Least scary wild animal attack ever
04-04-20, 03:19 AM
#77
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 727
Bikes: Current: 2016 Bianchi Volpe; 1973 Peugeot UO-8. Past: 1974 Fuji S-10-S with custom black Imron paint by Stinsman Racing of PA.
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 215 Post(s)
Liked 204 Times
in
142 Posts
Groundhogs can be very, very ornery if they cannot get into the burrow to escape. They will definitely give you a start and charge all hissing and long curved yellow incisors.
I almost hit one on a ride but was able to swerve.
My only up close and too personal experience with a groundhog was one spring I decided I was going to give the older pickup a run to work. I put my briefcase and other work stuff inside and did a walk around the vehicle and noticed what looked like a water leak. I decided to pop the hood to check the coolant tank and when I pulled it up there was a BIG snarling, hissing, clicking yellow teeth goundhog clambering up the exhaust headers coming right at me.
I dropped the hood like a hot potato and headed for the porch. I turned to see where it was and it was ambling across the street for a treeline. I had never seen one in the neighborhood. I went back to the truck and looked inside the engine compartment and the lower A-arms were covered with a bushel basket sized mound of grass and clover for comfortable bedding and snacks. I brushed it all out and took the car. Needless to say I felt like I had a quad shot of expresso.
The water leak was from the goundhog bathroom behind the A-arm. Fortunately is had not chewed on any hoses or wires.
I almost hit one on a ride but was able to swerve.
My only up close and too personal experience with a groundhog was one spring I decided I was going to give the older pickup a run to work. I put my briefcase and other work stuff inside and did a walk around the vehicle and noticed what looked like a water leak. I decided to pop the hood to check the coolant tank and when I pulled it up there was a BIG snarling, hissing, clicking yellow teeth goundhog clambering up the exhaust headers coming right at me.
I dropped the hood like a hot potato and headed for the porch. I turned to see where it was and it was ambling across the street for a treeline. I had never seen one in the neighborhood. I went back to the truck and looked inside the engine compartment and the lower A-arms were covered with a bushel basket sized mound of grass and clover for comfortable bedding and snacks. I brushed it all out and took the car. Needless to say I felt like I had a quad shot of expresso.
The water leak was from the goundhog bathroom behind the A-arm. Fortunately is had not chewed on any hoses or wires.
04-04-20, 04:58 AM
#78
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,246
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18420 Post(s)
Liked 15,564 Times
in
7,333 Posts
In 2017 I was bike touring in Idaho and Montana. Pulled into a Forest Service campground and noticed the host had propped open his hood with a piece of firewood. Took a walk around the grounds and saw a few other hoods propped open so I asked a guy what was up with that. He told me there was a colony of wood rats (aka pack rats) living in the campground. They can get up into your engine and chew on hoses and wires. Propping open the hood makes the space appear less safe to them and thus deters them. Learned something new that day.
