It's said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

We got the joke. People complained. Please keep it clean.

it's not as bad as close encounters with a skunk or coyote.

I'm actually surprised that you can still find deers (don valley trail), coyotes (peel lakeshore trail) and foxes (high park) in this city.

Tom,

As someone who graduated from a college with the beaver as its mascot..c'mon, think the best of people [perhaps I am slow on the pickup, but, I did not see any "drifting" in comments prior to your post.]

All the 'drifting' has been deleted...

I just came in here to get banned. Looks like I'm late. And immature.

Is it too late to say that "almost" doesn't count?

Out of season?

There's a beaver season?

We have big river beavers in our neck of the woods. They are very dark and can get to maybe 40 lb. I've chased a few off of the road...I think they only get on the road when they get confused. They aren't smart, but they do what they do very well, and so we otta look after them, when we can.

It is something to be able to go out in the woods and watch the beavers at work... they seem to get acclimated to humans quite easily and I have had them come up very close to where I was sitting and not seem distressed at all.

They can smell really bad.

When I was growing up there were folks we knew that still trapped (for their pelts) and then ate beaver on a regular basis.

I used to help an old trapper on his trapline in the mountains of BC. I've packed big beaver out of from frozen lakes in winter (trapped 'em below the ice) on skis w/ a packboard, to be skinned and meat stored in the meat shed.

Beaver tastes like strong pork.

My daughter's willow bough cradle was lined with beaver skin and she always liked snuggling furry creatures as a result.

No beavers around here but one of these (Malayan Monitor) ran across my path a few weeks ago:



It was about 4 feet nose to tail. They are pretty harmless but I'm not sure I could have bunny hopped it!

Living in a city state there is very little in the way of wildlife to look at.

We I ride back in the UK I get impressed by cows and sheep.

Agreed, but oh what a temptation!

Good thing we can all control ourselves. OK, well, most of us.

Harmless or not, I'm fairly sure I would've soiled myself at a near-collision with a 4-foot lizard.

This thread has made me want to take another trip to Banff, the only place I've ever seen a moose crossing the street.

Banff is an awesome place. Gotta love a golf course that has a local rule for free relief from "droppings" out on the course. In addition to moose, it's not uncommon to see elk lounging in people's front yards.

The view from Sulfer Mountain is breath taking.

I'd been up there in the winter to go skiing (Sunshine Village/Lake Louise FTW), but really need to head back to do some riding/hiking. Really is amazing up there.

Holy crap, is that thing five feet tall?!

Almost hit an animal ah? Let's see. About 4 months ago, I was doing my morning ride. It was around 4 AM and I see this gigantic bird fly off a mailbox on the same side of the street that I was approaching. It makes a quick turn in mid air and aims for my head trying to rip my helmet off. I guess once it realized I was not a giant rat with lights and carbon fiber it decided to let go. It was an Awl. About a week ago, I riding down the same road, and I see this huge Possum (had to be at least 15 Lb) on the other side of the road. He turns his head, sees me, and decides to go clear back across the street. I was doing about 23-24 MPH at the time. He was walking across and I had no time to turn or do anything, so I grabbed the handlebars as hard as I could and tried to lift the front end a bit. It was too late. As I screamed F..........k, calculated in microseconds how much that fall would cost me in repairs to the bike and work time, and ran small scenarios of how I would land on my face, I could feel my front and rear wheels go right over it. I think I must have run over its neck because otherwise I would have crashed. I did not even look back, but the next day I looked around the same area to see if it was dead and on the side of the road. Nowhere to be found!

I could go on for a while on other near crashes with skunks, a fox, multiple rabbits, a bob cat, and those huge rats with aluminum siding you guys call armadillos. I'll leave it at that for now.

I've been three times, always in the summer. I can only imagine the majesty of it all when it's snow covered, but I hate snow, lol.

A Co-Worker who rode his bike in the early morning to work, hit a Deer once and broke his arm. He said the safest area to aim if you have to hit a Deer is the Ass. Got a lot of cushion there according to him.

I was driving through rural Malaysia once and saw these logs in the distance. As slowed down and got closer, the logs started moving When I got to within about 10 feet, I saw these giant lizards. Needless to say, I didn't get out of the car. Afterwards, I was telling the story to the locals and they said that they were Komodo Dragons and it was a good thing that I didn't get out of the car as they have eaten humans though rarely.

Now a moose, that would be great. I've also read about bear sightings on this baord, now that would help me develop my sprint.

I got "buzzed" by 4 kangaroos in W. Australia last year. I would have reached into my back pocket for my camera but I was completely in awe. It lasted about 20 secs as they came out of no where bounded along the road with me, crossed me and jumped over a 4 fence and disappeared. I love those moments, it reminds me why I cycle in the first place.

Komodos are very different to these guys. To the best of my knowledge they are only found on certain Indonesian islands, including Komodo Island (not Malaysia, certainly not peninsula Malaysia).

They can be aggressive and even a small bite can be bad news as their saliva is nasty.

You are probably right. They said that they were Dragons but whatever they were, it was pretty scary.

Apparently, the locals didn't like them because they would go after their chickens. Given that they had poor eyesight, what they did was to coat chicken-sized rocks with chicken blood and let the lizards eat them. Not being able to digest them, the lizards would drown from the weight of the rocks when they went into water. Pretty amazing to see just the same.

"Damn beaver! That's a nice dam though. What type of wood is that?"

"Maple. Would you like to see it?"

"May I?"

"Not until May, it's not finished yet."

"Alright, I have to take a look at my wheel after that close call"

"We'll see you later."

"Bye."

"Bye."