avidone1

big bug flew in my mouth last night. Ugh. didn't taste good at all, but I appreciated the protein.

catgita

I was on a MTB ride many years ago, riding along a fast and narrow trail through tall grass, when the first 5 riders ran over a huge rattlesnake without realizing it. By the time the 6th rider came along, he was really pissed and ready. On another ride, one person got a snakebite flat, and not from running low pressures!

BillyD

I bet the rabbit doesn't think so.

DrIsotope

All I ever hit/ get hit by is bees. Damn bees. I get hit by bees 2-3 times every ride, but thankfully stung a whole lot less often... though I did get 2 stings in 2 days about two weeks ago. Surprisingly, the one that went in the helmet and stung me on the head wasn't that bad. But the one in my thigh, I couldn't get the stinger out, so it turned red and itched for like 10 days. I would much rather run over cute little chipmunks. If we had chipmunks. But no. Just mostly bees.

a1penguin

I ran over a small rat on the MUP while commuting home one night after dark (plenty of flashlight). It ran right out in front of me and I didn't see it in time to react. I didn't feel like I ran over it, but I stopped and went back hoping that I had just run over the tail. I cut it in half. The next day at work, one of my cube mates told me that the other cube mate passed a dead rat in the middle of the MUP on his ride to work that morning. It doesn't rain here for half the year and it was several months before the stain got washed away. I felt terrible and every time I pass that spot, I apologize to the rat.

Medic Zero

.

I don't know how, but I have yet to impact an animal while cycling. The scariest close call I had I was pretty sure I was going to end up in the hospital and the deer wasn't going to fare much better...

Late last summer, my lady and I are on a short tour, just a few days, bed and breakfast to B&B in northern Washington state, after catching the train from our place in Seattle to Bellingham. We're working our way back to Bellingham from Anacortes and are putting in ~45 miles to get to our destination for the night on the far side of the town, at the end of a very pleasant day of mostly easy riding through nice farmland. I say mostly, because the last 10 miles were hilly, and at that point, at about the edge of my partners daily max mileage. We've both had a long day in the sun (stopped at a nice park on the sea and also sat outside for lunch in addition to saddle time) and would've been happier if the days riding had ended about an hour before...

We're almost to the B&B and bombing down a long steep hill, traveling at least 35 MPH, when I spot a deer upslope, bounding down the hill at me. Looked like an antelope or something, because the hill was so steep, each time she hit the ground she bounded several yards, almost like she was on springs. We spotted each other at the same time, and we both did the mental math. My calculation was that I could slam on the brakes and plow into the side of her, or not hit the brakes and she'd plow into the side of me, but in the moment it took for me to realize what was about to happen that deer landed from another bound and somehow managed to change its trajectory just enough to miss me, despite moving very quickly down a very steep hill and only making contact with the ground on the bounce. My lady and I swear we saw every muscle in that animals body strain to pull off what appeared to be an impossible maneuver. I bet that deer was sore for days.

I still shudder to think what that impact would be like. I'm a Clyde, my bike isn't light, and I was carrying almost all our sundries, and off-bike clothes, so was still half loaded, even though we were only B&B touring. Me + bike + luggage was close to 350 pounds, and I don't know what a deer weighs or how fast she was moving, but at 35 MPH+ on my side and the deer bounding down the slope...it wouldn't have been pretty

crankythunder

I hate them squirrels that get right in front of you, give you the stinkeye, change direction, do a head fake, and then perform the high fives with their buddies as you pile up in a trainwreck. Someone got a video of one and turned it into a insurance commercial.


Its gotten real interesting since I have changed my objectives......Lets just say I am not trying to avoid them anymore.

One of these days I am going to be successful!

Regards,
Crankster

BillyD

I'm not a big fan of squirrels (nice talk for "I hate them"). They eat up all the good stuff at my bird feeders, among other things.

All this to say that I make no attempt to avoid them on the road . . . if he can't make up his mind which way to dart, he's history. #adios !

WizardOfBoz

Not really a biking story, but a hiking one. Was at Philmont (National Scout Camp) in the Sangre de Christo mountains of N.M. At camp, I went out into the woods for a bio-break. Had my rear end hanging over a downed tree-trunk. Looked to my right, and there was a deer with its head about 2 feet from me. Just staring at me. He seemed rather disgusted. "What are you doing c******g in my home, a*****e?"

