Anyone with experience with the critters of the night on your commute? I suppose I just have to learn to deal with them, but I've been joined by deer, have rabbits dodge my wheels, and last night I had a hit and run with a raccoon. It was the raccoon that has me wondering about the cute furry little creatures. I'd probably squish the life out of a rabbit if I had the misfortune of catching it. But the raccoon was a huge animal, and I thought the thing was smarter than to run right into my path I caught it with the front wheel, and ran over it with the rear. I heard no sounds coming from the animal, they make a horendious noise, so I kept riding, grateful that I hadn't been thrown off the bike and had to nurse a road rash this morning.

I suppose it is just the nature of the commute. I haven't had the dog chase experieince, but I have wildlife attacking me all the time.

It's there time....they have RIGHT-OF-WAY!!! Be proud that they allow you on their trails!!

Us humans already claim so much more than our fair share of space on this planet. I think it's only right that we try and take precautions to avoid hitting the wildlife. I've only been in one situation where I could not stop in time to keep from killing an animal and that was because the bird dived at the window of my automobile while I was travelling 70MPH. Two nights ago, the sun was setting and I was racing it back to the trailhead. I was coming downhill on some fast doubletrack/fireroad and doing around 25MPH when a deer jumped out right in front of me and I was sure I would hit it but I managed to adjust my line behind it and missed it by about a foot. As I looked back, it stood there at the other side of the trail and just stared at me. As far as being attacked... birds seem to like my helmet or something. I've had them dive at me before.

I'm sorry for the coon, but I'm glad you weren't hurt!

None of us plan to run over critturs...but a raccoon! I'm suprised you were able to stay upright! Those things can be huge.

I would not approach a raccoon after hitting it with my bike!

The wildlife issue is two-sided. In Estes Park, Colorado, where my parents live, it's illegal to feed or hunt wildlife. The elk roam freely everywhere, including town.

An elderly lady recently went to her mailbox to get her mail. She didn't know she had crossed in between a female elk and her offspring. The female elk charged the woman and basically attacked her. If it wasn't for her husband noticing her lying in the driveway soon after, she might not have survived.

I have always trained at night, and I have found a solution that keeps animals aware of your presence. Go to a pet supply store and buy some of those little play balls for cats that have a little jingle bell inside. You can remove the bell and attach it somewhere on your bike, like to a toe strap that is then secured around your frt hub as a hub cleaner. It will jingle just enough so animals will here you coming and run or at least stop where they are. I always have one on the front hub or h/b stem of my training bike. I used to have a little cow bell the size of the tip of my forefinger hanging on the stem. It made just enough noise to keep animals aware of me. Eventually you will get used to it and won't even hear it. Just a practical idea.

On my old commute it used to be brush turkeys at Burleigh National Park. Now my commute is entirely urban, so about the only thing I encounter at night anymore (apart from motoring primates) is bats. I'm yet to run over one of those.

Riding at night has always been one of my favorite times, and things to do. You see a lot of wildlife, and you get out in their world. It is unfortunate that we sometimes cross paths and the animal is often the looser.

The raccoon was especially bothering as I have raised one when I was in high school, that whole Sterling North thing. Her name was Raquel, and she was bright and fun and a wild animal that was rather happy to share a few months with our family. When she left she returned a couple times with her families, and even took up residence in the garage one winter. It was sad to see her go, but she was wild and there are things wild animals need, and do that if kept in captivity they get rather beastly.

I put some skid marks on a groundhog a few months ago... Rabbits, squirrels are bad, but at least they seem to have better hearing as they will scurry away sooner than the average groundhog. All of them seem to wait to the last minute and who knows which direction they're headed. This one was hiding in tall grass and suddenly darted in front of me on the trail and I just had enough brakes to give him a nice love tap on the back but managed not to go over him...

Jay

Yikes! The marmots around here are big enough to throw a rider, especially one on a road bike!

Of all the animals I could have hit, the chip-monk scares me the worse. They are so hyper and jumpy I'm afraid they will get caught in my wheel and dragged through the brakes, frame, chain and sprockets...making mince meat, and a mess.

Ugh!

Gotta confess to eliminating one frog on our last night ride. Don't know where the thing came from and was very depressed scraping the remains of my bike yesterday! Keep smelling the skunks but haven't had the misfortune of finding one! Biggest problem around here though are the deer, so I could have done much worse!

Crazy, I hardly ever see wildlife on my commute and it is mostly rural. Even at night. But I do see the northern lights and shooting stars some nights.

well i almost hit a bird, it was in the middle of the way. i was night riding on a bike path with no light and a bat was following me above me, which i found really cool.

Never hit any animals myself -----though I hit a traffic light pole whilst drunk once! Nic witnessed it too

Can't say I've hit anything although there are zillions of squirrels that zing across the road near my house. Amazed I haven't massacred one of them yet.

I have bears and elk that have been spotted in my area. Luckily I haven't had any encounters with either. Elk are as big if not bigger than horses. The other little furry friend that I hope never to encounter in my area are the stinky kind. Yes I've smelled many skunks on my late night ride home.

I have tried bells, whistles, horns, yelling and all manner of noises and nothing worked. That is until I barked at a squirrel that was in the middle of my lane, sitting there, dumb struck and not knowing what to do.

I don't know what possessed me, but I barked loudly several times. It scared the little critter out of his reverie, and he sped out of my path.

It works on birds, bunnies, and rodents. I don't know how it would work on a raccoon, but I think it might work.

My friend's wife saw me one day barking at a rabbit, and, as Dances With Wolves was making the circuit on cable TV, she got the bright idea to give me the Indian name Barks At Bunnies. I told her I also barked at squirrels, mice, chipmunks, etc., so she changed to to Barks at Rodents.

Does not, however, work with dogs!

Hello all. . .

I had the misfortune of sending an indecisive squirrel to meet its maker two months ago on my commute to work. As I was accelerating to beat a stale green light on Bloor, tucking in and hitting a high cadence on my fixie, a squirrel bolted out no more than ten feet front of me - I made the split-second decision against swerving and perhaps bailing if I hit him with my tire turned. I recall that he darted left instantly after going under my front wheel and shot towards the curb.
I was under the impression that he pulled through until I saw his brown furry body in just over the curb in the grass (with a tire-sized divot his mid-section) on the way home.
That's about as much wildlife I come across on my urban commute... the raccoons and skunks around here are quite cocky though, so its probably only a matter of time.

G.

There is a proliferation of beautiful water birds just in the section adjoining my home. I've also realised that if the birds are spooked they run towards the water so you must be prepared for their sudden dash.

I had the unfortunate incident where one got spooked by something behind where I was riding and it ran straight into the rear wheel. The noise that bird made was truly spine tingling... anyone remember Birds (the movie) ?

Luckily there wasn't significant damage to the bird - it was able to fly and walk after being momentarily dazed.

I've skipped that bike trail since and stuck to the road...