General Cycling Discussion - Road kill...

What kind of road kill do you think is the most disgusting?

I saw a dead cat today, with its torso smashed flat, but I also saw a deer, two raccons, two squirrels, a rabbit, and fox today. I think that i broke my own road-kill spotting record today...

Personally, I think the worst road kill are the domestic animals, like cats, dogs, etc.

Call me a softy, but I can't bear to see a dog or cat dead on the road. I don't care to see any animals run down, but the thought of someone's pet lying dead and alone, and assuming their owners aren't yet aware of it, breaks my heart. :cry:

-Rob

Yeah, I hate to see that, too. I always think of how I'd feel if it was my pet out there.

Have you ever noticed that when you see a dead racoon, you will see a pair of them? Racoons mate for live and will not leave their partner, even in death. Moral of the story? Every being has loved ones.

Hows this grab ya!

Originally posted by Cipher
Hows this grab ya!

That's a singularly unlucky mammal! Oof!

Opossum - the ugliest animal alive - even uglier decomposing along the side of the road :eek:

I was just going to start a thread about this myself! I saw a large number of dead squirrels on the road today. I felt like I was riding by some macabre collection of different ways to kill a squirrel. Quite gruesome...

I wonder if anyone has ever hit and/or killed an animal on their bike... I've come close to hitting a squirrel that couldn't make up its mind which way to run.

The worst I saw was a dog on the side of the road while I was driving through South Carolina. It was frozen solid by rigormortis and laying on its side with its legs sticking out. I couldn't stop thinking about that poor dog for days. :(

I keep my kitties nice and safe inside, thank you very much!

Tim

ewwww.... I love animals and I hate seeing them dead or dying, even yukky animals like possums (although there are none around here). I saw a dead garter snake. Once we saw a turtle on a bike path and got off our bikes to get it out of the way. I really love turtles. The grossest was a dead skunk. I smelled it before I saw it- gak! it was just gross.

I love animals too....they taste great! The worst road kill? The one that has been there about a month in the hot summer sun.

I once watched a young Robin FLY into the rear wheel of a bike. Anyway I can only assume he was young and :eek: Wasn't in very good shape after that!!

This past summer--two dead skunks. You smell that they are ahead, and you remember them for a long time. It's also tough to pedal quickly when you don't want to breathe heavily.

Dead kangaroos by the side of the road are large and very smelly.

O my GAWD!!!

In this part of Tennessee there's no way to tell what kind of unlucky rundown animal the next hill or bend in the road holds so you can just imagine!
The worst thing I have ever smelled slowly rotting away on the side of the road was a RK beaver! I mean it was just terrible.
Although I do some harvesting of game animals I do hate to see folks pets get ran down! I know what a loss it is to have a good 4 legged friends life cut short. It leaves a hole in ones heart that isn't soon mended.
The one exception is that one BIG Black Harry dog that lives at the top of a hill from either direction. I keep thinking he's intent on biting me. Most dogs I just talk to and tell not to get ran over chacing me on the road.

ps. I like cats also, I have never had a cat chace me on a road trip!:p

ARMADILLO!! :eek:

cows! after a few days they REALLY honk.

Marty

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RobCat2002
Call me a softy, but I can't bear to see a dog or cat dead on the road. I don't care to see any animals run down, but the thought of someone's pet lying dead and alone, and assuming their owners aren't yet aware of it, breaks my heart. :cry:

-Rob [/QUOTE


I am with you on that one Rob. I am growing increasingly `soft' about animals every year I get older.
I saw a dead cat last month and I went back two nights in a row to try and find the owners.
When I found the lady owner she told me such a sad story about the cat that I burst into tears and she had to comfort me!
:cry:

I've hit a woodchuck riding off road. It was doing what ever woodchucks do next to the trail and as I passed it jumped across the trail. I almost lost it, when I looked back I saw the woodchuck running into the brush.

By far the most sickning thing I've seen was two cows, or most of two cows. Someone had dumped in a ditch on the side of the road. This was in FL in the middle of summer... Nasty!

When ever I see a pet that has been hit, I will move it out of the road, if its not to nasty. In my head I see a little girl crying over her lost kitty.

When I was riding across Australia a couple of years back we passed 3 dead camels together by the side of the road. YUCK!

One I remember from SA was when I headed south from Joburg to Potchefstroom on business. I passed a horse that had been knocked down close to a township. That afternoon when I drove home, all that was left was the guts and some bones. The rest had been cut up and provided a free meal for some of the township residents.