It was a surreal experience.

buffalo4life

In 2013 while doing my first night ride using some poor quality lights i ran over and killed a red squirel that came out of nowhere. In 2014 i ran over a large woodchuck on the MUP. The woodchuck collided forcefully with my front wheel but we both were ok.

ltxi

I can easily miss the snakes I sometimes run across on the local MUPs but them damn grasshoppers this season were a plentiful everywhere pita.

smarkinson

Ran over an eastern brown snake years ago (google it to learn how deadly they are). I thought it was a stick but the stick started moving and I was going too fast and too close to stop or swerve so I bunny hopped it. Not so easy as I had my left leg at the top of the pedal stroke because the snakes head was to the left and I wanted to keep my body parts as far from the head as I could. As I went over it I saw it try to strike but it was about a foot behind my leg at that time.

Lately I have seen a new type of bird around which is easily the stupidest breed of bird that I have ever seen. As I ride towards them they start running around aimlessly and usually end up running back and forth across my intended path. Absolutely no road sense and terrible self preservation skills.

I saw about 6 of them beside a main road once and they were running out into the traffic repeatedly and two of them were dead already. Finally they decided to fly away and they did this by flying back across the road that they had just crossed at a height of 5 feet at which point another bird got whacked by a car.

Nermal

Flying squirrels?

wvridgerider

We want pictures. I once ran over a dead possum on the road, nasty as it recently rained and it was like running over a wet carpet

Paul Barnard

Me too. I have a phobia over flying frogs.

Old School

tnburban

Just got back into riding a month ago after a long break and it's squirrel season here so they are out gathering their nuts and do THIS EXACT THING on every single ride I've had. Here I am cruising at 20-22mph on one of the rare flats we here and I get to play a real life video game...lucky so far I've won. It's like Frogger.

slimyfrog

My closest encounter with a bird was with a chicken. I see plenty of wild turkeys when I ride in the hills, but they seem a lot smarter. This chicken on the other hand...
I approached it and slowed down to 5 mph or so because a rooster and another hen were on the other side of the street.

This is when this chicken decides I'm following it and PANICS. I mean... really panics, in a way that only a chicken could panic, and decides to start running down the road... directly in front of me.
Of course, this very action confirmed the chicken's fears. Now I WAS following it!!

This leads to louder squawks and more panic as I try to slow down even more hoping this chicken will cross, or get off the road. But NOOO! It keeps running straight down the road!

So at this point I look over and the rooster is getting kind of pissed off at me. And rightfully so. I'm messing with HIS lady-chicken! Also I'm getting nervous. I don't want this panicked, loud chicken to run a mile down the road and get hurt, lost or suffer a heart attack. Nor do I want to have to fight off a rooster with his talons embedded in my helmet. All I wanted to do was go on a quiet 7am bike ride and I end up in a standoff with a neurotic chicken and a grumpy rooster.

I decided to force my hand, go for it, and pass the chicken. Thankfully, my speeding up prompted the chicken to seriously lose the rest of its mind and with a puff of feathers and two skips it ran into a field across the road, same side the rooster was.

So I learned that wild turkeys are very smart, chicken are not, but most importantly I finally figured out why the chicken crossed the road and that why was me.

zeeway

Rode around a 4 ft long black snake sunning himself on trail a few weeks ago. I made sure I rode around his tail end.

Stratocaster

The other day a big dragon fly deflected off my helmet and landed on my shoulder.
About a month ago I just missed a rat that was crossing the the path - I think it went between my front and rear tires.
I haven't been riding all that long...so that's all I've got.

Alia

My local MUP mostly runs to kamikaze chipmunks darting out from under the leaf litter and the occasional turkey. One time, a large brown snake struck at me from the side of the path as I flew by, thankfully missing.

qajaq

I frequently encounter groups of geese wandering all over a bike path I sometimes take to the ocean. Can't seem to make up their mind which way to go and there are so many that they are hard to avoid. Dread having them trying to go airborne with me in their midst not to mention doing the "scat slalom" around their droppings.

GravelMN

The rabbit had four of them. Didn't do him any good

GravelMN

I've had a few fairly close calls with wildlife, but the only critter I actually collided with was a big, stupid but happy to be there, dog that ran along side of me for a short while, then spotted something in the opposite ditch and bolted directly into my front wheel. I endoed trying not to run over him but both of us survived with only minor wear and tear. Big n Dumb apparently thought my rather hard shoulder roll onto the pavement was a neat trick and we should play some more.

Phil_gretz

I LOL'd.