trekker pete

...hardly any chance you could pinch flat, while mowing one down.

this morning as i neared a spot on my ride which is particularly infested with the little road hazards, i see one start hopping along in overdrive along side me. he eventually smartens up and turns off.

about 2 seconds later, his not so bright brother pics up where he left off. he's juking left, right, left....getting closer and closer, doing his little barry sanders immitation, i just kept my line, maybe should have thrown out an "on your left", but, i don't speak bunny.

then he cuts hard left.

i feel a soft little thunk.

i kinda think i might have got his front paws, maybe his head. i tried looking back, but didn't see anything. it was still kinda dark, so he could have been laying there.

oh well, we got plenty more bunnies and i'm sure the crows/coyotes will appreciate an easy breakfast if i did take him out.

almost had a biga$$ raccoon walk in front of me at 30 mph. that wouldn't have been near as much fun.

abdon 

Heart warming to be able to become a part of mother nature and even have a hand in natural selection

scroca

I got a cat the other day.

Before that there was a dog and an opossum.

I have yet to pick off a raccoon, bunny or a squirrel.

I was thinking of getting animal stickers to put on my bike to represent my close encounters.

Grim

TurbineBlade

You know, I haven't got any animals yet -- thankfully. I've had some very close calls with squirrels, a rat, and even a doe once in Missouri, but nothing tragic yet.

531phile 

I was riding briskly along a bike path at about 16 mph when a kamikaze squirrel goes right through my front wheel. The only way it went right through was the fact that I was riding a low spoke count Rolf wheel. Luckily nothing happened to me, my wheel or the squirrel. It was funny watching the furry little guy running off like it saw death itself though.

rex_kramer

The only animals that are repeatedly getting in my pathway are skunks, and I won't be running over one of those anytime soon...I hope.

DataJunkie

Just a squirrel for me. The rabbits tend to veer off. I have barely missed snakes.

MVclyde

Best piece of advice that I got on bike forums is to ride directly at squirrels. I used to dodge them. I hit one and had several near misses. Now I ride right at them. Haven't come close since. Not sure that strategy works with rabbits.

Ultraslide

Two snakes for me and a couple of near misses on turtles and dogs.
I'm a softy and always go back and move the turtles off the trail/road.

mrosenlof

There's been a snake or two for me. I ride a couple of areas with prarrie dog colonies. Those critters like to dart in front of bikes (and cars). I've never hit one, I'll hit the brakes, but won't try to dodge them. Evolution in action.

ilynne

My BIL in the UK hit a chicken. He wound up in a coma for three days. No one knows how the chicken fared.

nelson249

Two snakes and a chipmunk. The little sucker tried to run between my wheels and didn't make it. I like chipmunks and I hated doing him in.

imi

I ran over a medium sized snake this summer... he/she just waddled off the mup without blinking :/

gholt

You're supposed to bunny hop the snakes.

scroca

You can take consolation in the fact that he did it to himself.

scroca

If it waddled, it may not have been a snake, unless they make them differently in Sweden.

truman

A loud "kissy" noise seems to be good for getting squirrels to focus and run away from my path. Be worth a try for bunnies, I reckon.

scroca

Won't work with the affectionate ones though.

Daren71

Riding on the Trail de Nord, north of Montreal, a buddy got a chipmunk, around the cassette, and out the other side. It tore off into the woods, we both laughed our arses off. Both of us had never seen anything like it. Still no other close calls to date.

Daren

Doohickie

Small animals- squirrels, cats, etc.- seem to be very, very afraid of my IncrediBell Brass Duet. Whenever I come into an infested area, I ding the bell and they almost always turn and run directly away from the sound of the bell toward the edge of the road. I almost ran over a troop of raccoons last week. I just rang the bell and hollered a bit and they scattered.

pathdoc

My theory on how to avoid small critters esp squirrels, simply aim directly at the varmit. The way squirrels run will ensure that he will no longer be in the same place by the time you get to him. Try to avoid them and sure enough you'll hit one.

imi

ah yes sorry, my bad! swedish snakes just slither like any ol' snake

sam21fire

If you can successfully bunny hop a snake, can you snake hop a bunny?

jcivic00

Had a VERY close call with a family of javelinas one night on my way home from work. It was on a very dimly lit section of a local MUP. They are very reminiscent of those evil shadow spirits that you see on those japanese cartoons... Very scary.