bikewench

coo....

may they shyte on your bike then...
or better yet... through the holes in your helmet... ;o)

Portis

No kidding. Sounds like what you were doing was endangering human life by stopping traffic to save a stupid pidgeon. You would have been much better off getting on your cell and calling FEMA.

Then again, maybe i am just bitter. When i was a kid we had two "pet" pidgeons that we captured out of the barn. They were little and hadn't learned to fly yet. We kept them in a cardboard box on the side of the house.

I came home from school one day to find that my killer Poodle had decided to behead them. Say La Vee!

Pfoot

pidgeons do indeed suck.

now turtles are another story. i've stopped traffic to help a turtle across the road, but never had a cager honk at me for it.

ChroMo2

Maybe the pidgeon was drinking.

ovoleg

not on asphalt....lol

I got over it, didn't even ride today due to the wierd time change and busy schedule.

I think motorist get worse and worse...Today I was going down Reseda and to my left 3 guys got into a car accident. The guy in the back(Black Lincoln) hits them and slowly moves to the right. I thought he was pulling over but I went to the right also and then I saw him floor it. He went around cars and was gone. I swear, people now adays are jack*ss's...

If anyone sees a black lincoln SUV, call the cops.

No one got his license plate either because we didn't expect him to leave. The guy has a very damaged rear end too.

FLBandit

I can see it now. "Well your honor I had just returned form giving blood to orphans with cancer, and was on my way to my weekly volunteer job with meals for elderly, homebound, invalids. I stopped to help one of the wonderful creatures of the world when pow, this raging lunatic gets out of his car and hits me while calling me vile, gender related names!!"

TallRider

One thing that hasn't been mentioned here... motorists aren't all bad. I suspect that a lot of the motorists backed up in this particular situation would have been pleased and supportive if they found out that you were getting that bird off the road. It's just, you only hear the ones that are honking and yelling at you. As in most situations, the whiners and complainers are more visible.

Secondly, I don't know if others of you have had this experience, but it's very easy to get angry at a bike when you're driving a car. Five years ago I was driving along in Cleveland (where I lived at the time), and a bike cut off a passing lane that I was going to take around a slow car in front of me. I was annoyed, and thought, "stupid bike" before I realized that (a) what the cyclist had done was completely legal, and (b) I'd have done exactly the same thing were I in his situation. Then I felt bad and guilty. The point being that when you're driving, you're mostly focused on effectively getting where you want to get, and inconveniences are annoying, and it's more difficult than I would have expected to be virtuous and be firstly concerned with the safety and rights of others. I'm better at this now, but it's taken a fair bit of work.

jonathanrules

you did a good thing!

baiskeli

In all seriousness, people like you restore my faith in humanity

Mike_Like_Bike

I stop for turtles and help them across the road all the time. I'm a recreational rider anyway, so having a little break to help out (I hope that's what I'm doing) an animal isn't really a problem. I could go on and tell you about the time I stopped to get a turtle out of the road and as I was getting ready to walk back to it a car came along and smashed him right in front me. F**k**s...

pricklycommute

Just wait until avian flu gets into a pigeon population somewhere in the states...

bhh

pigeons are flying rats.

EDIT: oops, someone already said that. +1 then.

timmhaan

that's cool you did that. i just wish more people would have respect for life like that.

va_cyclist

+1 more

rOOster14

or think of it this way. cars will swerve to miss a pidgeon but actually attempt to scrape cyclists.

Wind 'N Snow

Ovoleg, you indeed did a "nice" thing. And in the greater karmic world you may be rewarded.

Here in the outskirts of reality, I've paused for ducks families, geese, foxes, and even a Doe and Fawn both on bike and in car... And I have rescued and revived several sparrows/finches that have flown into my house's huge picture window...I look a bit like a tree.

Some of the points made on this thread are valid.

Yeah Pigeons are rats, would you have rescued a rat in a similar predicament? Think hard!

Motorists are jerks...Yeah.

They have somewhere to go and are generally in a hurry and usually are more concerned (those not on cell phones) with not crashing into hard objects than avoiding "road debris".

It's funny, hikers would say the same about bikers and bikers would say the same about ATVers and skiers would say the same to snowmobilers and sailers would say the same to the @#$@ing @66holes on jetskis, but I digress.

