Bentley6

While at our churches Wednesday nite prayer meeting a woman mentioned to us to be in prayer for a man that she worked with who was bicyling this past weekend and a squirrel ran into his front wheel spokes. He went down hard and broke his neck, damaged his vertebra and some other injuries I could not hear. She did not say whether he had a helmet on or not. His injuries are very serious but could have been worse. My cousins mother-in-law was killed a few years ago when a dog ran out in front of her and she crashed. She was not wearing a helmet. Everyone be careful out there. Of course snakes are a different matter.

Mark

scarry

I worry more about deer.

slvoid

Technically wouldn't the deer cushion your fall? Especially if it's a big fat one. A cougar or leopard, that's another story.

scarry

I'm talking about when I'm decending a mountain road at 35 mph.

DieselDan

With deer, there can be an impalment issue. There was a case of a man walking on an empty country road was impaled by a buck that was scared by a stray dog. I've hit squirrels and dogs before, and once I was injuried and the bike was wrecked.

caloso

Why? Are you a Pentacostalist? I heard they can handle snakes.

Bentley6

Nope. Independent Baptist. I don't bother snakes unless they bother me but I still don't like em.

John Ridley

I've had deer run out in front of me twice this year. Both does, one about 15 feet in front, the other only 6 feet or so away. Gave me quite a rush. I wouldn't count on a deer "cushioning" a fall. They're not very cushy and they have pointy ends that thrash when they go down. More likely you're going to continue getting injured after you stop, until the deer gets away.

vtjim

The trail I commute on seems to be a State Squirrel Sanctuary. I've had at least two come from the bushes and scoot across with inches to spare before being cut in half by my front tire. (That is: They've narrowly avoided being hit...)

They're very active this time of year, too.

Can a squirrel really lock a front wheel? It seems unlikely to me, but I guess if people have first-hand accounts, it must be so.

Daily Commute

Suicide Rabbits lie in wait along my early morning path. They wait and wait, and then lunge right in front of me. A couple times, I've faced suicide turtles, but they are far less of a threat.

mirona

Last week I had a squirrel hit my rear wheel. Thankfully, he didn't get caught up in the spokes because I was going pretty fast.

Subtle Trouble

I have hit and killed a squirrel on my mountain bike during my morning commute to work. It ran right under my front wheel as I was riding down the Mall near the Lincoln Memorial. It wasn't dead right away, either, but had a broken neck and was flopping around. Quite heartwrenching. Some National Park groundskeepers came over and put it out of its misery.

I heard from another biking friend of mine that he was on a ride and squirrel came through his companion's front spokes. They were going pretty fast on road bikes and apparently, the squirrel kind of came apart in the spokes and splattered them both with blood. Don't know what kind of wheel was on the bike.

oboeguy

On the commute to my summer job I would come across multiple squirrels every day. Screaming at them apparently scares the living bleep out of them because they zoom off the road instead of stay in my path while stupidly looking at me hurtling toward them. Works every time (so far).

Sad story about the guy.

clfjmpr44

More squirrel tails, I mean tales over this way.
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/68719-squirrel-suicide-season.html

RoadToad

HA HA! Seriously, this has happened to me also. Once, I was descending a pretty good hill at about 35 mph when a dog shot out of someones yard to chase me. As he got to me, he went under my right pedal and at the same time smacked my foot. It REALLY hurt! I think that maybe if I had not been going so fast, I could have gone down. I bet it really hurt the dog too. I had half a mind to go back and ring the doorbell, but I didn't want to get attacked a second time. I know, I know, I should have reported it...

RT

wabbit

There's a popular park where we ride a lot, and on the road sometimes you see garter snakes. If they're alive, I'll move them out of the way. Once, in that park, we spotted a turtle, right on the bike path! I thought it was a big rock, but when we got closer we saw it was a painted turtle. Anyways, we stopped so we could get the turtle out of the way, but when we got close to it it began to move off.Turtles can actually move pretty quickly! We waited until it was out of danger. It was really cool, actually, since I really love turtles.

Incidentally, in Asia, turtles are a symbol of long life.

Guest

I've had problems with rats, squirrels, raccoons, deer, chipmunks and dogs. I've always wondered if it's better to hit them than to suddenly brake or swerve altogether.

I have to say, it's nice to do the early morning rides through the urban jungle- rarely do I have some critter jumping in my way. Score one for living and riding in the city.

Koffee

CommuterKat

Interesting thread. I noticed two dead squirrels on my ride home tonight. They were both on the part of my trip that is a bike path, and I was wondering how in the world a bike could squish a squirrel, and I guess now I have my answer. I have actually hit a dog before, and nearly hit a deer earlier this summer. The dog ran right out in front of me, and got broadsided by me. I am pretty sure he was ok, as I stopped and tried to follow him as he ran off, but I couldn't catch him. The deer jumped across the road one night right in front of me, and scared the living **** out of me! I have been terrified of having it happen again ever since. Part of my commute in the evening involves going down a very steep hill with a sharp corner and almost no shoulder, so I tend to just blast down the thing to get it over, and hopefully get up to traffic speed if a car should come up behind me, and therefore give them time to realize that I am a bike and not hit me. I always worry about critters jumping out in front of me on that descent though. I don't think I would be able to ride in the dark again if I ever hit anything!

slvoid

EW I dont even want to know!

Trab

One of my worst wipeouts occurred when a chicken ran out in front of me while I was mountain biking down a steep trail in Costa Rica. After hitting the chicken, I went flying over the handlebars. The chicken died. I was in pain, but was able to ride back to town. I got treated at the local clinic. Health care is a bargain down there. They cleaned my wounds, put stitches in my arm, and gave me antibiotics and pain pills...all for the low, low price of $20.

turtlegirl

Hey a turtle should NOT be a threat at all, they are very slow, and can be easily avoided, unless you take your bike swimming that is

vtjim

You shoulda seen the turtle that was on my trail back in June. That turtle was a threat! It was a snapper. Shell was roughly 20 inches in diameter. Claws like daggers, and a jaw that would split an alloy wheel with one bite!

She was out looking for a place to nest. Monster of a girl though.

Bacterozoid

I've had one close encounter about a week ago. The critters seem to be half-asleep or something...they don't react near as quickly...I headed straight for the one I mentioned figuring it would move....and it did...but it was pretty darn close.

Hope everyone around here stays safe with the dangers of wild animals. Sad to hear about injuries and deaths because of it.

beatle bailey

I brake for squirrels, four legged only!

JavaMan

Wow, some great stories, you guys! I enjoyed reading your posts. The only thing I run over are snails. They are too slow to get out of the way.