PunkMartyr

Whats the most interaction you have had with wildlife? Inspired by guy joking about a bee flying into his helmet.

I don't have any cool stories I think a bug made it into my mouth yesterday thats it. I tried to spit it out / ended up swallowing the bug.

Lamplight

I had a rather large male deer chase me back in the winter.

Machka 

There was the cougar ............... but that wasn't on a commute.

envane

I hit a squirrel

daredevil

skunk...the mistake I made was walking into the work place before getting the clothes off.

I might add that I have come across a grizzly on a ride, fortunately, no interaction.

Hickeydog

I had bee fly into my helmet once. Not one of those little wasp-like things. This was a 10 lb. bumblebee that hit me with all the subltely of a brick wall.

CastIron

I have cougar problems, too. Oh wait...

I had a squirrel trying to escape my dogs run up my leg as I pulled into the drive.

A horse chased me.

Bunny made it through my Vento wheels at speed.

Bee in the helmet vents. Twice. Both inopportune moments.

A few others, including some human interaction that should qualify.

tsl

I yell at geese if it looks like they'll walk in front of me. Or if they won't get out of the way.

Had a rottweiler on a leash intercept and knock me off my bike once. Sat there looking at me like, "Again!"

As for the bee-in-helmet thing, I was helmet shopping recently and some Spanish outfit makes helmets with screens in the front vents. Sadly, it was sized for people with oval heads, and have a round one.

YoKev

Every morning, I see ducks, a heron, deer, usually turkey, and sometimes a beaver. I even saw a white rat one morning...probably an escaped convict from the lab nearby.

Machka 

Thankfully those kind of cougars don't bother me!

Lamplight

Well I wish they would bother me! Maybe "bother" isn't the right word.

Roody

I had a deer hiss and spit at me (her ****er missed me, thank God).

Two riders here near Traverse City hit deer. They were friends, but it was separate encounters, a year apart. The one guy was disabled, I believe.

dobber

Not wildlife, but I did have to deal with two very confused and skittish cows one day.

nashcommguy

My daily takes me to a road called the Natchez Trace Parkway @12 miles per day. Bike friendly and a speed limit of 40 mph. Goes from Nashville, Tn to Natchez , MS about 450 miles w/no commercial traffic. National Park and controlled access.

Anyway, at the entrance I use most frequently there's a skunk who's taken up residency at the top of the 'entry climb'. I'm only doing about 6 mph as I pass him on a nightly basis and he's turned tail several times. I try to move towards the center of the roadway as he seems to be becomming bolder each night. It's just a matter of time bf he sprays me, so my wife and I have gotten some tomato juice. I've got a bb gun I use for dogs, but I'm loathe to use it on a wild animal just being itself.

Have, also seen a wolverine and a family of bears...they just stared at me as I whizzed by about 35mph on a decend(fortunately). Deer all the time and was confronted by a buck who'd decided he wasn't going to run anymore. I got off the bike and held it up to show my superior antler size and he considered a moment then bounded away. MUCH to my relief.

bmclaughlin807

I had to brake hard to miss running over this guy on the way home yesterday. Too bad I wasn't faster with the camera... he was stretched across 2/3rds of the bike path when I first saw him.

Roody

Whoa snakey!^^^^

he's beautiful, but he's a big one. Have you ever heard of somebody running over one? I guess you'd have to be damn near blind to hit one that big.

Roody

Be careful...it might be a major felony to shoot at wildlife in a national park. Anyway, you sure are lucky to ride in such a great location.

Steven Fong

So far, I've:
Almost collided with unleashed dogs twice
Almost run over a snake
Run over a snake (didn't stop to figure out what kind either time)
Almost run over a squirrel because it couldn't decide whether to run to the left or to the right
Saw a peacock
Been hissed at by Canadian geese who refused to move out of the way on the MUP
Seen various homeless people in varying levels of undress (no shirt, no pants, just about naked and smoking while laying down on some railroad tracks, etc)

Cyclist0383

I saw a hare close to the center of Riga last year.

nashcommguy

Yeah, I count my blessings everyday. Couldn't ask for a better finish to a 20 mi commute. The last six in a National park w/maybe 3 cars in 6 miles @ a 5% climb. All in the dark. In addtion to the bb pistol(strictly for dogs) I carry a small, but very sharp buck knife as there have been reports of Pumas in this area and I've seen Bobcats on a number of occaisions. I've been living out here for a while and have listened intently to locals describing possible situations. Mostly hunters, but the self-preservation perspective is the same. Save yourself and deal w/t court system after the fact. If you're dead it doesn't matter.

chephy

But you don't loathe to use it on a dog just being itself? Double standards?

evan_phi

i hate bees. I heard and felt one bounce off my helmet before. Ouch for him, i guess.

There is a family of foxes that I see every day as I come home. They are living in my yard

MMACH 5

bmclaughlin807, that is a beautiful Bull Snake.
evan_phi, all I can say is "awwwww"

I see coyotes, skunks and hawks on a fairly regular basis. I did come across a bobcat, one morning. And once, I stopped to watch a beaver sitting along the shoreline plucking down cattail stalks and munching away at them.

DataJunkie

Last week I almost ran over the same type of snake on the platte just north of where cold creek meets the platte. The dang thing was sunning itself and covered just about the entire width of the trail. I checked to see if it seemed aggressive (I know nothing about snakes except rattlers) and passed it. Hopefully, no one ran it over.

TRUMPHENT

That looks like a Western Hognose Snake.