00:02the desert has rules nobody says them out loud
00:13one of them carries venom the other eats it a roadrunner doesn't avoid the strike it studies
00:26it every strike is a question every jump an answer and far above someone else is taking notes
00:49Harris's hawks almost alone among raptors they hunt as a family
01:01a snake cannot blink it has no eyelids
01:08the roadrunner chooses not to
01:27here the quiet is the dangerous part
01:42the wings aren't for flying they're a cape something to strike at that isn't flesh
01:52every strike leaves the snake stretched out slow to gather itself
01:59that's the gap he's waiting for
02:23rattlesnake fangs fold flat when they're not needed
02:26these are not forward
02:30two toes forward two back
02:35an axe in the dust that hides which way he went
02:39for a moment the hunted hunts
02:48the hawks never left
02:51they've been circling the whole time
02:58a warning ignored
03:13head first always head first
03:19but winning in the open is an announcement
03:35Harris's hawks share their kills
03:37it's why hunting together works
03:40in the desert there's no such thing as ownership only possession
03:52and a burrow is only safe until someone knows you're in it
04:12seen
04:14too narrow to follow
04:16too close to leave
04:24a hawk
04:25a hawk doesn't need to see the bird
04:26only the door
04:39every guard turns its back eventually
04:46a snake in the talons is worth more than a bird in the brush
04:55home is a saguaro high above anything that crawls
05:01he has the ground they have everything above it
05:08this is what makes them different
05:10one flushes
05:12the other is already where you're going
05:23against one hunter
05:25cover is safety
05:28against a family
05:30it's just a starting point
05:4020 miles an hour
05:42on foot
05:43fast
05:44unless the thing behind you flies
05:58every swerve makes them start the dive again
06:06two hawks
06:08two sides
06:09one way out
06:18granite
06:19the one thing out here they can't dig through
06:34the width of a hand
06:36between a meal and a miss
06:45now it's a siege
06:47siege
06:48sieges are won by whoever gets hungry last
06:58somebody always blinks
07:02a cuckoo
07:04technically
07:04one that traded the sky for the ground
07:07and never looked back
07:14they don't get angry they get organized
07:17one goes high to watch
07:20from up there it's a map with one moving dot
07:34a hunt like this has no clock
07:37they take turns being tired
07:54he paid for that one in feathers
07:57he paid for that one in feathers
08:15he has run every corner of this desert
08:18they have only flown over it
08:27barbed wire
08:28a trap that nobody set for them
08:44but a family doesn't leave its own on the wire
08:50everyone leaves this one a little lighter
08:56the greater roadrunner geococcyx californianus
09:00a cuckoo that chose the ground over the sky
09:03its voice drifts over the desert
09:06a slow falling run of soft coos
09:10when it lifts its crest the message is clear
09:13stay back
09:19out across the open flats a lone coyote
09:23canis latrans
09:24it works the land alone in search of small prey
09:28roaming widely and ready to adapt to almost any country
09:37the bird leaves its perch and settles onto the ground
09:41this is a hunter built for running
09:44it flies only in brief low glides
09:47its real power is in its legs
09:50it can outpace a sprinting human
09:53and change direction within a single step
09:57it eats on the move
09:59lizards, insects, scorpions
10:02even small snakes
10:03few birds would dare confront a rattlesnake
10:07the roadrunner is one of them
10:10it waits, then lunges in a flash
10:12bigger prey is grabbed and slammed against rock
10:15until it stops moving
10:18yet meat is not the whole menu
10:20seeds and fruit fill the gaps
10:24though it is a bird
10:26it trusts its feet above all else
10:29but this ground is also patrolled
10:32by a bigger hunter
10:33the coyote
10:34the truth of their rivalry is far subtler than any cartoon
10:38a coyote would never turn down a roadrunner given the chance
10:43but the bird's quick footwork makes it a frustrating target
10:48most of the time they simply pass each other by
10:52two resourceful hunters sharing one unforgiving land
10:57each keeping a careful distance from the other
11:00out here staying alive means saving energy
11:04not wasting it on hopeless chases
11:07this is a land of extremes
11:10the american southwest
11:12endless rolling dunes
11:15and harsh thorny scrub
11:17water is scarce
11:19the sun rules the daylight hours
11:22driving ground temperatures to brutal levels
11:28the coyote is the great adapter
11:31a survivor able to make a living almost anywhere
11:35coyotes may live in family groups
11:38but hunting small prey is usually done alone
