What encounters with wildlife have you enjoyed on your rides? Maybe this topic has been covered before, but I always enjoy hearing about experiences with our natural world. There is too little of it left untouched. I spent a little time today cruising the single track near my house and ran over another copperhead, the third time I have done so in the last two months. This one was a beauty, maybe 3+ feet long (unfortunately I did not have a tape measure with me), fat, with luminous colors (it must have recently shed its skin). I stopped about 10 yards past it, turned around and watched it lazily crawl into the trees beside the trail. I'm starting to get a little nervous about these snakes since I come upon them and zip past them before I can react. I would be really nervous if I was not alone and mis amigos in the rear received the bites meant for the first bike. Of course, I would be more upset, since I ride solo, if the snake got me and I had to get back to the trailhead by myself. Shiverrrr. But the snake was not the real treat on this mornings ride ... no, I was riding in a different section and something fairly large ran across the trail in front of me. I thought it was a midsized stray dog or small coyote at first and stopped as quickly as I could. I was wrong about it being a dog. I'm used to seeing squirrels, 'possums and armadillos, but this time it was a cat, the first bobcat I had ever seen in the wild. It just stood there and gave me the twice over, very cool and collected. Immediately I called the Mrs. (I love cell phones) who is very much a cat person, and told her that at that moment I was in a staredown with a bobcat. As we talked it flicked its tail and sauntered off as if I was just a nuisance it could not be bothered with. Gorgeous! A truly beautiful animal! (I have such conflicted feelings about invading its habitat with my bike, but if I had not, I would not have been able to see it. Most of the habitat in the Dallas metro area is destroyed by development anyway. The only reason we have a single track is because it is in a flood plain by a creek and will likely never be used for anything else.) I told my beloved about running over another copperhead and she berated me for "hurting those poor innocent snakes."
I apparently need to ride more carefully. Did I mention she is a snake person too? A rare women indeed.