Wildlife
#76
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I frequently see "Whistling Ducks" perched on overhead wires. I don't know why. They have a very difficult time staying on.
Whistling Ducks
Whistling Ducks
#77
aka Tom Reingold
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Yet another dead rat on the bike path today. He was rather plump. How do rats die on a bike path, fergodssake?
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#78
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I feel a bit deprived after the last two posts. I never even heard of ducks sitting on a wire. If it weren't for the picture, I'd have called you crazy. Also, I've yet to see any rats, live or dead, on my commute. I did see a dead mountain lion carcass on tour last fall. That was a bit disconcerting.
#79
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My old work commute involved a long stretch of bike path under some high tension power lines. I'd see dead birds under them at times, but never any singing ducks.
#80
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#81
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I saw a deer standing in the road this morning. Not such a big deal anymore. They're about as common as stray cats.
#83
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The start of my commute is through the Arcata marsh, so every kind of water bird on the west coast, plus so. many Canada geese; a flock was introduced some years ago, and they're so successful, they're out-competing the dairy cattle for the new, nutritious grass. Rarely I see deer, an occasional feral cat; once, memorably, I saw a skunk scampering across a misty pasture just before sunrise. Any raccoons I see are squashed on the side of the highway. Mostly I see cows. No bunnies, oddly enough; I've had two sightings, both in the community forest, tiny, round-eared little things, cute as a button.
#84
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Not exactly wildlife but I saw a dead dog floating in the river this morning. It made me sad.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#86
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Good sized turtle - maybe two foot long shell - crossing the Minuteman trail. You know...really slowly.
#87
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Lots of rabbits, ducks, turtles, occasionally coyotes and also bobcats. But they are shy and rarely seen. But they are around. We had a litter of little bobcats under our deck last year. They were really cute.
#88
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#89
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I stopped and protected a snapping turtle crossing the road yesterday. Four lane divided highway with 45mph speed limit. (55 actual). Neither turtle nor cyclist were harmed.
Sadly, I saw two other turtles the same morning who didn't make it. One was HUGE!
Sadly, I saw two other turtles the same morning who didn't make it. One was HUGE!
#90
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Had a couple of osprey sightings, a week or so back.
Saw a great egret the other day, going after frogs (?) in a local pond.
Saw a deer and fawn, recently. (Should try a few more rides at dusk, and I might see more.)
On a few occasions, I've heard the faint sounds of owls passing just above me.
Back in the autumn, as I recall, I did a few early-evening rides during which I saw numerous bats flying around just along the fringes of the lights, scooping up insects.
Saw a great egret the other day, going after frogs (?) in a local pond.
Saw a deer and fawn, recently. (Should try a few more rides at dusk, and I might see more.)
On a few occasions, I've heard the faint sounds of owls passing just above me.
Back in the autumn, as I recall, I did a few early-evening rides during which I saw numerous bats flying around just along the fringes of the lights, scooping up insects.
#91
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saw a trash panda last week in is natural habitat. and almost hit a deer the previous week.
#92
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Not a good pic. Found some javalina in a corn field Saturday afternoon. They declined to come out in the open.
[img]
Javalina in the Corn by res1due, on Flickr[/img]
[img]
Javalina in the Corn by res1due, on Flickr[/img]
#93
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We saw an eagle over the Rondout Creek in NY State.
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New York City and High Falls, NY
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#94
GATC
Been seeing lots of little dead birds, and also parts thereof, lately. I figure most of them bounced off windshields. Not sure about the parts though. Cat middens?
#95
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After reading about them for years I finally had a squirrel dash out in front of my wheel. They moved fast enough to stay out of the way, but it sure did startle me.
#96
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I was riding along the Canal towpath at about five this morning when a big black critter flopped out of the bushes right on in fr of my bike. I mean so close that I'm not even sure if I hit it or not. I thought it was a skunk at first, and was trying to get away fast when I realized it was a beaver, doubtless the one I saw last month,, and it was trying to get away from me. Wow, that's a big critter, and fat.
#97
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Then there is the small rat that I bisected on after dark commute. I never saw the poor thing. I didn't see it, and if it had been larger, it would have brought me down. I went back to look, hoping that I had just run over the tail, but alas, poor thing. I felt so bad for the poor rat for months every time I passed that spot. And the weird thing is the next day I showed up at work an one office mate was telling me that the other office mate saw a dead rat on the MUP that morning. I felt bad all over again.
Finally, I was biking to work a couple of months ago and a pair of squirrels came running across the road which had a lot of traffic moving about 45. Squirrel #1 didn't make it and squirrel #2 passed about three feet in front of my bike.
I much prefer seeing live critters. I've seen deer on three or four occasions and once I had to stop because there was a coyote in the road about 50 yards ahead. Those dogs are creepy; they could win any staring contest, hands down.
#98
GATC
Lots of baby bunnies on the trail today. There must have been a hatch recently.
#99
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This morning:
I could have run the thing over if I wasn't paying attention. The critter has a hole just on the other side of the fence. It's not the first time I've seen it. See post #82 .
I could have run the thing over if I wasn't paying attention. The critter has a hole just on the other side of the fence. It's not the first time I've seen it. See post #82 .
#100
Senior Member
It's still baby duck season in Phoenix, so that's the critters I saw on my commute today.