GREEN BEAT LANGLEY: King of the desert
Published 8:00 pm Sunday, March 1, 2026
My wife and I arrived here in Las Cruces, New Mexico for my sabbatical research at the beginning of February.
The day I first ventured out to our local state park, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park will be forever emblazoned in my memory.
I spent a good half hour talking to a park ranger about my work and he provided me with a wealth of knowledge.
That was not why I’ll remember that visit though.
It’s true that acquiring knowledge is power, but encountering a creature you’ve wanted to see your nearly your whole life is even more powerful. By nearly my whole life I mean, ever since I watched Saturday morning cartoons as a youngster.
After talking to the ranger, I headed out on the trail, and there it was.
I had told friends and family that I really, really wanted to see this bird and knew that at some point I would.
My encounter took place was right at the beginning of the trail, the very first trail I had taken in New Mexico.
A roadrunner was there to welcome me!
In fact, it cooperated quite a bit, and let me take quite a few photos of the sharp-looking roadrunner, before skittering off the trail.
Yes, they are capable of very rapid bursts of speed, as I witnessed.
No, it did not say “meep meep.”
And no, there was not a wily coyote chasing it, although coyotes do occur in the park. (Apparently coyotes and roadrunners don’t interact much in real life).
Roadrunners are an integral part of the desert here, feeding on a variety of small critters like lizards, snakes, mice, and arthropods – including scorpions.
Their long bills are incredibly powerful and indeed seem pretty self-confident, like their cartoon counterpart.
The desert can be a hostile place, but roadrunners are very much at home here amidst the temperature extremes, poisonous animals, and scarcity of water.
I have managed to see a few other roadrunners since that first encounter, and I can’t imagine getting tired of spotting them.
The last roadrunner I saw was high on a hill, sitting in a small tree, surveying its domain – like a king of the desert.
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– David Clements PhD, is a professor of biology and environmental studies at Trinity Western University
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