11:41a tireless sweep through the undergrowth
11:47its greatest tools are its senses
11:52those tall ears work like satellite dishes
11:56picking up the slightest scratch of a rodent moving beneath the earth
12:03timing is everything
12:05it holds still
12:07waiting for its prey to slip up
12:09then in one swift arcing leap
12:12it drops down and pins the animal before it can bolt
12:16each pore is placed with care
12:19avoiding the crack of a twig or the rustle of dry leaves
12:24its amber eyes sweep the distance
12:27catching every hint of motion
12:29even in the midday heat
12:31it keeps going
12:34rapid panting sheds excess heat
12:37this is a body built to last
12:42it can trot mile after mile across broken ground
12:46stretching a small meal across enormous distances
12:54the coyote wins by refusing to specialize
12:58when rodents run short
13:00it turns to fruit
13:02insects or whatever carrion it can find
13:08where other hunters depend on a single prey
13:11it takes whatever the desert provides
13:14its tawny coat blends into dry grass and sagebrush
13:21letting it drift across the open ground almost unseen
13:25it carries a mental map of a vast range
13:29its best hunting spots
13:31its water
13:32and its dangers
13:33a sharp-minded survivor
13:36always reading the land around it
13:40shifting its tactics as the seasons turn
13:42and food comes and goes
13:44in a desert that shows no mercy
13:48the coyote endures by bending instead of breaking
13:51only the toughest life holds on here
13:55plants guard their precious water behind armor of sharp spines
13:59a key predator that keeps small plant eaters in balance
14:04a lasting emblem of the wild
14:07forever on the move
14:09forever enduring
14:13always on the lookout for lizards, scorpions and small snakes
14:18its long tail works like a rudder
14:21steering it through sharp, sudden turns
14:24the coyote and the coyote
14:25letting it outmaneuver both hunter and hunted in a single stride
14:29the western diamondback rattlesnake
14:32crotillus atrox
14:34one of the largest venomous snakes in north america
14:37its range spans the southwest from rocky canyons to the open desert floor
14:43it travels without a sound
14:46easing forward on broad belly scales that grip the ground
14:50dark diamonds
14:51each edged in pale scales
14:54break up its outline among the stones
14:56coiled and still
14:58it all but vanishes
15:00its forked tongue flickers again and again
15:04collecting scent from the air and soil
15:07each flick carries those traces to a special organ in the roof of its mouth
15:12it reads the desert through smell
15:16it relies on its surroundings for warmth
15:18it basks in the gentle morning sun
15:21then retreats to shade before the midday heat turns deadly
15:25this is an ambush hunter
15:27it settles beside a rodent trail and waits
15:30sometimes for hours without moving
15:32when prey wanders within range
15:35the strike is over in a fraction of a second
15:38one bite, a quick release
15:40then it follows the scent to where its victim falls
15:43its venom attacks blood and tissue
15:46starting to digest the meal from within
15:49mice, rats, rabbits and ground-mesting birds are all on the menu
15:54between each eye and nostril lies a small, deep pit
15:58these heat sensors detect the warmth of a living body
16:03guiding its strike even in total darkness
16:06and darkness is when it thrives
16:08on summer nights as the ground finally cools
16:12it heads out to hunt
16:16yet it would rather avoid a fight than start one
16:20when threatened, it draws into a defensive coil
16:23head raised, ready to strike
16:26the rattle is made of interlocking keratin segments
16:30the same material as our fingernails
16:32special tail muscles shake it dozens of times a second
16:36the message is clear, keep away
16:38but the rattlesnake is not the only hunter watching these open lands
16:44out on the plains, another predator keeps watch from above
16:48the Harris's hawk, Parabuteo unicinctus
16:53dark brown feathers, chestnut shoulders and bright yellow legs
16:57most birds of prey hunt alone
17:00the Harris's hawk hunts as a team
17:02small family groups live and hunt together
17:05earning them the name, wolves of the sky
17:08they spread out across high perches
17:11each bird watching its own patch of ground
17:14some even stand on one another's backs for a better view
17:17once prey is spotted
17:19they close in from several directions at once
17:22leaving it nowhere to run
17:24the kill is shared by all
17:26in this desert, there is more than one way to survive
17:30in this desert, there is more than one way to survive
17:30in this desert, there is more than one way to survive
17:30in this desert, there is more than one way to survive
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