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Wildlife Interactions
This morning I was riding a remote central Florida trail. I saw a wild pig with at least one piglet on the side of the trail. The piglet(s) ran into the woods, but the mom aggressively chased me for 10 seconds, at times inches from my calves, protecting her young no doubt. I'm an old dude who's seen a lot, but it scared me. Made me wonder about your stories, especially you guys and girls out west. Tell us your stories!
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Yeah lots of black bears, coyotes, rabbits, even saw a bull snake once.
The only animal that chased me and scared me was someone's yard dog. |
location Charlotte County, SW - FL
4/27/2020 first encounter with Wild Hog @ 1:25AM - side swipes me, I go down, 2 cracked ribs, punctured lung, cracked scapula + additional impact issues = trip to Trauma Center, age almost 70yo (had 6+ piglets protecting) 7/26/2022 second encounter with Wild Hog @ 3:04AM - T-boned left leg = fractured Tibia = trip to ER, just 16 days past 72nd birthday (came across road) -- still not healed 100% |
I see lot's of rabbits, road runners, a deer where I live. Deer are super passive. Even when groups of them are crossing they see you, and literally just wait until you pass, then cross.
I've also seen a few bobcats, one time with a fresh rabbit kill in it's mouth. Saw a mountain lion once in someone's backyard as I passed. A few snakes. Lot's of hawks. Often they are flying low up and down the side of the road looking for breakfast. Lot's of dead stuff, like skunks, raccoons, and porcupines on the road. Not wild life, but I've out sprinted a dog or two. Worse are the F-ing res dogs. They run in packs. Which is a bit scary. But I've found if you just stop, tell the dog(s) to go home, they sort of wander off, but then when you start moving, they come running again. Weird lizard brain thing going on there. |
Riding in my suburban neighborhood, I see an occasional fox or raccoon. I sometimes see armadillo and possum roadkill, and about half the days I'm out, dead squirrels in the road. But the big surprise for me is that this spring and summer I've picked up eight large gopher tortoises in the road and walked them away to safety. The roads I'm riding have curbs, so once the tortoises get into the roadway, it's tough for them to get out. I've seen a few in the road over the years, but eight in the past few months... I have no idea why so many more have found their way into the road recently.
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I don't see a wild animal trying to bite my callf (I like veal too), I see bacon...
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Allegheny River Trail south of Franklin, PA. 2022.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...253822410.jpeg |
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I just about got taken out by what I immediately thought was a chupacabra on my local MUP.
I had no clue what had just run out in front of me... I was eyeballing it, it was eyeballing me... Turns out, it was a big fat otter. I didn't know we had otters in Maryland. |
Three flat coyotes within a mile stretch in the Whittier Hills.
Bad day for coyotes. |
Black bear, coyotes, bobcats, elk, deer, rabbits and the most hazardous: squirrels.
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Touring on the Canol Road in Canada's Northwest Territories, we stopped by a creek. I heard something splashing, and got my camera out in time to catch the caribou running up the creek. Only later when I enlarged the slide, I saw it had a gaping wound on its neck, and a big strip of skin hanging down.
Story of my tour is here. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5c37e59de2.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...354dc01502.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bf1e5c67e6.jpg |
Lots of bald eagles, hawks, osprey, and falcons. Deer, lots of deer, does and bucks, mostly mule deer but have seen whitetails farther east. Coyotes on occasion. Snakes, rabbits and once a badger. Otters and beavers. Elk and moose. Almost rolled over a 3+foot rattler, 25 feet later the jitters started. Ducks and Canada geese. Blue herons. Turkeys.
There are some routes where I can almost guarantee that I will see deer. Some times of the year, bald eagles are plentiful. I see so much wildlife that I tend to take it for granted. I can leave my driveway and ride for miles with only a few stop signs interrupting my ride. Living in a fertile valley full of farms, ranches and sadly urbanite encroachments. The return on investment in farming is such that aging farmers have found that subdivision gives better returns. |
Countless future frogs at Brighton State Park in VT. 2022. The entire shoreline at that beach looked that way.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f0525db1b.jpeg |
Young rattler on the Lehigh Gorge State Park trail in PA.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1d7b8d5bd.jpeg |
Bald headed wasp catches and attacks a cicada on my picnic table during a long weekend tour to Woodbine, NJ.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fb3a84776.jpeg |
Ferocious cat attack in Rockwood, PA, during a cross-state tour. :D
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7e32a9919.jpeg |
“Get off my shoulder.” Near Millbrook, NY. 2018.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ec4dc1618.jpeg |
Local race, two years ago ...
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Originally Posted by tomato coupe
(Post 22979244)
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Originally Posted by rsbob
(Post 22979284)
Just read in the last day or two that moose are the largest land mammals that can run at a sustained 32 MPH. Impressive for such a large animal.
I’ve seen 4 white cycling and 5 while backpacking in the backcountry of Glacier National Park. |
This was one of my favorites. Wise River, MT. 2016. I pulled over to the other side of the road. The rancher asked me about my trip. I gave him a brief summary. He doffed his hat and said "Sounds like a plan!"
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4865cb50c.jpeg |
After a hard day of riding during my 2017 Erie to Philly tour I was reading by a campfire in Gaines, PA. I heard some chattering, so I flipped on my headlamp. When I left camp that morning, I came face to face at about 25" with a giant black bear that had raided the campground dumpsters.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ce683f82e.jpeg The next morning, this young bugger heard me sneeze and swam across the creek while I was riding the Pine Creek Trail south of Ansonia, PA. I nearly wiped out after slamming on the brakes so I could fire up the camera. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3a7ad14e9.jpeg |
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