LoopRider

. . . except in areas where people feed bears, in which case the bells serve to announce dinner.

Miele Man

When in bear country carry bear spray and wear a bell.

How do you tell the difference between Black Bear scat and Grizzly Bear scat? It's simple. They're the same except the grizzly Bear scat smells like pepper and has bells in it.

Cheers

martianone

Yes, one can predict where deer and other animals will run.
But not necessarily when.

OldsCOOL

I have 2 stretches of secluded road where cougar sightings are frequent. They eat the deer so I wont have to worry about them in that area.

FBinNY 

As long as a cougar never mistakes a moving bicycle for a running deer.

OldsCOOL

That does cross my mind. You wont catch me riding there at night.

LoopRider

LOL! Most frequently seen in National Parks after long weekends

Dave Cutter

I live in a Midwestern city with a deer infestation problem. Although I had never seen a deer while cycling they had done considerable damage to the yard plants. One day while cycling... I saw a car stopped and a motorist was taking phone pics of a buck in a yard. As I rode on... I looked for and saw some deer... also in peoples yards. Now I am in the habit of looking for deer and I also see them all the time.

I think most people... once they train themselves to look for animals... are surprised at just how much wildlife is almost everywhere.

Kindaslow

If Jennifer Aniston wanted to mistake me for whatever and attack me, well.... I am ok with that!

Shimagnolo

or Courtney Cox, Sandra Bullock, Halle Berry, Mariah Carey, or Eva Longoria.

Kindaslow

How about adding Jessica Alba, she will be a cougar pretty soon?

Shimagnolo

Well, she is 34 now, so I think she qualifies.
And Salma Hayek; "From Dusk Till Dawn" was a total waste of time except for Salma's snake dance , and Cheech Marin.

Kindaslow

You can have Cheech on your list, but he will never be on my cougar list!!! Salma, young Selma, heck yes!

MickeyMaguire

Just before a deer runs, it drops about six inches in front and a little more in the rear. Then, it bolts with a bound. Be set to slow down a bit and you'll miss it.

canklecat

Prey animals in flight are predictable, but only when they can predict the direction, speed and distance of the predator. That's why I specified the unique motions of running predators. If possible, watch predators and prey in action, either in real life or on documentaries. Prey animals almost invariably know to run away from predators once they've recognized the distinctive gait of running predators. They rarely run toward the predator.

But the motion of vehicles, including bicycles, lacks that distinctive gait that shouts predator to prey animals. I've occasionally considered waving an arm when I see deer near the roadside, but usually decide to keep both hands on the bars and slow down. However sometimes I feel like a slower target for a frightened, erratically moving deer.

And I'm always tempted to bag one and sneak it home. Because the silly things are made of tasty, tasty venison.

OldsCOOL

Or commonly known as "ducking the arrow".

KLOSHE

I live in bear and moose country and ride early in the morning. I don't need to worry about a collision with them like you might with a deer but I'm petrified of encountering a calf or cub in the roadway. Even Cavendish would have trouble out sprinting an angry grizzly sow.

andr0id

Short answer... Wherever they will do the most damage.

I have a friend that was T - boned by a deer on his motorcycle going up an entrance ramp onto I-35. It was an old BMW he had just picked up from being restored. He and the bike and the deer are all laying on the road and he is very pissed. He gets up and he saw the deer and the first thing he thought was I'm going to kick the **** out of that deer. (He wears huge jump boots.) So he walks toward the deer and just as he gets in kicking distance the damn thing hops up and runs off back into the brush.

He rides with a lot of kevlar, so he was OK except for bruises, but the bike had to go back to the restoration place again.

digibud

We don't have -any- deer locally but I have had to brake my bike -hard- to avoid running into a grizzly bear. Twice.

Needles

What I know about deer: Whitetails, the buck herds the does in front; Muleys, the buck leads. A single deer will jump wherever it's pointing when it jumps. A herd always goes all in the same direction--- whitetails, away from the buck, muleys, towards the buck. On a bicycle, not much of a problem with a herd, because one of them is looking out, and will spot you first, as long as they are still ahead or there's any distance between you. Singles, like I said, jump first, THEN pick a direction. On a motorcycle at highway speed, fear is defined as topping a rise and seeing that a herd is scattered completely across the road, 'cause whichever way they go, they're ALL going to go, so some of them are going to try and cross your path. (It's hard to get close to mule deer on a bicycle, anyway.

Needles

I'm old enough that those girls would be considered "trophies," not cougars...

02Giant 

What...no!

Shimagnolo

Why couldn't you have a trophy cougar?

Kindaslow

Is this when you are so old you cannot take care of her yourself and don't mind that she is hunting down the pool boy???

Needles

A cougar only becomes a trophy AFTER you bag 'em.