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August 14, 2013 Voices from The Past in Quartzsite, AZ Excerpts from "In the Shadow of Saguaros" by Rosalee Oldham Wheeler Cuckoos of the desert Back in 1939 when we bought Judge Mott's little house and honeybee outfit we lived somewhat off the beaten track, fairly isolated from the dusty thoroughfare through town, U.S. Highway 60 which until 1932 had been an "unimproved earthen road". There were so many wonderful things to learn about our new desert home, first of all beekeeping and that was no stingless matter. The summer heat took a little getting use to but all I had to do was remember how wonderful the desert sunshine had felt back in January. Quartzsite didn't have electricity in 1939, so having a Servel gas refrigerator and a gas engine on my Maytag wringer washer was another new experience. Well, let's just say that I had a lot to learn about living on the desert, but I absolutely loved living in Quartzsite. One of the best things I learned about the desert were the many critters that occupied our little five-acre spread and Judge Mott seemed to be an expert on every one of them. I was particularly interested in a large bird that darted about in a peculiar fashion–on the ground–I never saw it fly, it just sailed as it chased off unwanted visitors especially other roadrunners. Judge Mott told me that roadrunners were territorial and seldom flew but if they did, it was just for short distances using its short rounded wings. Because of its size, nearly two-feet long from its beak to its white-tipped tail, roadrunners are better at using their long hefty legs and big strong 15 www.DesertMessenger.com feet with two forward and two backward toes, to run as fast as 17 miles per hour. "He", Judge Mott said males and females look alike so he just referred to all roadrunners as "he", is a Southwestern bird found from Oklahoma to California and down into Mexico. He also said that roadrunners are of the cuckoo family and are known by many names; Road Runner, Paisano, Lizard Bird, Snake Killer, War Bird, and Cock of the Desert among others. I named the roadrunner that behaved as though he owned our place "Bandit", and I found it amusing how Bandit used his long tail as a brake. His pretty-colored head with its shaggy crest would poof-up when he became excited. Bandit also had a habit of running along side our bee truck as if he was trying to outrun us, sometimes taking sail and cross the road right in front of us. What a crazy cuckoo! Roadrunners have a big appetite for insects, lizards, spiders, fruits, seeds, and sometimes small rodents although because of their lightening speed, their specialty is catching, killing, and eating rattlesnakes. Roadrunners are one of the few animals that prey upon rattlesnakes by swiftly and quietly sailing upon one, completely taking it by surprise. The rattlesnake instantly snaps its head into strike position. The roadrunner lures the snake into striking as he swings out of reach, spreading its wings like a matador's cape and snaps up the coiled snake by the tail, cracks it like a whip, and then repeatedly slams the rattlesnake's head against the ground until dead. The roadrunner then swallows the snake whole, unless it's too big. Then it just wanders about with the snake dangling from its mouth, consuming another inch or two as the snake slowly digests. Bandit became quite friendly as I kept feeding him some of the many bugs that found their way indoors. The problem was, when he wasn't successful in finding a meal on his own, he would come to the back door and make a cooing sound that dropped off a pitch, and if I didn't respond, his cooing elevated into a noisy clattering sound. One day I heard a heck of a ruckus out by the bee shade. I looked up and saw Bandit running as fast as he could go–with a baby rab- bit in his beak! Right behind him was mama rabbit squealing at him, which caused Bandit to drop the baby and run off. Mama rabbit picked up her baby and ran back to her nest. Shortly after the rabbit incident, I was helping Charles repair and paint some beehive supers and found a mouse nest with three tiny babies so I called for Bandit. He came trotting and be-bopping around the corner and Charles dropped one of the pink mice into his waiting beak. Bandit stood there with his beak open, waiting until he had all three mice lined up in his beak. Bandit didn't swallow the mice whole, as he did everything else I had given him, but ran off into a clump of greasewood bushes. I followed him and was surprised when Bandit produced a little roadrunner chick for me to see. The little guy (or was it a girl?) fell back on its tail and held its mouth wide open. Bandit stuffed one of the mice into the chick's open mouth, then herded it back into the nest. Realizing that Bandit was a female, we changed her name to Bandita. SEE CUCKOOS ON PAGE 17 WE ARE OPEN ALL SUMMER! Sandy, Debbie, and Cheyanne are happy to help with your Hair, Nails, Pedicure and Therapeutic Massage Services Corner of Moon Mt. & Cowell • Quartzsite • QUARTZSITE S ONLY YEAR ROUND SALON 928-927-5400