Squirrel Hater
 

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=434778
I hate squirrels. They are out to get me. Specially in these early days of warmer weather when they are bat sh.. crazy. They are planning my demise. They have rabbits to help them. They run at my front wheel trying to make me crash. IF I AM FOUND AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD TELL THE AUTHORITIES!
V

Squirrels are on a suicide mission to destroy bikers. proof:

http://i.imgur.com/5hDaRGK.jpg

Awesome we got one! Hummmm I ride a Cannondale HEY they hate Cannondale's!

http://go635254.s3.amazonaws.com/sus...n_squirrel.jpg

Agreed! Squirrels are unpredictable (and somewhat creepy).

Bunnies. Cute little bunnies. About 10 to a block on my route through St. Louis Park at night. Yelling doesn't work, but makeing a *pfffft* *pffft* sound scatters 'em like sheep. I'm going to rig a cow bell this year for the 2 AM ride home.

Same out further West, I ride the SW LRT in Eden Prairie & Minnetonka. SO MANY bunnies, they must breed like rabbits.

I don't hate them, though i think over-sprawl has made interactions more likely.

- Andy

Fat bike is again, the answer.

We have more suicidal frogs than squirrels. Most make it out of the way at the last second, but not always. At least they don't cause a crash. One time at night I was riding over what looked like leaves, until they started jumping out of the way. Hundreds of them. Yuck.

YES!!!

Hope you had fenders!

..better in a car, just makes a thump.

... unless they form a short between the power wire and a tree and blow the circuit breaker for the neighborhood..

Ugh....co-workers looking at me funny, wondering what I was laughing about.

I'm having more anxiety over this coming season's ride home on the Dakota Trail, north of you, than going through Mpls on the Cedar Lake Trail N. Raccoons, Coyotes, Deer, Squirrels, and now bunnies?

It's a rat with opposable thumbs.. :p

A rat with good PR. What's to like? Maybe
Sautéed squirrel, chanterelle mushrooms and autumn vegetables
squirrel pasties
braised squirrel

Squirrels are tree rats.

Its turned from squirrel haters to squirrel cuisine!

Hating *and* eating!!

Does chicken taste like squirrel?

Squirrel tastes like a cross between guinea pig and hamster.

In all seriousness, has anyone on here EVER run into a squirrel, especially by simply maintaining your straight path as you see one running around. I would think squirrels are fast enough to get out of the way of a bicycle most of the time, and even if you did run over one, it should cause a crash anymore than some other small bump would. The picture above of the squirrel jumping through the spokes is surely such a rare occurrence as to not be a bother.

I often have a group of dogs come running out after me on my commute barking up a storm. On other (non-commute) rides, different dogs have done similar things. BUT...I've never had one of them actually touch me or the bike! Apparently they don't want a collision any more than I do.

I've learned to simply keep riding and ignore them, no matter how much their barking makes it seem like they are about to attack me.

It happened to me. The squirrel bounced off the (36) spokes and both of us were left with nothing more than a good anecdote.

So you didn't crash, right?

That's my whole point, the risk of crashing trying to avoid an animal is usually greater than the risk of just plowing ahead.

lol I had a squirrel bounce off my spokes too. Twins!


Trick with squirrels is to aim at them, not try to avoid them. They're a prey animal so their instinct is to dart away. If you keep your line, they will (most likely) do that little dance thing they do and run in another direction. This is, of course if you actually have the time to process all that information before a collision occurs. In the real world things happen too fast to 'do the right thing'. The only time I ever had a squirrel vs. bike encounter I was riding downhill, and it jumped from the side, hitting my wheel and bounced off with no damage to me, the bike or the squirrel (from what I could tell)...and I had zero time to react so had it not bounced off a spoke and instead made it through my wheel, my story would be a lot more similar to the picture upthread.

+1

Squirrels have missed me (so far), although I did run over a 'possum who managed to run between my front and rear wheels. Getting a squirrel lodged in your front wheel could be as bad as getting a stick in there. Lots of spokes probably reduce the probability of the squirrel.

My dad's favorite egg drop soup recipe when I was growing up used squirrel broth. I never tasted the difference.

The deer are the really worrisome ones, they are big (compared to squirrels) and the suburban deer have no fear. I've biked up on them, talking and ringing my bell and they hardly take notice. I've passed within 10 feet of them... WAY TOO CLOSE, not a good choice on my part!

I expect you are correct. Every squirrel/bike wreck picture I've found is a low spoke count front wheel, with a very dead squirrel in the wheel and frequently a broken CF fork.

My first encounter with the vermin was in a park and I was riding my MB 1 under some trees to leave the park. I heard a rustling in the leaves above and then something brown dropped in front of me and my bike went bump! I had run over it! And when I turned it was *****ing me out with malice. Ever since then they have darted at me using things like cross cross patterns, two squirrels working at the same time across trails and the "I just ran under your forks beotch!" freak.They are out for me! Be afraid be very afraid!
V