A New Scat in Town

 

New to me, that is.  To any Texan who keeps his eye on the ground these may be familiar droppings.  Chunky brown, then white on the end, not quite the “Dairy Queen” swirl of turkey droppings but reminiscent of it, only larger.  As I thought about it, I had an “Aha!” moment.  What had I noticed crossing the road here several times- the neighborhood Roadrunner. God bless the Internet that can show you images of such things and Bingo!  There it was on the page just as I had seen it on the road. 

I have seen roadrunners far more frequently this year and it makes sense.  All that rain lead to “amphibian heaven” which I’m sure is a real treat not only to snakes but the roadrunner too.  90% of its food is animal matter, anything from insects to lizards (watch out my cute little anoles!) small birds, and just to dazzle us with it’s bravado, scorpions and reportedly rattlesnakes.   One account said they saw a pair of roadrunners work together, one distracting the snake while the other went for the head.  Check out their hefty bill, capable of doing some damage it would seem.

Here’s something to put on your bucket list; they say when a roadrunner catches a snake that is longer than it is, it just eats what it can and lets the rest dangle from the beak eating it as space allows!  Seeing them with lizards dangling is fairly common but one assumes they are either bringing it to the nest or to a more private place to dine.

The pair that got the rattlesnake just may have been a “pair” for roadrunners stay with their mate throughout the year, and both are territorial.  Their home range is about a half a mile wide, so indeed, these are “our” roadrunners.  Male and female look alike so I don’t know which one I am seeing at any given time.  I haven’t spotted any juveniles yet, but with the bounty of food I bet they are out there.  I had a chance to help feed a young roadrunner at the Wildlife Rescue and boy, there’s a face only a mother could love!  Huge scarlet-lined beak, speckled, almost starling-like in color and sooooo loud.  There was no need to wonder if someone had fed it or not!

And about that scat that ends in white, or that white splatter that is adorning your windshield, have you ever wondered why it was white when most scat tends to be brown?  You know you have.  And perhaps you know the answer.  With birds and reptiles, all waste products come out from one opening in one tidy or not-so-tidy (if you have been around sea birds or large herons, you know what I mean) bundle.  The white is uric acid and has all the nitrogenous products in it, in a white paste.  That way their bodies eliminate the waste with far less water loss.  Now you know.

And forgive me for the somewhat erroneous title of this entry for technically, bird

droppings are not referred to as scat but as, well, droppings or guano but to my mind that conjures up sea bird colonies or bat colonies.  But either way it isn’t called scat.  It just sounded better in the title!  “A New Dropping in Town”, doesn’t have the same ring to it.  So, the next time a bird festoons your car with droppings you will have a real conversation starter won’t you? No need to thank me.

Why did the roadrunner cross the road? To give Pat something to blog about on this too-hot-to-be-out day!  And many more hot ones to come.  What obscure topics will I find to keep me in by the fan?  Stay tuned and we shall see.