Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - The things we see...

This morning on my ride I was right at 8 miles in pedaling away to my longest ride ever, 30 miles, I came across something that got me to thinking. I was out near some fields and brush country, brush to my right and a large corn field to my left. I had a couple of vehicles pass me about a mile back and so I was all alone at this point. I see up ahead what looked like pit bull, big tan sucker moving across the road but not looking my way. I thought "oh crap, the race will be on shortly", but the closer I got I could tell it was not a dog. The thing crawled under a brand new fence along the corn field and was walking slowly towards the corn. I was close enough now to see it was a large male bobcat, biggest I have ever seen, and his coat was beautiful. When I came along side him, maybe 20 yards between us, I whistled and he swung around, saw how close I was and bolted into the corn. I guess he didn't notice me because there was a guy installing a gate in the new fence about a mile down and he was watching him, flat area you can see for miles. I have seen several bobcats in my day, trapped and killed a few, but I have never seen one just out and about like that, really pretty animals. This got me to thinking about how lucky we are sometimes as cyclist we get to see the world in a different light than most others. Anyone else come across things like this that make you go, wow how lucky am I?

That rawks.

Yes, a couple of years ago I was riding beside a river in the early morning and saw an otter drag a conger eel out onto the bank. I'd never seen either animal in the wild before. Riveting.

And last month I was touring in Canada and met a moose drinking from a pool at the roadside. Commonplace to Canadians, no doubt, but exotic to me.

Years ago (10) I was camping with my family and was 13 or so at the time, and I was out on my bike exploring the camp grounds and the surrounding woods. On the road that leads to the back half of the grounds, early in the evening, I was riding and I come around a corner standing in the road was a huge White Tail Buck. Biggest rack I have seen (that didn't have silicone in it). Made my summer.

Kittykittykitty! I just LOVE cats! I've been wanting to see a bobcat for years, but I haven't seen one yet.

This the the kind of wildlife I usually get to see on my rides, in addition to the usual squirrels, rabbits, birds, and deer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5quCZSbw-k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5quCZSbw-k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCSd1VSKAnk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCSd1VSKAnk

But here's something weird I saw before starting my climb up Ice House Road a few weeks ago. Anyone know WTF is going on here? I don't think it's mating, but I could be wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID36iYRx9Hs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID36iYRx9Hs

thats awesome guys!

Up here it is common to see a lot of different animals and the like, but it is still cool everytime. Yesterday as I was cooling down in the shade of a big sign I saw a tiny little toad hoping along in the grass. The other day we saw a doe and two fawns and we see turkeys an awful lot around here. Cattle too, including the one bull that was "puttin the moves on a momma" along the side of the road....

Lotta deer, horses, cows, snakes, coyotes, skunks, armadillos, possums, hawks galore and one thing that I see from time to time in the wee hours of the morning during the winter months. I still haven't identified it but I'm reasonably sure it's a baby Sasquatchlett. It makes an interesting read, anyway.

Deer seem to be real curious about bicycles. I've come up to them standing in the middle of the road looking right at me. If I stop pedaling and coast up to them I've gotten within 30' of them.

I haven't been riding long but one of the neatest things that I've seen so far was on the Memphis Greenline when a big butterfly flew right along with me in loops and swirls for about 50 yards. I was calling to my friends to watch this butterfly riding with me. It was so neat. :)

Years ago (10) I was camping with my family and was 13 or so at the time, and I was out on my bike exploring the camp grounds and the surrounding woods. On the road that leads to the back half of the grounds, early in the evening, I was riding and I come around a corner standing in the road was a huge White Tail Buck.
Had the exact same thing happen to me. Came around a corner and there he was. Got to within about 10ft of him before he bolted. I was already braking for all it was worth. I had visions of picking myself of the ground only to be stomped on a few times before he rejoined his peace loving herd.

"Exotic" wildlife I come across in New York city :D

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2231/5735271830_d526a74965_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/44332608@N03/5735271830/)
DUCKS DOZING BY THE DOCK (http://www.flickr.com/photos/44332608@N03/5735271830/) by 1nterceptor (http://www.flickr.com/people/44332608@N03/), on Flickr

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I was riding the kern river trail coming back from school when I noticed a bob cat lying in the middle of the trail. I just stopped dead in my bike tracks. Another cyclist approached from the other side of the cat and he too stopped. We just stood there transfixed for a minute. The cat eventually ran off into the bush. Those are the most beautiful creatures!

1) About 2 out of 3 times I ride by the river back to my flat, I see wild hares cross my path or race along-side my bike.

2) There's a street in Warsaw closed to vehicle traffic on the weekends (Nowy Swiat). After Obama's visit in May, I saw crews going through it and putting back the plants they had removed as a security precaution. If I hadn't been on my bike, I wouldn't have seen it.

When I lived in Hawaii (Oahu), I frequently saw Mongoose on the path. I ran one over once. Then, there were the twice a year slug migrations across the path... Yuck!

Ooh! I've never seen a wild cat. Snails the size of ping-pong balls are common. Pheasants, deer, Sweden's only poisonous snake, hawks, voles, wood rats, countless hares, minks, a few foxes, countless mallard ducks, a single merganser duck, swans that have even flown low over fields beside my bike. My favorite animal moment was cycling on Gotland (Sweden's large island in the Baltic) and an owl silently swooped out of the trees on one side of the road to vanish on the other, crossing less than 20 feet in front of me.

Not animal related exactly, but one of the moments that sticks most strongly in my mind was cycling along a mountain road last year. I passed a field with sheep and there was an man, eighty if he was a day, cutting hay with a scythe. It was like looking back into the past right down to the way he was dressed. I would have taken a picture, but it seemed rude to do so without asking and I was too shy. Besides, a posed picture would have ruined the moment. :P

"Exotic" wildlife I come across in New York city :D

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2231/5735271830_d526a74965_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/44332608@N03/5735271830/)
DUCKS DOZING BY THE DOCK (http://www.flickr.com/photos/44332608@N03/5735271830/) by 1nterceptor (http://www.flickr.com/people/44332608@N03/), on Flickr

There is even crazier wildlife in the Bronx I hear....

The most we get to see on a daily bases around here is cows, bulls, donkeys, squirrels, rabbits, birds, owls and deer. We have a lot of ole' black birds here that sometimes seems the size of small airplanes. ;) We see deer almost at anytime and they are fun to watch when they're as many as 5-10 of them together, EXCEPT... When they are eating my wife's flowers and leaves. Then she's not a fun site to see. lol
Now and then we get to see a fox run through. They are always pretty to see!