# roadrunner **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2001, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203 "2001-11-19T14:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/1 "2001-11-19T14:53:02Z")
My son wanted to know if coyotes actually eat roadrunners in real life. ---
**Author:** ![SlickUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@SlickUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickUSA)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/2 "2001-11-19T14:58:17Z")
i’m sure that if coyotes and road runners live within reaches of each other that one would consume the other. i can’t think of any reason that a coyote would pass up a meal ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/3 "2001-11-19T14:59:16Z")
NOPE. Here is an explanation… [http://www.lvlife.com/apr1999/features/story03.html](http://www.lvlife.com/apr1999/features/story03.html) ---
**Author:** ![SlickUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@SlickUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickUSA)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/4 "2001-11-19T16:02:52Z")
ridiculous, the article simply says that coyotes won’t CHASE road runner. vanilla is asking about the “consumation” of road runners. i guarantee you that if you snap a roadrunner’s neck a coyote will eat it (depending onthe freshness of the kill) unless coyotes are resilient and enjoy snapping necks them selves. of course, you could just cook the meat and then any animal would want to eat it, mmmmmmm ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/5 "2001-11-19T16:19:08Z")
Hey, Slick, even if you are just trying to be cute, you’ve failed. Vanilla can speak for himself. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/6 "2001-11-19T16:22:28Z")
As the linked article says, coyotes don’t typically eat Roadrunners because they are too hard to catch in comparison to the potential reward. Of course, if a coyote found a dead or injured one, or a nest with nestlings, it would scarf it up in a minute. In other words, Coyotes would eat Roadrunners if they could catch them easily, but they can’t so they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![RussellM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@RussellM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RussellM)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/7 "2001-11-19T16:29:14Z")
And another thing, Slick - if you’re going to put words into Vanilla’s mouth, make them the correct ones. When you say **consumation** , I think you meant **consumption** - _the act or process of consuming_, rather than **consummation** (note spelling) - _the act of consummating \; specifically : the consummating of a marriage_ (Definitions from Merriam-Webster’s) Russell ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/8 "2001-11-20T14:43:17Z")
What I meant was: (to be clear) Why do they chase them; knowing they probably wouldn’t chase anythign they didn’t want to eat. For THAT matter, what kind of bird is a tweety?.. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/9 "2001-11-20T14:47:03Z")
IIRC, Tweety Bird is a canary. ---
**Author:** ![SlickUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@SlickUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickUSA)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/10 "2001-11-20T14:50:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RussellM \* > \*\*And another thing, Slick - if you’re going to put words into Vanilla’s mouth, make them the correct ones. > > When you say **consumation** , I think you meant **consumption** - _the act or process of consuming_, rather than **consummation** (note spelling) - _the act of consummating \; specifically : the consummating of a marriage_ (Definitions from Merriam-Webster’s) > > Russell \*\* note to editor **RussellM** posts are done way before the “consumption” of caffeine, so ignore syntax errors alright? ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/11 "2001-11-20T14:52:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RussellM \* > \*\*And another thing, Slick - if you’re going to put words into Vanilla’s mouth, make them the correct ones. > > When you say **consumation** , I think you meant **consumption** \*\* Amusing as this was, I don’t think **SlickUSA** put any words in **vanilla** ’s mouth. He correctly pointed out that **vanilla** had asked a question about eating roadrunners, not catching roadrunners. This was IMO a perfectly valid response to **Philster** ’s post. So maybe you should lay off piling on the newbie, even if he hasn’t found the \-key yet. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/12 "2001-11-20T16:25:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vanilla \* > **What I meant was: (to be clear) Why do they chase them; knowing they probably wouldn’t chase anythign they didn’t want to eat.** 1. They want to eat them. Coyotes want to eat almost any damn thing. 2. They don’t chase them because they usually can’t catch them and it’s not worth the trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadrunner/94203/13 "2001-11-20T17:35:47Z")
What **hibernicus** said. I didn’t think **SlickUSA** ’s comment was out of line. (Badly constructed, but not out of line.)