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Squirrel!

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Squirrel!

Old 04-08-16, 12:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
Don't mess with geese. I've seen them bite somebody and draw blood. He was drunk, and provoked the goose; it was having relations with another goose, and this moron decides it's time for a selfie "with nature."

I've also seen a Canada goose chase a rottweiler away from its goslings.
When I was growing up, a friend of mine had an uncle who kept geese to guard his property. They were far more vicious and aggressive than any guard dog.
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Old 04-08-16, 12:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Dan333SP

We've had some lively debates here about whether the mechanics of what appears to have happened in that photo are even possible.
Yes, it's very possible. The key elements are the time interval between the passing of spokes, and the speed of the squirrel.

Lower spoke count wheels increase that time interval making this kind of event more likely.

You can do a small home experiment using a ping pong ball and your front wheel. It's not all that difficult to toss the ball through a stationary wheel, with some going clear through and some glancing off a spoke and being deflected as they pass. Obviously lower spoke count makes the "hole" bigger and tossing through easier.

Now spin the wheel and you'll see the hole close making tossing the ball through more difficult. Doing this you'll see that high spoke count wheels would tend to be impenetrable and ping a squirrel back the way he came, while lower spoke count wheel might let him get part way through.
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Old 04-08-16, 12:38 PM
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Originally Posted by JHaldane
Yesterday I went for a quick ride after I had got off work, and along the trail it is quite common to see squirrels, snakes, turkeys, deer, and etc. While going around a sweeping left turn, I spotted a squirrel just chilling in the middle of the trail. I decide to gradually shift to the left to avoid the squirrel and about 5 feet before I get to it, it begins to dodge to the right. My first thought was good, not going to run him over and get squirrel bits in my wheels. Then at about a foot from my front tire, he decides to zig instead of zag. He turns left! Right under the front tire, followed by the rear. *thump thump* I look down, and notice that I didn't have any squirrel bits caught in my wheels; everything is just fine and keep on riding down the path!

On my way back through the area I take a look around on the trail and the side to see if I could find any evident of the squirrel. Couldn't find him, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't going to be long for this world and got picked up by a bird or a snake if he got off the trail.

And that's the story of the first animal that I have hit on a bike! I've come very close in the past, but never actually done the deed. How many other people have ran over animals on the road?
me too just like you said, except one of mine died on the spot
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Old 04-08-16, 12:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Dan333SP

We've had some lively debates here about whether the mechanics of what appears to have happened in that photo are even possible.
Yes, it's very possible. The key elements are the time interval between the passing of spokes, and the speed of the squirrel.

Lower spoke count wheels increase that time interval making this kind of event more likely.

You can do a small home experiment using a ping pong ball and your front wheel. It's not all that difficult to toss the ball through a stationary wheel, with some going clear through and some glancing off a spoke and being deflected as they pass. Obviously lower spoke count makes the "hole" bigger and increases the odds of "nothing but net".

Now spin the wheel and you'll find that the odds shift against the ball making it through, and if you spin it fast enough the wheel acts like a solid wall bouncing the ball back to you every time. The "solid wall" speed depends on the number of spokes, or more precisely the distance between them, so lower spoke count wheels may never achieve that solid wall effect at typical bike speeds.

Caught squirrel crashes aren't all that rare, and the majority (maybe all?) of them involve the low spoke counts that make possible what is nearly impossible otherwise.
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Old 04-08-16, 12:46 PM
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I ran over a snake. It seems too soft for a stick, so I went back to have a look. On the way back ran over an eel. The snake was trying to eat the eel when I ran it over, so it came out. It was the eels lucky day, I tossed it back into the water and it swam away.
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Old 04-08-16, 01:15 PM
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Squirrels juke at random when they get really scared. So do humans. If you're too close when they start that, there is a random chance of them jumping in your way no matter where you aim. Scaring them off before you get there is the best bet and swing to one side early does seem to prod them into the other direction. More often than not.

