stevebiker

Last year a rabbit ran in front of my front tire and I couldn't avoid him. Poor rabbit lost a leg, and hopefully died very soon to shorten its misery.

A few weeks ago a bird flew into my front spokes as night was falling. Actually went through the spokes and came out the other side. I went back to find the bird, to end his suffering, but couldn't find him. Felt bad the rest of the night. Found orange stuff on the undersides of my frame the next day.

And last night something flew into my shirt that felt like a frog. I'm sure it was a big bug, and assume this time he probably just flew off. But these animal accidents bug me.

Anyone else have animal encounters of a similar kind? The worst probably would be a deer jumping out right in front of your bike when you're going too fast to stop.

70sSanO

I don't know where you ride, but I'm staying clear.

John

ThermionicScott 

Might be safer/a good idea to switch to disc wheels.

hayden52

Or bladed and sharpened spokes for the quick kill......

travbikeman

Had plenty of deer jump out in front of me. A fox ran in front of me as well. Didn't hit any of them. I've only eaten my fair share of bugs though. Got to learn to keep my mouth shut!

indiana_jane

I've run over two chipmunks. They're very fast, but seem not to have the trail-crossing timing down in my area.

Secret Squirrel

Early morning riding side by side with a friend near the beach. Heard rustling in the bushes as we passed and the sound of nails scraping on pavement. 2 (dog sized) raccoon running parallel to us, slid into the front wheel of my friend and bounced off. The raccoon kept running after each other down the street. We just stopped, looked at each other, and started laughing. Weird interruption to a dead quiet moment.

stevebiker

Many of these animals seem to react to my approaching bike, and decide to make a dash for it across the path as I approach. I don't know what's going through their little brains, but is seems to be something like: "A bike is coming, if I'm ever going to see the other side again I must make a dash for it now!" Rabbits are the most likely to react this way.

Squirrels also will try to cross too close, but so far all have made it. A few deer have done the same thing, but have managed to cross about 10 feet in front of me.

They also seem to have heightened hearing, since my bike is pretty quiet. Like a moth to the flame, I suppose.

Torker

The only animal encounter I've had was with a skunk, who sprayed me after running into my front wheel. It was unharmed, my bike and shoes stunk horribly and were forced to live out in my shed for past several months.

indyfabz

Back in the 90s I closed in on three birds that were eating berries off the surface of a M.U.P. Two of the birds flew up. One flew in front of me. I overtook it, it hits my spokes and got thrown under my front wheel. I stopped, went back, and saw that I had crushed its neck. Pushed it into the grass with my pump and rode on thinking "Darwinism at work."

Two year ago, while touring across PA, I was doing a long, fast descent. I was very tired from lack of sleep the previous night and said aloud to myself "Say alert. You never know what might come out of the woods." Not three seconds later a deer shot out of the woods and across my path. I missed hitting him my 10'.

In '00 a bear wandered across Going to the Sun Rd. in Glacier National Park as I was descending the west slope from Logan Pass. It crossed maybe 30' in front of me and disappeared into the tall grass. Not being able to see him I motioned to the car that was heading in the opposite direction to pull into the other lane, putting it between me and the side of the road where the bear had disappeared.

A few year ago a friend of mine was riding past a flock of geese. The geese took off. One flew right into her head. She crashed and got a concussion. The force of the impact split the goose's abdomen. It fell to the ground and its guts spilled out on the road. I wasn't there to see it, but I talked to a couple of people who were.

El Gato27

Have run over an occasional dead snake, which kinda bothers me because I didn't see them until I was right over them. Could just as easily have been live snakes.

Chased and bitten by a dog while I was riding, he just chomped and let go--no blood, no foul.

bikemig 

I had a duck take me down riding the bike path on lake Pontchartrain not too far from the causeway. It was in some tall grass, got spooked (probably from me as I passed), flew straight into the rear wheel. Took me down hard and trashed my front wheel. I had to take the front brake off to ride home after I hit the wheel a few times on the pavement to straighten it out (emergency truing, ). It took me a while to get all the duck feathers out of my rear derailleur.

Tim_Iowa

I've run over a chipmunk and a garter snake, but each kept right on going.

No animals in my spokes, but I've caught a stick and, alas, my phone in my spokes before. My iPhone folded in half and broke two spokes. Phone insurance is good, but still expensive.

RPK79

I hit a squirrel earlier this year, just a tap on the side of the rim.

Did you keep the rabbit's foot? Those things are lucky you know.

DonBjr

My wife has run over a couple chipmunks. I had a gray squirrel jump into my front spokes... crunch crunch crunch... then ejected. No damage to bike and I didn't crash. Squirrel was very dead, but didn't explode or anything.

kennj123

I was going down a hill really fast, deer jumped in front of me, tried to take off too fast and fell on the asphalt. I almost crashed into him.

HauntedMyst

I didn't hit it but came damn close a few year ago to hitting a very large raccoon. Both of us would have been in pain had I been any closer.

stevebiker

Ugh. These critters can cause some serious damage. And there's little time to react.

milkbaby

Why do birds suddenly appear... every time you are near?

Gresp15C

I ran over a small armadillo when I lived in Texas. I was on a MUP with a coaster brake bike, and the little guy came out of nowhere. I tried to stop, but my front wheel went over it. And then it just skittered off, apparently none the worse for wear.

ColaJacket

For a lot of animals, I think they have a favorite hiding spot (or several), and when they see something coming they just head for the closest one. I've had a few squirrels almost run into my wheels.

GH

Marcus_Ti

I had a squirrel dart out and try to dash between my front and rear wheel...by the "thump" I felt, I'm guessing he didn't clear it.

I had the opposite happen once when I was operating the Rolling Couch. I cam to a railroad crossing and a giant turkey vulture was in the middle of the road having lunch...he gave me one of those looks that told me to F off and let him finish his dinner, and I did. In my defense, that was one mean looking bird.

njkayaker

A clear case of "animal magnetism".

Lanovran

I've never hit an animal on my bike (or vice-versa), thank goodness, but I've had a few close calls:

- Early in the morning of my first century ride, before sunrise, I had to swerve out of the way of a pair of raccoons that chose a poor time to scamper into the road.

- On a morning commute, a small bird flew under my bike as I was riding, somehow managing to avoid my spinning feet and cranks as it zipped right between my wheels.

- While out mountain biking, I luckily had just enough width in a section of singletrack to dodge around a grumpy little box turtle that was sitting out in the middle of the trail (he didn't appreciate being picked up and relocated into the nearby bushes).

- The closest I have probably come to killing something by riding my bike at it was when a large swallowtail butterfly collided with my sunglasses on a MUP at around 15mph. I'm fairly certain that it survived and fluttered away.

GlennR

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.