# Are roadrunners good to eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498 "2011-03-21T19:22:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/41 "2011-03-23T17:42:33Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > That’s kind of counterintuitive, isn’t it? I mean, as they approach _c_, shouldn’t they get _shorter_? You mean as they approach light speed? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/42 "2011-03-23T17:44:21Z")
Of course. Does _c_ stand for something else where you’re posting from? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/43 "2011-03-23T17:54:03Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Of course. Does _c_ stand for something else where you’re posting from? > > 🙂 Oops, I posted in haste. Didn’t see the “c”. Unless you did a quick edit. Nah! BTW; I live in Berkeley. I know things like that through osmosis. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/44 "2011-03-23T18:24:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > They’re much smaller than a typical hen, weighing about 300 gm (10 ounces), and are roughly the same weight as a domestic pigeon. 2 ft tall is a pretty big pigeon. > [@](#): > > Roadrunner species generally range in size from 18 inches (46 cm) to 24 inches (61 cm) from tail to beak. > **[Roadrunner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadrunner)** > > G. californianus > G. velox > The roadrunners (genus Geococcyx), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States, Mexico and Central America, usually in the desert. Although capable of flight, roadrunners generally run away from predators. On the ground, some have been measured at 32 km/h (20 mph). > The subfamily Neomorphinae, the New World ground cuckoos,... Okay, I realize about half of that is tailfeather. Hmm, that puts the bird 9 to 12 in. Okay, I guess that is roughly pigeon-sized. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/45 "2011-03-23T18:42:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > That’s kind of counterintuitive, isn’t it? I mean, as they approach _c_, shouldn’t they get _shorter_? There once was a thin bird named Harold, A delicacy thought to be rare-old. But he scampered away To live one more day, At a lightspeed quite like Fitzgerald. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/46 "2011-03-23T18:45:46Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Unless you have a very tiny whisk. Best thread ever! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/47 "2011-03-24T11:42:53Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > Here’s the real question. One that has plagued me since the day I realized cartoons were not documentaries: Do coyotes actually chase and eat roadrunners? > [@jayjay](#): > > From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote), though I don’t know if it’s tongue-in-cheek or factual: I have seen domestic dogs try to catch them. I have never seen one succeed. The roadrunners seemed to regard it as a game. One roadrunner would let my parent’s dog chase it, and then, just as the dog was about to catch it, the roadrunner would fly up into a bush, just out of reach. ---
**Author:** ![Klytus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Klytus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klytus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/48 "2011-03-24T14:45:56Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I have seen domestic dogs try to catch them. I have never seen one succeed. The roadrunners seemed to regard it as a game. One roadrunner would let my parent’s dog chase it, and then, just as the dog was about to catch it, the roadrunner would fly up into a bush, just out of reach. Yet another fine example of how real life will often emulate cartoons… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/49 "2011-03-24T14:52:48Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > Here’s the real question. One that has plagued me since the day I realized cartoons were not documentaries: Do coyotes actually chase and eat roadrunners? Like any predator, a desert coyote is an opportunist, and if he got the drop on a roadrunner, he wouldn’t hesitate to eat it. BUT… roadrunners are relatively hard to catch and there’s not that much meat on them. A coyote wouldn’t turn down a roadrunner dinner if it were available, but there are easier and yummier meals available, even in the desert. A nice rabbit, for instance. Of course, a SMART coyote moves to the city and gorges itself on the goodies in human trashcans. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/50 "2011-03-24T15:21:37Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I have seen domestic dogs try to catch them. I have never seen one succeed. The roadrunners seemed to regard it as a game. One roadrunner would let my parent’s dog chase it, and then, just as the dog was about to catch it, the roadrunner would fly up into a bush, just out of reach. I used to have a wolf/dog hybrid who chased them all the time though I suspect it was more for his entertainment. He never really came close. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/51 "2011-03-24T18:35:07Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > …but there are easier and yummier meals available, even in the desert. A nice rabbit, for instance. But not a wascally one, I presume. It would take a Suuuper Geenius to catch one of those! ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/52 "2011-03-24T18:56:08Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > Suuuper Geenius \I like the sound of that.\ ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/53 "2011-03-24T19:41:40Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > But not a wascally one, I presume. It would take a Suuuper Geenius to catch one of those! Actually, I don’t think that jack rabbits are all that different from road runners. Not as a meal anyway. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/54 "2011-03-30T02:18:39Z")
I used to see the occasional roadrunner from my apartment balcony in Albuquerque. Always looked cool. I was in the inner city but next to a rather undeveloped area and a golf course, so there were a few desert critters running around. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/55 "2011-03-30T11:53:04Z")
[Here’s a pic I took in Big Bend](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/141302681_bc1ae99f53_z.jpg). Looks like a lot of feathers, beak and feet. Not much meat. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/56 "2011-03-30T12:45:05Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > [Here’s a pic I took in Big Bend](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/141302681_bc1ae99f53_z.jpg). Looks like a lot of feathers, beak and feet. Not much meat. Cool. Takes me back to Bakersfield. 🙂 Nice pic, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498/57 "2011-03-31T14:44:57Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Haven’t found one but it might be possible to enlarge the image to poster size. With Inkscape I can get really good looking line art, but the text looks horrible. If I were blowing this up, I’d have to figure out what font was used. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-roadrunners-good-to-eat/575498.md?page=2)