If, in your world, you believe you did a good thing, and if you didn't put yourself or motorists in danger, cool! A little bell might ring for you in heaven.

This is where I really go off topic.

What really bugs me is the human assumption that somehow we are responsible for the lives of all living creatures. I know there is that Genesis stuff, although I like Peter Gabriel better...

As humans, it is our responsibilty (one that we have failed) to not destroy the landscape (for our descendends) , and to do what we can to not destroy the habitat (and the lives) of other creatures with whom we share this ball of dirt (Our descendends might need them, dodo!)

But we are human. That's what we do. We don't share, we take over, pollute, claim as our own, ****, pillage, rename, plunder, iradiate - pick your word...

It is arrogant for humans to think that they are singlehandedly responsible for saving the animals from the world they have created.

A budhist or a hindu may say you have done good, ovoleg. I would agree.

But you cannot fault a driver for not sharing your karma. There's plenty other things you can fault car drivers with.

As for the pigeon. Remember that pigeon's natural habitat (formally cliffs) are now cities. Like Rats, squirrels and politicians, they chose to live in cities and are bound by the inherent benefits and dangers of that.

Getting stunned by hitting a windshield is one danger. Getting saved by you is one benefit.

Point of this rant? Don't blame others if they dont' share your sensibilities. That makes you no better than them.



I wonder, would an airplane pilot be given the same grief on landing or take-off?

meme

Even though I've nursed an injured bird back to health some years back, I don't think I would do that these days. They could be infected with the West Nile virus or even worse, the avian flu...

DannoXYZ 

How'd the turtle get into this? If I a saw turtle crossing the street... it'd be turtle-soup along with the pidgeon!

CanyonChaser

I'm a beliver in doing my best to get injured animals off the road. I once dragged a deer that had recently been hit and had a broken hip off the road. But more to prevent another accident than to protect the forest-rat (I don't think very highly of deer). But I also called the DWR to take care of it.

But idiot drivers is another matter... What is the deal with screaming at me, honking your horn or trying to scarpe my handlebar tape onto your mirror? I hate that!! I used to flip off drivers until one got out of his car and tried to tackle me. (And I was on the motorcycle). He stopped right in front of me and got out. I got away, and then he started chasing me down the street trying to ram me and/or run me off the road. Traffic was heavy so I didn't have many options. One of the scariest moments of my life, mostly because it took me off guard so badly.

Incedentially a cop was on the side of the road and saw the whole thing but called it in as a motorcyclists riding wrecklessly. But I digress.

But ever since that moment, my middle finger had never been shown standing out on its own as a response to anybody else. I'm not willing to die just to tell someone they are number one.

dp

timmhaan

i don't necessarily think the issue is saving the pigeon or not. it's the fact that the OP had to endure a very rude gesture simply because he chose to help something non-human. all the driver had to do was lay off the horn and wait about 10 seconds. that apparently, was too much to ask for. not only do those people in the car not give a crap about the bird, they doesn't give a crap about the OP either.

Wind 'N Snow

touché!

viper5dn

don't forget that in our other lives, we also drive cars. Remember that the next time you feel a bit of road rage coming on.

SDRider

May a rat bite you on the a$$ while you sleep. Or nibble a hole in all your spare tubes.

Pigeons are nothing more than sky rats. They are a menace around here. They nest in your eaves, crap all over your roof and property and are generally filthy disgusting creatures. I found one wounded and starving, too weak to escape or move, so I just grabbed a shovel and put it out of its misery with a couple good whacks and threw the carcass in the trash where it belongs.

Why on earth anyone would try to save a wounded pigeon is beyond me. It would be like saving a wounded rat, cockroach or gopher.

I wouldn't even eat the filthy creatures.

budster

Why all the pigeon hate?

Each one of us is a living creature, too, you know. We're all in this together, whether you accept it or not. We all have our role to play, even pigeons.

Besides, kindness and hatred are each their own reward.

SDRider

I hate them because they are filthy vermin and it costs me good money to eradicate these pests. When I bought this house we had at least 4-5 families of them nesting in our eaves. I had to call out an exterminator to put netting up over those areas and they pulled about 3 large trashbags full of nesting material and bird crap off my roof.

BTW-Pigeon crap is toxic and is not healthy for small children to be around or breathe if it becomes airborne.
No sky rat is worth the health of my son.

You want to know what's really rewarding? Killing pigeons!!!