Overrun with roadrunners

This roadrunner is looking at the cats through the big windows in the back

This sure has been the case over the last month.  We’ve had five of them hunting aggressively in our yard and surrounding desert.  Most of the lizards are gone.  I imagine they probably became lunch, or dinner, for these hungry guys.

Roadrunner taking a rest on the wall

At first we were very surprised to see so many at one time because a pair is the most we’ve seen at once since we’ve lived here.  Then we began to think it was the parents showing their “kids” how to hunt. 

If you remember last year I wrote a post about a roadrunner nest in a tree on the vacant lot next door.  I think the little rascals have probably built another nest over there this year and that’s why we have so many roaming about. 

The young ones aren’t really afraid of us and jump into the tree next door quite a bit.  I haven’t had time to go out there and look around for a nest, but I bet I’d find one.  This particular tree is just like the one the roadrunners nested in last year, but it’s quite bushy and thick and hangs over our wall a bit.

Here's the lizard in the fireplace

As I mentioned, we had a lizard living in the fireplace a few years ago and another one had moved in and was entertaining the cats.  It’s since disappeared.  I suspect it’s become roadrunner food.  It’s been missing about two weeks now.  The cats still look for it in the fireplace, as do we.  I like the lizards because they eat all the bugs.  And yes, we have bugs in the desert.  There are many things that survive here, which seems incredible to me.  I know it must be a hard life, but I’m sure they don’t know any different being born here.  The same situation we all had as kids, not realizing what humidity was because it was just hot in the summers.

A roadrunner proud of his catch

These roadrunners have stopped traffic once on our street that I know of.  One had caught a chipmunk and the others gave chase hoping to get some of it, I guess.  They were actually running down the road.  Traffic going by had to stop in awe.  I was off work that day and looked out just in time to see this spectacle.  I wish I had had the time to grab the camera and take a quick video.  But roadrunners run fast and they all soon disappeared onto the vacant lot next door.  I lost sight of them in the scrub brush.