The Great Road Runner

 would like to be a roadrunner on some of these hot summer days so that I could run really fast to the shade or the airconditioning. Here are some interesting facts on the greater roadrunner. They once lived only in dry open areas in the Southwest, but they now have expanded their range eastward to open woods and grasslands and we have them here in East Texas Greater Roadrunners are members of the cuckoo family, they have two toes pointing forward and two facing backward, making a X footprint. Their sound is a "coo,coo, coo, ooh, ooh, ooh." 
 
 They really can run fast and have been clocked up to 20mph. Early settlers named these birds roadrunners because they ran ahead of the horse-drawn wagons, catching lizards, rattlesnakes, scorpions, mice and other small animals. Male and female roadrunners appear identical and they mate for life. Both parents build a shallow 1 foot nest in a small tree or a clump of cacti. The female lays three to six white or yellowish eggs. The young will be able to catch food on their own within 3 weeks after hatching. 
 
 I hope you are lucky enough to hear the coo ,coo of the roadrunner and then to see one or have one around your yard or garden to eat any pesky varmits.