I've had worse luck with rabbits. Rabbits will make a B-line right at your wheel and if they're not going to make it, instead of changing their mind they just try to go faster. I hit one last month, or the other way around maybe. All I remember is seeing a tan streak shooting into the cone of my headlight from the left and then the handle-bars wrenching in my hands.
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Old 04-08-16, 11:06 PM
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There's this park where I only ride at night now because there are too many squirrels in the morning. It was almost as if the squirrels and my bike were magnets that attracts each other. No matter which direction I turn to avoid they would panic and run straight toward my wheels. Miraculously I never ran over one there but I got tired of sudden braking every lap so I surrendered and let the critters take over the territory.
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Old 04-09-16, 12:05 PM
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Once when I was following my wife on a descent at probably 25-30mph, I saw a squirrel dart out into the road, nick her rear wheel, kind of "bounce" in the air, and run off. My wife managed to stay upright; it could have been much worse.

This happened the year I did Levi's GranFondo. I didn't see it in person, but heard about it afterwards (not a pleasant pic).

Cyclist recalls being 'torpedoed? by squirrel - SFGate

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Old 04-11-16, 05:27 PM
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Ran over my first last week Sickening "crack" of his skull caving in and nearly wrecked myself...same story as you. Zigged, then at the last possible moment zagged. I tried to correct, completely unsettled the bike and then *crunch* Recovered the bike and looked over my shoulder...blood pouring out of his mouth and body twitching. I felt terrible.
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Old 04-11-16, 06:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Dan333SP


I can't believe this picture hasn't bene posted yet.

Please discuss.

We've had some lively debates here about whether the mechanics of what appears to have happened in that photo are even possible.
Certainly seems possible, to me. Suicidal squirrel runs into the wheel, gets caught in the spokes, leading to massive crash and fork failure.
Or, are you referring to the MTB pedals on a road bike?
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Old 04-12-16, 02:00 PM
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Here's a nice story of another squirrel incident. Yes, a broken fork looks to be possible.

Life on the Lee-Side: Squirrels and Carbon Forks Don't Mix
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Old 04-12-16, 02:19 PM
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Back in olden times, I went to the University of Minnesota, where squirrels outnumber mosquitoes.

I was biking to my German class, and I ran over one. (A squirrel, not a German.)

No way to avoid it. Didn't even try to swerve, because pedestrians. Bah-bump. (With a tiny crunch sound.)

I quickly stopped and had a look. It was on the pavement, twitching, and then slowly limped its way to the bushes on the other side of the path. A bunch of people were watching it, but this was the mid-80's so there wasn't really any hating of me going on, like there would be today. Today I'd probably be hung in effigy, if not for real. We all kind of looked at each other, knowingly, like, well, it was bound to happen, and who cares because there are more where that one came from.

So, my concern for the squirrel resulted in me being late to class, and because we all had to speak German in class, I had to explain what happened, in German. I butchered it, but got the point across. "Ich fahre uber ein squirrel."

Translated, I apparently said "I drive over a squirrel." Like, it's happening now. And "squirrel" is only understood because you already know English.

Google says I should have said "Ich lief ein Eichhörnchen über."

The more you know.

