As a tutor, Ryan works in the student center, which is an open building with walls that primarily consist of floor to ceiling windows that look out onto desert landscaping. Since the campus is also a lovely park-like desert arboretum, a variety of local wildlife has naturally made it their home.
Yesterday, the student center was pretty busy, which caught the attention of a young roadrunner, one of the more curious of the local denizens, who came up to the window to see what was going on inside the big glass box.
Of course the human occupants were just as excited by the visit as the roadrunner was curious about them, and they all rushed about trying to get pictures of him. One of these lovely people, Joann, was kind enough to send me the shots that she was able to get.
As the humans were just getting started in their general oohing and aahing and picture snapping, the roadrunner got distracted by something that he found far more interesting than a bunch of humans hanging out in a box.
Something had popped it’s head out of a small hole in the ground not three feet away from him. Something small. What could it be? Was it was tender and tasty? Could he catch it?
He just had to investigate. He would be crazy not to, after all, a roadrunners gotta eat! Right?
He dashed over to the little hole, reached in snicker-snack with his long sharp beak and pulled the unknown something out before it had a chance to scoot further down the hole and out of of his reach.
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
To the absolute delight of the roadrunner (and the absolute horror of the human onlookers) the small something was indeed food. Food in the form of an tiny baby bunny rabbit.
An absolutely terrified baby bunny rabbit, but not so terrified that he played dead. No, he was a smart bunny and he wanted to live!
He wiggled and squirmed with all his might and very nearly escaped the roadrunners frumious grasp.
Of course the roadrunner was having none of that. No way was he losing such a glorious find!
He swung the little rabbit up as high as he could and then wiffle-whap back down to the tulgey ground with gruesome plunk.
His mouth-watering catch now stunned and no longer struggling held securely in his beak, he made a beeline for the parking lot intent on getting his prize to more a more private locale where he could enjoy a nice meal at his leisure.
And he very nearly made it, too. He was so close, he could, quite literally, almost taste his success.
But Not Quite
Unfortunately for him, mother and father rabbit had other plans. Rather than accept the inevitable consequences of life at the bottom of the food chain, they mounted a desperate, though probably futile, rescue mission.
They were brave and ferocious in their assault on the murderous kidnapper. It was a full-out attack!
They were in full-on ninja-rabbit mode, lunging at the roadrunner, jumping on him, bopping him with their front legs. All the while dodging and evading as they fought to box him in before he could make his escape because they knew, as did every human looking on in horror, that if he made it to the parking lot, their sweet, innocent baby was most certainly a goner.
In the frantic struggle to escape mom and pop rabbit’s unexpected, and frankly unnecessarily viscous, attack the roadrunner lost his grip on baby, who, though still stunned and disoriented from having his head so rudely plunking on the ground, scrambled clumsily toward the burrow.
Their beloved offspring, still alive but also still in mortal danger, mother and father doubled their efforts. Now they had to keep the roadrunner away from the youngster until he could make it back to the safety of the burrow.
So, side-by-side, furry bodies pressed together in solidarity, they gyred and gimbled around their manxome foe creating an ever-moving wall between the would-be assassin and his prey.
Unexpected Help, Maybe
In mounting their rescue mission, mother and father rabbit had been forced to leave the entrance to the burrow, and the two babies remaining in it, unprotected. A terrifying situation for any parent, to be sure.
Not to worry though. Joann, the lovely and quick-thinking photographer of this tale, jumped into action and, like a goalie in a highly contested soccer match, positioned herself strategically in front of the burrow determined to defend the little family against any further assault.
Meanwhile, Ryan was enlisted to rescue the baby who was still having a hard time finding his way home.
Ryan scooped the frightened little fellow up into his hands and gently carried him toward the entrance to the burrow. Unfortunately, the now highly stressed baby was as frightened of Ryan as he was the roadrunner and in a desperate burst of panic immediately jumped right out of his hands onto the hard-packed dirt, landing with a squeak of pain and surprise.
Then, finally, he dashed back into the burrow with his siblings.