Snake vs. Roadrunner Face-off | National Geographic

[mysterious music]

NARRATOR: The tongue of western diamondback rattlesnake cautiously tastes the air. She flicks airborne particles against the roof of her mouth to be analyzed, sorting out potential food from potential threat, like this other icon of the Old West, and he's hungry himself.

The roadrunner is a tough old bird. You have to be when the slithering lunch you've got your eye on could kill you. The queen of rattlers, the western diamondback, is a recipe for deadly indigestion. She's venomous enough to kill a human, but she's missing something in this looming face-off-- legs.

[caws] The roadrunner has got serious legs, and he knows how to use them.

[dramatic music]

[chirping] Native Americans revered the roadrunner for its speed, strength, and especially its courage. The bird circles, spiraling in on its target. But the snake's not going down without a fight.

[rattles] The plan is to grab the snake behind her head and bash the poor girl's skull in. In this face-off, guts versus venom is a draw, and our snake gets away with her life.