Does anyone else shoo wildlife off the road?

[Barracuda]

Not animals - people

I have had to pull the car of my riding partner over to the side of the road and insist I drive after the TDU ride two years ago.

They had suffered a major bout of narcalepsy after the long days ride.......

 

[valentius borealis]

Yeah Bro we got them all Down Under mate..On day last summer while out riding my Mtb on a 4wd track beside the river.I managed to run over 6 to 7 snakes within 50 metres and would have hit more except i managed to jump over roughly half of them.Needless to say i havent ventured back to that trail since.(Summer in Australia can be very hot so snakes come out to bake)But i wont go into the story about the Kangaroo that jumped into the middle of our bunch whilst racing?

There's a track by the river near where I live (which from looking at your username could be the track that you're referring to) which is popular with mountain bikers and trail bike riders. The son of one of my mum's work colleagues was riding a trail bike along there and collided with a panther.

 

[valentius borealis]

There's a track not far from where I live (Emu Heights to Yarramundi for anybody who knows the lower Blue Mountains) which is popular with mountain bikers and trail bike riders. I know of a guy who collided with a panther (but his bike had a motor).

 

[Notso Swift]

Was the Panther from Penrith?

 

[9000ft]

I once tried to herd a rattle snake off the road (I was driving my car) but it wanted nothing to do with me. I had a long stick and it just went defensive and struck at the stick. I then tried getting behind it and threw stones and that didn't work either. I finally gave up and left it alone, in the middle of the road. This was a lightly traveled dirt road so hopefully it didn't get run over. We need those snakes to keep the rodent population in check.

 

[bridgeman]

I've experienced and seen a lot of crazy stuff with animals but this morning, on the return leg towards the end of the Spectrum ride (Los Altos CA.), a big Red Tail Hawk flew into the front of the group. It swooped down along side of us and them just turned into a rider about 5th back.

A huge mass of feathers and a near crash, but everyone managed to stay up. Guys were spitting feathers for the next few miles. Unfortunately, the collision killed this incredibly beautiful bird instantly.

 

[Road Hazard]

I've experienced and seen a lot of crazy stuff with animals but this morning, on the return leg towards the end of the Spectrum ride (Los Altos CA.), a big Red Tail Hawk flew into the front of the group. It swooped down along side of us and them just turned into a rider about 5th back.

A huge mass of feathers and a near crash, but everyone managed to stay up. Guys were spitting feathers for the next few miles. Unfortunately, the collision killed this incredibly beautiful bird instantly.

Wow, that is terrible. It seems that some of the wildlife has become too comfortable with humans and cyclists.

In the lowlands of San Mateo/mid-peninsula, the geese are way too comfortable with bikes and cars. They are gray and black and camouflage quite effectively against the road. The other day I saw some goslings (sp?), aka baby geese who had been run over.

I haven't had a deer come out onto the road, but I give them wide berth.

And yeah, the chipmunks and squirrels have apparently adopted a "cut back in front" move to avoid predators. May work fine for foxes and coyotes, but a cutting back in front of a bike moving at 25 mph is not good survival strategy.

 

[bobs nob]

I've experienced and seen a lot of crazy stuff with animals but this morning, on the return leg towards the end of the Spectrum ride (Los Altos CA.), a big Red Tail Hawk flew into the front of the group. It swooped down along side of us and them just turned into a rider about 5th back.

A huge mass of feathers and a near crash, but everyone managed to stay up. Guys were spitting feathers for the next few miles. Unfortunately, the collision killed this incredibly beautiful bird instantly.

what a bird brain

 

[bobs nob]

Wow, that is terrible. It seems that some of the wildlife has become too comfortable with humans and cyclists.

In the lowlands of San Mateo/mid-peninsula, the geese are way too comfortable with bikes and cars. They are gray and black and camouflage quite effectively against the road. The other day I saw some goslings (sp?), aka baby geese who had been run over.

I haven't had a deer come out onto the road, but I give them wide berth.

And yeah, the chipmunks and squirrels have apparently adopted a "cut back in front" move to avoid predators. May work fine for foxes and coyotes, but a cutting back in front of a bike moving at 25 mph is not good survival strategy.

One of the largest deer I ever saw ran in front of us once, maybe 100 yards in front, so no worries, but he was a big son of a gun. Couldn't really leap, just sort of lumbered at his own pace.

Squirrels cutting back? I just try and relax and not tense up. If ya hit 'em, ya hit 'em but tensing up just increases my likelihood of going down. Buncha gees ran right in front once, dumb basterds, they were nice and calm in a group on the grass, saw me and decided to diagonal run along the pavement in the same direction. That was a little weird. One of them flapped right on my front wheel.

 

[richwagmn]

Today I saved a turtle that was in the middle of the road. I think it might have been a pet from a nearby house. I usually usher snakes off the road when I find them.

Sure, those animals that are just sitting ducks to get run over. Creates good karma.

My problem lately is suicide bunnies and squirrels. What's with the stopping, staring at me and then dodging at the last minute?

 

[bridgeman]

I was doing hill sprints, and as I'm going up this really steep short hill, I see a large buck up top, standing sideways. So I'm thinking ok, he'll move along any moment now. But he didn't. He held his ground.

I'm getting a little nervous and because he was so bold, I was thinking he was going to charge at me if I turned around. He just kept standing there, licking his nose.

So in a panic, I decided I better pull out all the stops and get real animated and noisy.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally walked to the side of the road. Very slowy. What a hard ***!

 

[durianrider]

This is a snake I had to shoo away from the front door. When a snake is this big, you gotta pretend your boss,but you aint really.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p98/durianrider/snake.jpg[/img]]

Ive cycled all over the world and saved many an animals life on the road and at meal time too.