The unexpected find (we’ll come back to that) comes from Alexander deBarros (Instagram handle: @Hollywood_birder), a birder and private tour guide who leads walks with the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society. DeBarros was escorting the Los Angeles Department Of Water And Power through the Chatsworth Nature Preserve when his group came across a coyote with a bird hanging from its mouth. “I took just a couple of quick pictures just to confirm, is that actually a roadrunner in its mouth?” he told KTLA reporter Rachel Menitoff. “And upon review, the answer was yes! We all freaked out as the coyote just ran over the hill and disappeared.”
KTLA, which notes that coyotes can easily outrun roadrunners (just to wound us who still hold onto their Looney Tunes-addled dreams), found a fun coincidence in its story: DeBarros’ father is Brian Mainolfi, an animator whose first job in the field was working for, of all people, Chuck Jones, esteemed creator of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. “It is kismet,” Mainolfi said in the report. “[Alexander] texted me the photo as soon as he took it. I laughed, telling him this was the weekend Coyote Vs. Acme opened. He didn’t realize it was that same weekend.”
Reporting for KTLA 5, Josh DuBose writes that photographs of a coyote with a roadrunner—alive or dead—are rare. “Curious about just how unusual his son’s photograph might be, Mainolfi began searching online and said he was unable to find a verified photograph showing a real coyote consuming a greater roadrunner,” DuBose writes. “Whether the image is truly the first photograph documenting such an encounter has not been independently verified by KTLA.” Which just goes to show you: Coyotes and roadrunners are precious about their friendship, and would appreciate it if folks wouldn’t put their adventures on social media blast. Cartoons have been vindicated!
Keep scrolling for more great stories.