Chipmunk standoff
#1
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,001
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From: New England
Bikes: Trek 1.1
Chipmunk standoff
The other day I was riding alone on a flat section of road with woods on both sides when I spotted a chipmunk starting to cross in front of me. As I was doing 17 mph I immediately slowed down to ascertain whether he was in fact going to complete the journey. He then slowed down also. I slowed down a little more. He slowed down. We both pretty much stopped in the road for a moment looking each other over. He must have decided I was not very interesting and went back the way he came. Very amusing and thankfully not disastrous for either of us.
#6
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 105
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From: Doraville, GA
Bikes: 1995 Raleigh, 1986 Nishiki Olympic 12
Oh brother I wouldn't dare call animal control over an Attack Chipmonk. I had the same thing happen to me at the end of my block. Same behavior; he wen't back in the direction from where he came also.
Good chuckle.
Good chuckle.
#7
You gonna eat that?
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,917
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From: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS
#13
Old fart



Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 26,411
Likes: 5,350
From: Appleton WI
Bikes: Several, mostly not name brands.
A couple days ago a wild tom turkey crossed the road a good way in front of me. He saw me after he had fully crossed, so he hunkered down in the tall grass to hide. When I was almost to his hiding place, he suddenly panicked and dashed back across the road just a couple feet in front of my wheel. I suspect it would not have been a happy collision for either of us.
#14
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 127
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From: UTAH
Bikes: centurions (lemans and sports dlx both 1981)
saw a fox crossing the road i was using. he must have heard me cuz it was barely sunrise. (no sun yet, but a little light to the east) he stops, watches me approach. by now we're maybe 10 feet apart. he watches me pass then heads off into the bushes. niether one of us got worried. where i ride, there's no hunting, so most animals don't pay people any more mind than they would a tree. unless, of course the fox has to pee, then we know all about the tree :-)
#15
You gonna eat that?
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,917
Likes: 543
From: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS
Oh yeah, well I saw a hippopotamus!
................okay, maybe it was just a possum....

And there is a pair of wild turkeys along the river trail I use.
................okay, maybe it was just a possum....

And there is a pair of wild turkeys along the river trail I use.
#16
Banned.
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,938
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From: Post-partisan Paradise
Bikes: GF Wahoo '05, Trek T1000 '04, Lemond Buenos Aires '07
I often see deer. I'm afraid I'll get nailed by one when I'm pulling 30 down a stretch and can't react in time.
In the summer I always see a lot of turkey buzzards circling overhead. I find that oddly disconcerting.
Maybe the two have some sort of working arrangement. That would be truly disturbing.
In the summer I always see a lot of turkey buzzards circling overhead. I find that oddly disconcerting.
Maybe the two have some sort of working arrangement. That would be truly disturbing.
#17
Have you noticed how drivers will almost always try to pull out into traffic just before the last car, when there is nothing behind it for miles? I think of squirrel behavior and wonder if this driving behaviour isn't some strange remnant of the "flee the predator" behaviour.
__________________
"He who serves all, best serves himself" Jack London
#18
speaking of reacting in time.... check your brakes lately?
almost had a run in with a Chow Chow going around a corner on my commute this winter. standing there a happy as can be middle of road. pitch black out of course and I did not see him in my dinotte bike lights until I was nearly on him. He just stood there not a care in the world. was a close call as I swerved around him. strange those Chows. on a MUP recently and almost ran over a copperhead snake. missed it by that much. didn't recognize it as a snake until I was nearly on it. then I realized it was a copperhead. biker coming the other way did see it and had just stopped as I passed it. comment from the other biker.... pretty wild country out here....
almost had a run in with a Chow Chow going around a corner on my commute this winter. standing there a happy as can be middle of road. pitch black out of course and I did not see him in my dinotte bike lights until I was nearly on him. He just stood there not a care in the world. was a close call as I swerved around him. strange those Chows. on a MUP recently and almost ran over a copperhead snake. missed it by that much. didn't recognize it as a snake until I was nearly on it. then I realized it was a copperhead. biker coming the other way did see it and had just stopped as I passed it. comment from the other biker.... pretty wild country out here....
#19
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Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Middle of da Mitten
Bikes: Trek 7500, RANS V-Rex, Optima Baron, Velokraft NoCom, M-5 Carbon Highracer, Bacchetta Quattro, Catrike Speed
Chipmunk Bike Tag is a test of bravery, speed, and agility.
Scoring is as follows (multiple awards are possible for the same turn):
Basic move - on trail at same time as bicyclist: 1 point
Cyclist makes avoidance move: 2 point
Running between front and rear wheel: 3 points
Touching tire and returning to grass: 4 points
Making cyclist crash: 5 points
Scoring is as follows (multiple awards are possible for the same turn):
Basic move - on trail at same time as bicyclist: 1 point
Cyclist makes avoidance move: 2 point
Running between front and rear wheel: 3 points
Touching tire and returning to grass: 4 points
Making cyclist crash: 5 points
#20
Senior Member


Joined: Jul 2008
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From: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0
just did that with some old ladies in Macys as we crossed paths in an aisle. one had a walker. the 3 of them didn't even the otrhers were right next to them. they were all wondering why I stopped walking.
#23
Retro-guy
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 285
Likes: 0
From: Danville, CA
Bikes: 1980 Raleigh Super Record
There's this one particular area on one of the back roads I frequent where there is some form of small ground-squirrel colony. There must be a hundred or more of them. I was riding past one day, and all at once there was 20-40 of them all dashing across the road simultaneously, right in front of me. I was able to stop just in time, but at one point I thought some of them were going to be running right across my toes. Cute little buggers, but I'd just as soon have them stay on the side of the road.






