While many know that feeding coyotes lead to their dependency and untimely deaths, some might wonder if it’s okay to encourage our local roadrunners to stick around by giving them food.
Snake season is here, and with it comes a race of roadrunners who eat snakes and other tasty critters. It can be tempting to feed these wild-feathered descendants of the Dodo, but Connie from Feathers and Fur Wildlife Rehabilitation says, “please, don’t: roadrunners especially will become friendly and dependent.”
And while they hunt wild sources of meat, they cannot tolerate store-bought processed meats, which gives them rickets—a disease that is then passed onto their young. If you absolutely must feed a roadrunner, do it no more than once or twice a week, and offer them small rodents or mealworms.
Better yet, put water out for wildlife instead of food, and place it in a safe, unexposed area where you and your family can enjoy them from a distance.
