For better or worse (I say better!), there are legions of us for whom our first exposure to classical music was through Looney Tunes. And no matter how grown up or cultured we think we become, we simply cannot listen to certain scores of music without hearing in our heads, “Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit!” I know in my case, it’s not just music; so much of my worldview has been shaped by Looney Tunes, to the point where I’ve had to educate myself on things that aren’t actually true in the live-action universe we live in. A few things I’ve learned: unlike Marvin, martians do indeed have mouths; duck bills are actually firmly affixed to faces, Daffy’s pop-off bill was specially made; and contrary to the scientific species names oft-referenced on film, coyotes (Carnivorous vulgaris) and roadrunners (Acceleratti incredibilis), are not commonly found out for runs together in the wild. In fact, there hasn’t ever been photographic evidence of the pair together… until now.

Last Saturday, one LA photographer and longtime birder (Nerdius stupendicus) snapped a history-making pic on his camera. Not only did he capture a coyote and roadrunner together, but in this instance, coyote finally got the bird. Surely it wasn’t mere coincidence that this sighting befell on opening weekend of Coyote vs. Acme, right? But wait, there’s more! KTLA interviewed the photographer and learned of another wild connection at play here:

Alexander deBarros, an avid birder who has been studying birds since he was 10 years old, was conducting a bird survey with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power at the Chatsworth Nature Preserve when he spotted something unusual.

A coyote was carrying a greater roadrunner in its mouth.

“I took just a couple of quick pictures just to confirm, is that actually a roadrunner in its mouth?” deBarros told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff. “And upon review, the answer was yes! We all freaked out as the coyote just ran over the hill and disappeared.”

DeBarros, who leads monthly bird walks with the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, is accustomed to identifying birds throughout Southern California. The coyote-roadrunner encounter, however, was something different.

While generations of viewers may associate the two animals with the famous Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons, the real-life predator is actually capable of outrunning a greater roadrunner.

Coyotes are opportunistic feeders and typically prey on whatever food is readily available, including small and medium-sized mammals. A roadrunner that is caught off guard, injured or otherwise vulnerable can also become prey.

For deBarros, the timing of the sighting came with another remarkable coincidence.

His father, Brian Mainolfi, is an animator whose first Hollywood job was working with legendary animator Chuck Jones, creator of the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner characters.

The encounter happened the same weekend the characters’ latest spinoff, “Coyote vs. Acme,” hit theaters.

“It is kismet,” Mainolfi told KTLA. “He 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.”

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.

Whether the image is truly the first photograph documenting such an encounter has not been independently verified by KTLA.

For deBarros, though, the sighting serves as another example of how much wildlife there is to discover across Los Angeles, sometimes in unexpected places.

“Nature is all around us even in places we don’t expect, like L.A.,” he said. “Whenever you see something, it may be something that’s never been seen before.”

[From KTLA]

I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that — what did Mr. Mainolfi call this confluence of occurrences? Oh yeah, KISMET. It’s all coming together, peeps! The moon must be in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with Mars, because it’s just too many coincidences. Snapping a coyote and roadrunner together for the (alleged) first time on film — in a truly stunning, striking image — the week Coyote vs. Acme finally comes out in theaters, captured by a photographer whose father worked for Coyote and Road Runner creator Chuck Jones, AND that animator calls it all kismet, when I’ve been ranting rhapsodizing about our beloved Looney Tunes for years now on this site. It’s everything! I mean, where do I even go from here? The only appropriate thing I can think of to say is: That’s all, folks!

No no no, I’m not really going anywhere. I’m just overcome with emotion from such a palpable sign from the universe. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be spending the holiday weekend on the hunt for a rare sighting of Sylvilagus floridanus and Anas rubripes out together. Armed with my camera, of course.

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