The Real Roadrunner Versus Coyote in Arizona?
Why did the coyote cross the road? Why did the roadrunner cross the road? In Arizona, it doesn't matter why, but if you hang around Arizona long enough, sooner or later you're going to see this happen, sometimes at the same time.
Coyote vs. Roadrunner
Remember the Saturday morning Looney Toon Cartoons? The saga of the coyote versus the roadrunner seemed like it would go on endlessly, always with the same result: the roadrunner outsmarting the coyote, every single time.
The cartoon used every desert stereotype imaginable from cactus to sand to anvils (anvils?). That darned ole' desert fowl, the Roadrunner (Acceleratii incredibus) always seemed to outsmart that silly wild canine, Wile E. Coyote (Carnivorous Vulgaris).
There have been many photos and videos of the antics of real-life coyotes and roadrunners. They're not always pushing anvils off cliffs or tossing sticks of dynamite at each other. Sometimes they're just hanging out being weird.
A Coyote Claims a Car in Phoenix
This coyote was caught just chilling on someone's car in a residential neighborhood in Phoenix recently. Is he looking for higher ground to find the Roadrunner? Checking out the best place to plant a stick of dynamite in a pile of bird seed? Perhaps, but I don't think anyone stopped to ask him.
Roadrunners Are Really Dinosaurs
After watching the movie Jurassic Park, it's not hard to imagine birds like Roadrunners being closely related to dinosaurs. These creatures are just strange looking fowl who go about their business, whether the coyote is hot on his tailfeathers or not.
UCMP.Berkeley.edu explains, "Ask your average paleontologist who is familiar with the phylogeny of vertebrates, and they will probably tell you that yes, birds...are dinosaurs. Using proper terminology, birds are avian dinosaurs; other dinosaurs are non-avian dinosaurs, and (strange as it may sound) birds are technically considered reptiles."
Coyote vs. Roadrunner
If you've got sharp eyes, sooner or later you'll spy either a coyote or a roadrunner running down the road in Arizona. And eventually you'll see them doing some really crazy stuff.