TulsaPets Magazine July 2022

32 TulsaPets • July / August 2022 609 S. Peoria Ave. in the Pearl District Mon-Fri 7am-8pm Sat 8am-8pm Sun 10am-6pm (918) 508-7362 | pawsonpearl.com Dog Daycare, Training, Boarding, Grooming, Supplies, + Outdoor Play Area Open late 7 days a week, 24-hour supervised play and boarding Try Us Free! Free Trial Day Good for one free day (up to 8 hours) of dog daycare* *New clients only. Mon-Fri only. Holidays not included. Proof of immunizations and temperament test required. Other restrictions may apply. diets and reabsorb even more water before eliminating feces. Roadrunners also have a flap beneath the chin that vibrates to fan themselves and cool off, which is called “gular fluttering.” They also can lower their body temperature when nights are cool. And much like happier humans who take midday naps, roadrunners usually restrict activity by half during the hottest hours of a day. Not being inclined to waste anything, roadrunners have no fear of swallow- ing something that doesn’t exactly fit — snakes included, going in headfirst. Apparently roadies don’t have the gag reflex we humans do, although picturing this scene in real time might trigger one: If a roadrunner scores a big enough snake, it swallows what it can and lets the rest just, well, hang out. Digestive juices being what they are, the snake’s body will simply dangle there as the bird steadily consumes it over as many days as needed, getting a few inches shorter every day. I can’t help but picture sending the kids off to school with snakes hanging down midchest. Or rolling out the door with the tail of one tucked in a front pocket. “No, thank you, I’ve already eaten.” Kind of the ultimate keto diet, right? Roadrunners Have Inspired Sacred Beliefs Road Runner in the cartoon might or might not have established any kind of beliefs in humans past guaranteed enter- tainment, but many North American tribes have exalted the real roadrunner for a vari- ety of reasons. Because of the roadrunner’s zygodactyl feet (OK, I won’t make you look it up; zygodactyl applies to birds who have two toes facing front and two facing back — those in the woodpecker and cuckoo families), tracks from these feathered friends don’t reveal the direction they came from or the direction they are headed. The “X” factor grew into sacred symbols because the concealed directions threw off malignant spirits from stalking them. Hopi and Pueblo tribes believed roadrunners to be protective medicine birds. Their stylized footprints have also been found in ancient rock art on the Anasazi and Mogollon walls. So perhaps “X marks the spot” has another meaning, at least in those cultures. Returning to Mr. Linnaeus and his work as a taxonomist, Warner Brothers had a heyday using the idea of the naturalist’s genus-species system to further the fun of their series. Although the true greater road- runner is termed Geococcyx californianus for the location of its original discovery (and the lesser roadrunner is Geococcyx velox with reference to its speed) and coyote is Canis latrans (binomial translation = barking dog), Looney Tunes took great artistic license in renaming them with made-up Latin-based names. Fun fact: That is in keeping with Mr. Linnaeus’ style of iden- tifying living things. Although we might laugh at “Birdibus zippibus” for the speed- ster or “Overconfidentii vulgaris” for the character of the coyote, possibly inventing similar ones for other characters in our own lives (“Nosious neighborum,” “Incredibratti juvenilia”), Linnaeus himself took great delight in naming the more disgusting life forms after people he disliked. So whether the next puff of smoke you see is on a screen or is dust from this bird’s exit, tip your hat to a long-term survivor who entertains us in two and three di- mensions. Fortuitous journicum, O, Earth Runner!