Commuting - Near Miss

I missed hitting a deer by about 1 foot today coming home from work. Fawn. It Shot right across the path in front of me as I was freewheeling from the highway overpass.

I could hear it breathe it was so close, and that's no lie! I'm lucky it was fast because I didn't even have time to hit the brakes!

It was pretty remarkable in its own way to be that close to a big(ish) animal.

I've hit a rabbit before, which was a little sad, but there's about 10 million of those around here, so I didn't lose any sleep.

I was wondering if anyone else had some wildlife war stories? (besides dogs and peds!)



~SB

I've had plenty of wildlife encounters, as my commute takes me through a forest preserve area. Deer, coyotes and of course plenty of the smaller animals. The latest was a squirrel who ran between my wheels while I was going about 15 MPH! I don't know how he made it without getting hit but I was glad he did. :)

Squirrels, seagulls, crows, geese...they all have found their way into my path. And I've had to brake hard sometimes to avoid squishing them!

This next couple of months is when I really start seeing deer around here. Especially during hunting season, they get really jumpy. I've had full-grown does run in front of me by a couple of feet, and one time I had one turn and run alongside and slightly in front of me for about 20 feet before crashing off into the woods. I maybe should have slowed, but I decided that just holding still and just coasting as straight as possible would be as likely as anything to make it not do anything unpredictable/stupid.

...mmmmmmm venison
yum!
bow season opens Sunday

And deer get a little strange this time of year because it is their mating time and they only have one thing on their mind.
In the rut, I've seen a male deer mount a decoy before.

This is not commuting related. It is large animal related I was backpacking on Isle Royale and I came across a moose. It was maybe a couple of metres in front of me. The moose also had it's babies with it I always think that is a amazing scene seeing this large animal :)

I get swooped by bats and an owl, who flies in in 10 feet front of me in my headlight beam for 50-70 yards, then breaks left everytime. Last week I bunnyhopped a nutria in the bike trail. In Spring, I have to dodge feral kitties in the park. Last month a fox ran in front of me close enough that I thought I'd hit him.

We used to go up fishing in Canada, and I got totally used to seeing moose, eagles, and bear all the time. Even though I lived in the Keweenaw for 10 years I never made it out to Isle Royale. Hope to some year soon though.


And deer get a little strange this time of year because it is their mating time and they only have one thing on their mind.
So they're like the rest of us guys are all the time?

So they're like the rest of us guys are all the time?

Worse!
I've been hunting for more than 20 years, harvested alot of differant animals, and one thing is constant, ungulates (hoofed animals) abandon all reason when their "blood gets flowing".
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I once was racing with Bambi for a while over in NJ. That was interesting.

I once was racing with Bambi for a while over in NJ. That was interesting.

How many watts do you think bambi was pushing?

P.S. Isle Royale is very awesome the solitude is like nothing else. except for when a freighter rolls past then the island will rumble