RUNNER

If not my favorite bird, I mean how could any beat The Cardinal, the roadrunner must be my second. Owls are third. Hawks fourth. Eagles and herons are tied for 5th.

He doesn't take flight much, preferring to, well run. His gift of flight is used to get into other birds' nest, but I think that's about it. Two things missing from our neighborhood are roadrunners and javalinas. I'm sure there are a lot more than those two, but those are two I would like to see. I'd also like to see the bobcat that's around, but I haven't had the pleasure yet.

I don't know why we don't have any roadrunners. If they sold them at PetMart, I might buy some just to let loose. But the last time I went to one to look at dogs, I couldn't come close to affording any, so it might be the same with the birds. They are just so cool to watch. They don't tarry much, foragers they are. Best of all, they love to torment and kill rattlesnakes. Which I can't imagine, but that shows you how quick they must be.

As a grade schooler I was a Redbird. I remember our cheerleaders singing (did you know cheerleaders used to do that before they became more athletic than the teams they cheer for) "Redbirds are coming/ their sails are in sight." I never knew what that meant, but had I paid a little more attention to Coach Ellis and Coach Baker instead of the cheerleaders, I might have got more PT.

We never played the Opdyke Roadrunners. But I wish we would have. Then I'd know what kind of cheer they did for that cool bird.