Beep, Beep

(Greater Roadrunner)

Unlike the Pelican, Greater Roadrunners would enjoy their cartooned caricatures. Faster afoot than a speeding coyote? Actually, not by half. Flat out, they can achieve 20 mph sprints, while their furred antagonists clock an easy 40 mph. 

However, their coolheaded escape is due to their ability to run in wildly erratic patterns, utilize any and all ground cover or inert objects that lay about as diversion, and of course—fly! They really don’t seem to like being airborne, but maybe their infrequent and short bursts are due to their stubby wings, which Nature seemed content to present them. One might wonder what they think as they spy their cousins effortlessly soaring above.

Unfairly grounded or not, they do seem to love to run. If you’ve ever encountered one while hiking, you may have seen it first peering at you, then spurting off—only to appear again and repeat the game. Low to the ground, stretched forward from head to tail, legs a blur, it stays confidently out of reach.

Baby, we were born to run
Come on with me, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run.

“Born to Run”
—Bruce Springsteen