Road Cycling - GAWL-DERN Squirrels & Tiny Dogs!!

SO I'm out riding this morning and I'm almost home and I look over to my right and this squirrel is running along beside me(on the other side of the ditch). I'm thinking this is kinda cool riding with the wildlife. There's a telephone pole about 20 feet ahead so I'm thinking Mr. Squirrel is heading for that for a quick getaway. Just as he gets to the pole, and instead of running on up the pole, the goofy thing hangs a hard left and heads right across the road in front of me. I had NO time to even react. Mr. Squirrel was SO CLOSE his tale hit my front tire as he shot in front of me. :eek: Not sure what would happen if I would have hit him but it probably would not have been a pretty sight(for one of us).

There's also this little obnoxious dog that lives right up the road from me. He has done the exact same thing a couple of times. I had to hit the brakes so hard one time the rear tire came off the ground about a foot and I just about endoed.

What the heck is up with these small furry animals!!!??? :confused: :D

A teammate of mine once ran over and killed a squirrel.

My favorite squirrel manuver is the ol' 90% panic. i.e. cross 90% of the road, freak out, turn around and run all the way back.

I ran over a squirrel once. And yes he tried the run 90% across the road and back.....except on the way back he ran under my tires. Oh well...

If you are packing enough water, a squirt from the water bottle usually keeps the wildlife at bay. They put the brakes on and then you are gone before they can start up again.

Seems to me there was a thread sometime back reguarding running over tree rats and such. I've heard of them being decapitated in spokes. Losing a tail here and there is also fairly common.
My own tactic is to head strait for them and scare the crap out of them. They seem to understand that and get out of your way. I haven't hit one yet by the way.

Jim

Scaring them does work. They sense the threat and move. The other thing I do is just be careful around them. After all, I enjoy riding in nature and I don't consider maintaining top speed and not slowing down for a poor creature to be "riding i nature". That's more like riding against it. Do you slow down in a car? Why not on a bike? Training results shouldn't outweigh the little furries. That's what's gotten the human race to the point we're at: progress over appreciation.

PS Not saying you did anything bad/wrong. Sometimes, they just do something dumb, so treat them liek children and be ready for the dumbest movfe conceivable ('cause that's probably what they'll do).

I was actually CHASED by a squirrel recently. I had just passed through the center of the town I live in on my way home from work, when I heard this scratching noise to my left. I glanced down quickly and thought I saw a leaf skittering along in my wake. About 50 yards later, I still heard the noise. I looked down again and it was a squirrel with a VERY determined look on his little face. I was doing almost 20mph and he was keeping up with me until a car came up behind us and he ran off to the left. I still want to know what he would have done if he caught me!!!

If you see a squirrel about to run across the street, just bark at it and it'll usually get scared and run up a tree instead. That's what I do to the grey squirrels around here. Barking is one warning cry for squirrels. It also works on the 13-lined ground squirrels around here.

I had a squirrel try to run through my front wheel. He just bounced off.

2 days ago I had my first encounter with a much rarer wee beastie. A stoat (small relative of weasel) crossed in front of me. I stopped to watch him, and he stopped to watch me. We were about 2m apart, which is the closest I have ever been to such a secretive and aggressive carnivore.

I have trails all through my woods (my "hundred acre woods" as I call them), so I see nothing BUT wildlife, most of it small and furry. I have come up on an armadillo a time or two, ambling across the trail and causing me to stop. Mostly it is squirrels, a fox or two, bobcats, possums, a few I don't get close enough to identify. Sometimes I see larger animals like deer and wild hogs (I steer clear of those!). I cannot ride on my highway, the bike trail in town is not safe anymore, so I ride with the wild things. :)

Originally posted by MichaelW
I had a squirrel try to run through my front wheel. He just bounced off.

2 days ago I had my first encounter with a much rarer wee beastie. A stoat (small relative of weasel) crossed in front of me. I stopped to watch him, and he stopped to watch me. We were about 2m apart, which is the closest I have ever been to such a secretive and aggressive carnivore.

It must be a good year for stoats - I saw my second ever a few weeks back.

Where I grew up you couldn't ride without being chased by dogs, usually big farm dogs. One of my buddies that I used to ride with would swing his frame pump at dogs to get them to back off. He never hit one, just swung it close enough to make them think twice. It always worked, but he had great balance!