove, not the “meep meep” we hear in the cartoons.

Native American tribes believed roadrunners were medicine birds and have special powers that could protect against evil. It was also considered good luck to see one. In a few tribes, they were sacred and never killed, but most used the meat as a folk remedy to cure illness or boost stamina and strength. Their unusual X-shaped footprints conceal the direction they are heading. This lead to the adoption of this symbol to ward off evil, believing it could prevent spirits from following. The birds were revered for their courage, strength, speed, and endurance.

Today we went to the repair shop early to see how things were going with the slide repair. It was weird to see our home with a gaping hole in the side, but they were working on it and hope to have it ready tomorrow morning. They are going to replace part of the felt seal on the bottom of the slide opening, as well as reattach the plastic glides on the slide ramp. It seems to be going well, and hopefully the cost doesn’t break the bank.

We walked around Gateway Park along the Colorado River and went downtown to stop at the visitors center, as well as drove out through the cropland south of Yuma to the Cocopah Native American Museum. Stay tuned and I will tell you about them in our next post.

We had another fantastic sunset tonight. The palm trees in the neighborhood really added to the streaking clouds and glowing colors on the western horizon. It’s been mostly quiet in this Air B&B, but the occasional military jet flying over sure penetrates quite loudly. We will check out on Friday morning, then make our way back to Quartzsite again, with a possible overnight somewhere between. We shall see.

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