vtjim

Had another one with a death wish shoot by me on Friday afternoon's commute. Closest call yet. I think my front tire brushed the animal's tail.

CommuterKat

Oh My God!! On my way home today, I was riding along on a bike path that runs alongside a road, and I noticed a squirrel racing along at the same speed that I was riding. I was wondering what the heck it was doing, and why it didn't just hop up on the curb and into the woods, when it suddenly did just that...right next to my front wheel! It ran beside my bike for a second or two, and then made a mad dash between my two wheels! I was going about 12MPH, which I realize isn't all THAT fast, but it was fast enough, that I thought he was a goner. I definitely got a little fur on the end of his tail, and am really glad that noone was in front of me, as the entire time, I was looking down at this manic squirrel and not where I was going. So wierd. All I could think was how I had posted on this thread a while ago about how I had never heard of a cyclist hitting a squirrel!

Kat

smurfy

My problem is with Canadian Geese. Lots and lots of them, and they insist on hanging out right on the bike path! Every single damn day I have to slow down and shoo them out of the way.

In the springtime they can act very aggressive to protect thier young so they hiss at me and I'm afraid they might try to bite me although that hasn't happened yet.

vtjim

Not to mention what flies off your tires after you ride through!

Seanholio

In some places, including the San Francisco Bay Area, the problem has gotten so bad that the Streets and Parks Departments have started deploying a secret weapon: Shetland Sheepdogs. These little dogs love to chase the geese, and that encourages them to go to less-populous areas for their breeding. This is better for the geese and the people, since the geese can breed in peace, and there are no "goose attacks" or "goose poop" problems in the areas where people typically are.

ajkloss42

Good ole' Eden Prairie is overrun with geese. Fortunately, they are significantly more intimidated by my bicycle than my Mustang (stupid stupid birds), but what really gets them moving is the $3 squeaky horn I got at target. The horn gets squirrels moving too. Pedestrians, slow cyclists, and dogs are another matter though; people just wonder what the hell that noise was and usually look around and loose their line, and I think dogs may think it's one of their squeaky toys. I only beep it at dogs when I'm feeling malicious... seriously, I've given up on the horn with dogs.

jimmylegs

I saw a squirrel's tail on the bike path the other day - they don't always avoid getting hit, evidently.

Bentley6

Have any of you been hit by a flying bird? I haven't been but have come across the goose poop problem before. Just seems like a flying bird hitting a rider might happen occasionally. I ride a lot of covered trails and come across some snakes, turtles, dogs, squirrels, wooley worms and tons of grasshoppers (the last two are most generally not a hazard) but never had any flying bird problems yet. One of those, even small ones, upside the head might hurt a little or cause a wreck by throwing ya off guard.

Redhed 

I saw a huge turtle (about a foot wide) on the side of the road last year about this time. I stopped in hopes of getting it off the road, it was headed for the highway. Usually you can see the pointy parts on the shell to tell if it is a snapper, but this one looked smooth. Something told me to check before I got too close. I grabbed a stick and kind of gently waved it by the turtle's head, and SNAP that big stick was in 2 pieces. I jumped out of my skin, and a couple guys in a truck were laughing heartily out the window at me. Good thing I checked first, that could have been my finger. Still determined to try to get the thing out of the road, I found a piece of board a little farther down and kind of pushed the turtle into the grass. The next day it was SPLAT in the center of the road. I tried.....

caloso

I once came around a corner into a group of geese waddling along. Most of them scattered but one decided to fly directly away from me. I slowed and he lifted off right in front of my wheel. I could feel the air (wing wash?) as he flapped. It was a really cool experience.

jeff williams

A walking catfish would take you down...well not me, I'd bunnyhop it.

But a rabbit?..what if I bunnyhop and the bunny hops too?

I think they are suicide squirrels, they have difficulty obtaining and loading firearms, a few jumpers, (too many tree limb smacks-ow!) so the bike spoke is the best way out.
...guess nuts don't contain much lithium, squirrels are nuts.

Years ago I had the pleasure of riding around a herd of 100's of elk at midnight on a golf course in Banff park. Beautiful.

Redhed 

Yesterday, I took someone's advice in an earlier post and I yelled at a suicide squirrel. It worked!!!! However, he got the last laugh. At the intersection about 10 feet past the squirrel, I unclipped my left foot, and fell to my right. I tore three chunks of knee out and I am missing some of my elbow skin. I swear I could hear that squirrel laughing, right along with my husband.

Stacy

Three separate instances of big city rats crossing my path on the bikeway last night. I think those buggers must sit by the side of the road and guesstimate the speed of traffic.

I sure hope I NEVER hit one of those!

Stacy

JavaMan

Yes, but on a motorcycle. A bird took off the side of the road as I came by at 70 mph and I had just enough time to duck my head when WHAM! the bird hit my helmet head on. Luckily it was a small bird. When I got to work and took off my helmet, there was a bloody streak with a little piece of down stuck to the top of my helmet.

I see lots of animals when I ride my bicycle, but they never taunt me. Just let 'em try.
Tom

Steele-Bike

Other than having an animal enter my spokes, I finally have a good excuse for commuting with my hardtail. I have hit more than my fair share of potholes, but no animals in many years. Front suspension can do wonders when it comes to absorbing animal/pothole impacts.

Back in high school, I hit a squirrel while riding a road bike, but he didn't seem any for the worse. And a few years back a friend of mine was riding just in front of me when an oppossum ran underneath his bike. He didn't wreck, but it sure did surprise him. And then there was the bird...An angry bluejay decided to have it out with me on a busy residential street. It's not easy fighting off a bird while trying to maintain control.

GeezerGeek

One time there was this particularly vicious canadian goose that hissed at me every day. Then I got a bent. The next day the gander figured he could reach me on my new low rider and took off running flapping his wings to gain that extra speed. When he reached me his feet were bouncing off the ground. His eyes were firmly fixed on my neck and his beak was open ready to tear flesh. At the last second before impact I raised an elbow and hit him in the neck which deflected his head. His gapping mouth slammed shut as it plopped down on my shoulder an inch from his intended target.

When a bird of that size traveling at take-off speed hits a biker sideways, the biker has but a short time to kiss the vertical world goodbye. Fortunately the path was not yet paved so the worst injuries were the green grass stains on my cloths and a few black and blue ones underneath. what a way to break in a new bike.