anybody have close run-ins with squirrels or other wildlife for that matter?

I always seem to sneak up on squirrels in the alley behind my building....must be too quiet for them..

hehe
randy

I'm constantly encountering wildlife: Rabbits, Road Runners, Eagles, Falcons, Beetles, Broncos, Impalas, Jaguars, Cougars, Mustangs, Colts, Stingrays, and Barracudas.

very clever....very clever...

i almost hit a squirrel-like creature yesterday. i'm not sure exactly what it was, but there's a whole hell of a lot of them down by the marina...i was thinking maybe some sort of gopher, because they seem to live underground...but they look like squirrels.

I was coming back from one of my long rides through the countryside the other day and as I was going down the road I was overtaken and passed by a
Semi-Tractor Trailer rig and just after he cleared me about 50 feet ahead a
4 point Buck Deer came bounding out of the woods adjacent to the right hand side of the road and without knowing that I was behind the truck entered the road in front of me. He obviously was waiting for the truck to pass and didn't
realize I was behind the truck and when he saw me he jumped from the middle of my lane clear across the oncoming lane, clearing the ditch on the other side of the road, and caused the car in the oncoming lane to slam on his brakes in a panic stop that swerved all over the road. Luckily there was no accident but I tell you I was picking Brooks Leather out of my butt when I finally pulled to the side of the road and calmed down and surveyed the situation. I find that riding out in the country I have seen Red Fox's, Ground Hogs, and all manner of furry creatures who don't know I am coming because the bike is so quiet I am able to come up on them unawares. You can't just ride without being aware of your surroundings out here. Just like in the city,
only different creatures.

fixedgearhead

I almost squashed a whole flock of guinnea hens a couple months back. I was really really worried for about half a second while the flock decided what to do. It all turned out good but those suckers are big and it would have ended ugly.

Up until about a year and a half ago, I pulled my kids in a two seater trailer. One day toolin' down the road, a squirrel ran out from the bushes not even in front of me. He missed my front wheel, but I ran over his tail with my rear wheel. The critter freaked out! For a moment I was also freaked because I thought he jumped up into the trailer with my kids, which could have been really bad.

I see animals all the time on my rides. The only one I actually hit was a rattle-snake that I couldn't see very well.

there are flocks of homeless people around where I ride....but they tend not to dart in front of my bike, its the crackheads I really have to worry about....but you cant catch them.

I ride with a whistle in my mouth now so when "animals aka pedestrians" dart in front, I can give them a little warning.

I kinda ran over a bird....But it flew UNDER my wheel silly bird...

I tagged a squirrel on the road bike last summer. I was doing +/- 20mph on the bike path when he came running out of the grass beside the path and ran smack into my right foot at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

At first, I wasn't sure what I had hit, but I looked behind me and he was there standing on the bike path wobbling like a woozy drunk.

No front wheel, no back wheel, just smack into my foot. What are the odds?