The SPCA had an advert on TV about a dog that had been hit by a car. It lay on the roadside for three days before a passing motorist noticed it moved. He rushed it to the SPCA, and though the dog was badly injured and severely dehydrated, it made a full recovery and the motorist who picked him up, claimed him as a family pet. Nice ending.

While I'm on a roll, I read an unrelated story about a python that ate some newborn pups. The family who owned the dogs, beat the snake with sticks, and eventually it regurgitated the pups. Two of them were dead, but the third survived. They named the surviving pup 'Slangkos' which in Afrikaans translates literally as 'snake food'.:)

Saw this druken creature on the Cycle NC ride in Oct.

The drunken bum got run over whilst eating lunch ??????
thats terrible...:)


What is it anyway?

Dogs without a doubt.

I basically turn into a little girl when I see a hurt dog. Luckily, I've only seen one dog as roadkill and that was as a child while riding the school bus, it stayed with me for days.

Where I live though there seems to be rank upon rank of suicidal possums.

That is the Florida Beer Swilling Trailer Dweller.
AKA Opossum. Probably in the top 3 dumbest animals on the planet. At least when it comes to automotive avoidance skills.
I hear tell that they's purty near tasty as armadillas, but easier ta skin.
:D

Snakes are commonly seen on the road here in AZ. Especially as the weather cools down. They seem to head for the pavement to get warm.

Originally posted by Bokkie
One I remember from SA was when I headed south from Joburg to Potchefstroom on business. I passed a horse that had been knocked down close to a township. That afternoon when I drove home, all that was left was the guts and some bones. The rest had been cut up and provided a free meal for some of the township residents.

The SPCA had an advert on TV about a dog that had been hit by a car. It lay on the roadside for three days before a passing motorist noticed it moved. He rushed it to the SPCA, and though the dog was badly injured and severely dehydrated, it made a full recovery and the motorist who picked him up, claimed him as a family pet. Nice ending.

While I'm on a roll, I read an unrelated story about a python that ate some newborn pups. The family who owned the dogs, beat the snake with sticks, and eventually it regurgitated the pups. Two of them were dead, but the third survived. They named the surviving pup 'Slangkos' which in Afrikaans translates literally as 'snake food'.:)

WOW ...some wild stories there! True too - makes em that more remarkable!

Originally posted by earleybird
[QUOTE]Originally posted by RobCat2002
Call me a softy, but I can't bear to see a dog or cat dead on the road. I don't care to see any animals run down, but the thought of someone's pet lying dead and alone, and assuming their owners aren't yet aware of it, breaks my heart. :cry:

-Rob [/QUOTE


I am with you on that one Rob. I am growing increasingly `soft' about animals every year I get older.
I saw a dead cat last month and I went back two nights in a row to try and find the owners.
When I found the lady owner she told me such a sad story about the cat that I burst into tears and she had to comfort me!
:cry:

I'm with you guys on this one. Pets on the road. WAaaah!! :(
I think if I ever came upon one of my own pets smooshed on the road...I'd pick it up and do what ever to save it.

I once heard a presentation about opossums... sometimes when a mama one is hit and killed --- that her babies can be alive still in her belly. Takes a person to go in and get the babies out. Sure makes one think twice now about seeing them on the road side.
sarah

I once ran over the tail of a chipmunk with my bike. The poor little guy lost his tail and kept on running. I hope the female chipmonks were into his new bob-tail image.

Originally posted by Bokkie
One I remember from SA was when I headed south from Joburg to Potchefstroom on business. I passed a horse that had been knocked down close to a township.
Every time I drove up to Sun City there was either a dead
horse or cow at one of the small "informal" developments.
Other than that I don't ever recall seeing roadkill in my 5 years
there. Strange, huh?

Marty

I ran over a small snake once. Snake guts on my seattube as a momento.

Lots and lots of dead armadillos where I ride. The smell of road kill is bad but I've found the worst thing to be the vultures they attract. Vultures spook easy but don't react to bikes until you're pretty close then 4 or 5 very large (5 ft wingspan) birds take to wing very suddenly and they're not the most graceful at take-offs either. I haven't been knocked down by one yet but when I see them on the road I get nervous as I get near.

:beer:

About ten years ago I was riding with my sister (in a car) on the way to school, there was a dead buzzard lying almost on the centerline. The person in front of us (this guy must be an absolute genious I tell you) swerves to hit the thing. Just about that time this green pea soup lookin stuff sprays out and goes all over our windshield and hood. Nalk about Tasty!
And that's all I have to say about that.


Later, Paul:cool:

you know, I heard that armadillios jump when they are surprised, and they often jump into the bottom of cars and get smashed...I sorta want to see an armadillio jump. I heard they can hit 2 feet or so...