Anyway, after class, I went back to the place where it happened, and the squirrel wasn't there anymore, that I could see. No little shrines had been erected, either. But again, shrines for dead rodents weren't a thing yet. Because, no Internet.
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Old 04-12-16, 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted by patrickgm60
Certainly seems possible, to me. Suicidal squirrel runs into the wheel, gets caught in the spokes, leading to massive crash and fork failure.
Or, are you referring to the MTB pedals on a road bike?
It's definitely possible and I agree with you, I just remember someone on this forum was convinced the squirrel was planted to make a funny photo after a fork snapped by some other means. I think they thought the squirrel would be cut in half if it actually made it into the wheel rather than getting snagged and dragged back up into the fork. This is why aero spokes are so important.
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Old 04-12-16, 03:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Yendor72
I had a frog jump into my front spokes, It went around a couple times in there.
I had the same thing happen. Frog jumped into my front wheel, went around a couple times and was flung out against my leg. Didn't seem to be hurt; I looked back and saw it hopping away.
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Old 04-12-16, 03:33 PM
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Pretty good story. I once ran over a racoon in an alley with a car. It was squirting blood everywhere and eventually died.
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Old 04-12-16, 03:51 PM
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Mountain biking with a group of friends. I'm probably... 3rd in line bombing down this hill. At the bottom of a dip and around a slight curve a grouse decided it wanted to take up residence in the middle of the trail. The first person missed it completely, the second person grazed and stunned it so much so that when I got to it, it just sat in the middle of the trail and looked at me. Since it wasn't moving I managed to miss it, however the person behind me was not so lucky and was branded the bird killer for the rest of the summer. Apparently it exploded in a shower of feathers.
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Old 04-12-16, 04:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Hot Potato
I bark at them from a distance so they don't wait until I am right on them to do their thing. Yes, they ALWAYS seem to double back. It's the whole bushy tail evolution, the large tail seems to be going one way while the body goes another to confuse predators. So zig zagging IS built into them. And doubling back.


Suicidal rabbits respond to the bark better.
I yell at them in a screech, "SQUIRREL, SQUIRREL, SQUIRREL" works great, they usually head of into the field in one direction, turtles get bunny hopped. How do bumble bees know to hit me between the eyes every #$@$%^ng time?!
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Old 04-12-16, 05:28 PM
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Rule #59, even with wildlife...
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Old 04-12-16, 07:01 PM
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I seem to remember an article about a prominent Canadian orchestra? Conducted being killed by a squirrel in the front spokes a few years ago. Or was it a rabbit? Sometimes the critter take you out too.
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Old 04-12-16, 07:04 PM
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I had a bird fly through my front wheel. Well, not through. It was a mess.
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Old 04-12-16, 07:38 PM
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A squirrel in the front wheel a common problem, but it's far from rare. It seems to be more common in the last few years, which may be an attributable to low spoke count wheels, or maybe CF forks are breaking more often than steel ones did, so the consequences are more severe

OR

It might only seem more common because the internet results in more frequent reporting of accidents whose rates haven't hanged at all.

The takeaway is that it happens and there's not much you can do to prevent it. So ride alert,------- or carry a bag of acorns.
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Old 04-12-16, 07:58 PM
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
So ride alert,------- or carry a bag of acorns.
That's good foreign policy right there.
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Old 04-12-16, 09:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Dan333SP
It's definitely possible and I agree with you, I just remember someone on this forum was convinced the squirrel was planted to make a funny photo after a fork snapped by some other means. I think they thought the squirrel would be cut in half if it actually made it into the wheel rather than getting snagged and dragged back up into the fork. This is why aero spokes are so important.
I don't understand how the direction of the break is possible if it was a caught squirrel. Wouldn't the fork break in the other direction via the squirrel moving the fork forwards past the breaking point? Unless they were practicing going backwards downhill.
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Old 04-12-16, 09:43 PM
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Originally Posted by SquireBikesalot
I don't understand how the direction of the break is possible if it was a caught squirrel. Wouldn't the fork break in the other direction via the squirrel moving the fork forwards past the breaking point? Unless they were practicing going backwards downhill.
It's simple physics and the power of leverage.

The breaking force is the result of the bike pushing forward while the fork tip is held in place by the friction of the stationary front wheel on the pavement. Normally the fork flexes over it;s length with the highest bending moment at the crown. A squirrel jammed against the back of the blade changes that, moving the fulcrum down onto the blade, which is not designed for those loads, and it breaks back.

The suddenness of the event is also important. In normal breaking the force is applied relatively gradually and the rider has time to get pitched over the bars, and saving the fork. But a front wheel lockup happens much faster, before the rider can be launched, and the G-forces are much higher.

This change in the leverage involved goes beyond squirrels, as people are learning that forks need to be hardened because disc brakes put similarly higher stresses on the blades. (or at least, one of them).
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Old 04-13-16, 07:38 AM
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Originally Posted by rmfnla
Rule #59, even with wildlife...
These squirrels need to up their 5.
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