WILY COYOTES & ROADRUNNERS IRL

The coyote (Canis latrans) is a canid native to North America, related to the gray wolf.

It is a prominent character in southwestern Native American and Mexican folklore. “Coyote” is an old Aztec name that goes back at least a thousand years. 

Considered a trickster that assumes the forms of both a coyote animal and  a man, the coyote uses deception and humor to survive and thrive.

Mark Twain’s classic 1870s book, Roughing It, served up a comic rant about the animal.

Dan Flores, author of Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History, calls the coyote’s howl America’s “original national anthem.” Coyotes have lived in North America for more than a million years.

The coyote earned its wily moniker partially because it outsmarted humans’ repeated attempts to exterminate the species. Ranchers have tried to poison coyotes and shoot them because they are considered a threat to livestock.

While poisoning is now outlawed, as many as 500,000 coyotes are still shot and killed each year, often targeted from small planes and helicopters.

Despite and actually because of all the attempts to eradicate coyotes,  they have actually increased their populations and spread from their original territory west of the Rockies to the East Coast, spreading from rural to urban settings. They’ve even taken up residence in cities like Chicago and New York.

Interestingly, while rural coyotes have a lifespan of only 2 - 3 years, urban coyotes can live up to 13 years because they are not hunted and have plenty of rats and mice for dinner.

Check out the cool rules Wile E. Coyote follows as he relates to the Roadrunner!

Project Coyote is a key conservation organization devoted to bringing back the coyote to our wild lands. They help us to understand how we can coexist with these animals and not react to them out of fear or stereotypes. Coyotes don’t carry rabies and they hardly eat any human food. 

Wile E. Coyote’s counterpart is Roadrunner. In real life, this bird prefers to run from danger vs fly away. 

While Wile E. Coyote always tries to catch the Roadrunner, he never does. But in real life, a coyote can certainly outrun and catch roadrunners.

The roadrunner is a member of the cuckoo family. The Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) is found in the Southwestern parts of the US, while the Lesser Roadrunner  (Geococcyx velox ) is native to Mexico and Central America.

Greater Roadrunners are about 22” long, including their long straight tails, and weigh about 10.5 oz. They have light brown feathers with black streaks on their upper bodies. Their wings are dark brown with white spots or streaks.

Roadrunners bluish legs run up to 20 mph. Their tails are used as rudders, enabling them to quickly change directions and outmaneuver coyotes and other predators. They don’t go beep-beep, like the cartoon does, rather they coo, like doves.

They are quick creatures, able to pluck a flying hummingbird or dragonfly right out of the air! And they love to snatch and eat snakes and frogs! But they never need to drink water! They get all the moisture they need from the food they eat.

Roadrunners mate for life. And they are prolific. Females lay up to a dozen eggs at a time. 

The Roadrunner is the state bird of New Mexico and, like coyotes, they have a special place in Native American legends. They are considered sacred symbols by the Pueblo Indians, warding off evil spirits.

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