This story has no importance whatsoever, but it’s so damn weird that I feel the need to share it.
On Monday morning (July 18), I pulled into Weekly World Central’s parking lot, like I do every workday, and headed for my normal parking spot—where I saw what at first glance appeared to be an injured roadrunner.
A bit of background: Roadrunners are a common sight around our spacious southside digs. They’re funny-looking yet oddly adorable creatures, at least from a safe distance, and I was concerned to see that the bird had one wing sticking out and was shaking.
The next thing I saw was that the roadrunner had a lizard in its mouth. And then I saw the other roadrunner under the shaking bird.
So, that’s how this week started out for me: I drove to the office and found two roadrunners—one of which was apparently in the middle of his (?) breakfast—fornicating in my parking spot.
Stunned, I slowly drove by and pulled into a spot two spaces down. Only after I got out of my car did the two roadrunners finally, um, dismount. The bird that was on top meandered away toward, ironically enough, the picnic table where our office’s smokers congregate on breaks. The bird that was on the bottom just sat there for a while before slowly wandering off.
My co-workers and I have been pondering whether this is an omen of some sort. If any of you out there know what encountering in-coitus roadrunners in one’s parking spot (and don’t forget about the lizard) could possibly mean, e-mail me.
Only in Arizona.
This article appears in Jul 21-27, 2011.
What you saw is typical mating behavior. The lizard is a thank you gift from the male to the female. If you’d seen them finish, you’d have seen her snap it up! Roadrunners have multiple clutches (of eggs) per season so screwing in the parking lot probably isn’t all that rare. At least they weren’t in your back seat…
The male kept the lizard, wandering off with it when I rudely interrupted them.