I got to spend spring break in the CA desert and did a nice long ramble in
Joshua Tree National Park. At the peak of the day, when everything was
mostly quiet there was this ruckus from a distance away. I could see
movement but not clearly what it was so I climbed up a handy rock (there are
a few to spare in this place) and waited. What appeared was almost comically
cartoonish. A roadrunner was zigzagging around, coming to sudden stops, then
accelerating to full speed, then screeching to a halt, whipping its head
back and forth repeatedly, then zooming off again, stopping. It actually
jumped in the air and did an impressive 180 turn, ran back the way it had
come and then did it again heading back in the original direction. Every
once and awhile it would pounce, pecking at the ground sometimes with a
substantial lunge. At first I thought the bird must have been into some Loco
weed but to my delight the bird ran almost right under me and I could
finally see that its absolutely full out mad dash was about lizards.
Apparently the lizards were really on their game as the bird did not seem to
catch any while I was watching. It continued its mad dance out of view and
I wondered how many calories it was burning and if a lizard was worth all
the effort.



A bit later, sitting quietly I saw one of the quarry. It seemed quite
peaceful and was within range so I took off my hat and did my best move to
drop the hat on the lizard. The little guy didn't so much move as it
evaporated before my eyes and reappeared three feet away. I felt totally
outclassed by a reptile and was glad I had an easy to catch peanut butter
sandwich for lunch. .



Rob Sandelin