Critter Encounters
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- 7eregrine
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Critter Encounters
Had my first one yesterday.
Swear this squirrel had a deathwish. I didn't even see him until he darted out into the road. Didn't have to brake real hard but I swear my front tire missed this little guy by about 1 foot. No exageration.
Did you really need to cross that badly little dude?
OK, my critter story is a bit lame and boring. Who has a better one?
Swear this squirrel had a deathwish. I didn't even see him until he darted out into the road. Didn't have to brake real hard but I swear my front tire missed this little guy by about 1 foot. No exageration.
Did you really need to cross that badly little dude?
OK, my critter story is a bit lame and boring. Who has a better one?
I will not join a racist club that thinks one color is better then another. We are ALL BUDDY'S!
- DennisD
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Timely thread.
My route to work takes me around a bayou and I call it the devil's triangle. Its where I've been hammered in thunderstorms 3 times this summer. Yesterday, riding a bit faster than usual, a duck wandered from behind some shrubs and into my path. A car was oncoming so maneuvering space was limited. The more I went to the left the faster the duck waddled into my path. All of this happened really fast including the realization that "Oh s***, this is gonna hurt!" You see it coming and nothing will change it. Suddenly the duck developed the agility if not the speed of a squirrel, reversed course and waddled back to the bushes on the side of the road. Big, big sigh of relief.
My route to work takes me around a bayou and I call it the devil's triangle. Its where I've been hammered in thunderstorms 3 times this summer. Yesterday, riding a bit faster than usual, a duck wandered from behind some shrubs and into my path. A car was oncoming so maneuvering space was limited. The more I went to the left the faster the duck waddled into my path. All of this happened really fast including the realization that "Oh s***, this is gonna hurt!" You see it coming and nothing will change it. Suddenly the duck developed the agility if not the speed of a squirrel, reversed course and waddled back to the bushes on the side of the road. Big, big sigh of relief.
- charlie55
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Do "decommissioned" critters count?
Got stuck in a traffic jam the other day with a flattened skunk about three feet to port. Looked like the little stiff had been fermenting for a couple of days. Traffic in the other direction was moving, so every passing vehicle just wafted more and more of the scent in my direction.
In so far as squirrels go, our MSF instructors referred to them as "squishables". The connotation is that you should never try to actively avoid them since you endanger yourself, and all of that herky-jerky jinking around is their way of avoiding a straight-line attack. Just keep going, and they'll usually get out of your way. Personally, I'm thinking of experimenting with a polo mallet.
Got stuck in a traffic jam the other day with a flattened skunk about three feet to port. Looked like the little stiff had been fermenting for a couple of days. Traffic in the other direction was moving, so every passing vehicle just wafted more and more of the scent in my direction.
In so far as squirrels go, our MSF instructors referred to them as "squishables". The connotation is that you should never try to actively avoid them since you endanger yourself, and all of that herky-jerky jinking around is their way of avoiding a straight-line attack. Just keep going, and they'll usually get out of your way. Personally, I'm thinking of experimenting with a polo mallet.
- jfrost2
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To be honest, I ride through a wooded area with no lights every week, the roads are pitch black besides a occasional house light and my head light. I've never seen 1 raccoon, deer, or anything. I always ride real slow incase one jumps out I can stop easily. Once I get back into the main roads, I ride at the speed limit.
- italiaguy
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I cut through a metro park on the way to work. Yesterday a family of deer crossed in front of me, not close enough for me to break hard, but close enough to make me think that I'd better keep an eye out for deer in the future.
On the way home that day, the same deer family jumped out again heading the other way. This time I had to break.
Even wildlife doesn't think twice about pulling out in front of us.
On the way home that day, the same deer family jumped out again heading the other way. This time I had to break.
Even wildlife doesn't think twice about pulling out in front of us.
- Quo Vadimus
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- BeetleGoose
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Hehehe... you're invisible, even to them!italiaguy wrote:I cut through a metro park on the way to work. Yesterday a family of deer crossed in front of me, not close enough for me to break hard, but close enough to make me think that I'd better keep an eye out for deer in the future.
On the way home that day, the same deer family jumped out again heading the other way. This time I had to break.
Even wildlife doesn't think twice about pulling out in front of us.
I wanted a scooter; ended up buying a motorcycle instead.
- ScooterMcGee
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Well first day on my scoot, Im heading off campus on my way home Im peacfully riding when I see a bird out of the corner of my eye. I guess it was suicidal because it just swooped right down in front of me I had no time to break and took the bird full speed with my leg shield.
And if the county we invented will fall from grace
I guess we'll have to fly away in our own space...Think Locally ..F*ck Globally
I was once asked If I were a tattoo what would I be?... I responded Id be a teardrop Tattoo under a bloodshot eye.
I guess we'll have to fly away in our own space...Think Locally ..F*ck Globally
I was once asked If I were a tattoo what would I be?... I responded Id be a teardrop Tattoo under a bloodshot eye.
- nrg70
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I dont know if this counts as a 'critter encounter'....they told us this would happen eventually in my MSF class, but honestly, I didnt believe them...I was takinga joy ride through one of the nicer neighborhoods here in Seattle. I decided to make a right into a culdesac when out of nowhere a big Golden Retriever started barking and totaly came at me full speed. Now, in MSF class they tell us to stay still, or pull up a little then stop, all to confuse the dog. So, totaly ignoring everything I learned, I hit the gas and got out of there as fast as I could, barely making it out of there as he/she /it nearly got a nice chunk out of my leg. I survived the Golden Jaws Of Death.
Not all who wander are lost -J.R.R. Tolkien
- Drumwoulf
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Years ago you could ride thru most wooded roads and never see a deer. We usta go camping, and seeing if you could spot a deer was a great kid's sport..! Now it appears that even the most developed areas of my NJ suburban area will have a deer or two just waiting to pop out on you, and sometimes even in daylight!jfrost2 wrote:To be honest, I ride through a wooded area with no lights every week, the roads are pitch black besides a occasional house light and my head light. I've never seen 1 raccoon, deer, or anything. I always ride real slow incase one jumps out I can stop easily. Once I get back into the main roads, I ride at the speed limit.
I think the problem is that in many areas of the USA we're over-developing the burbs, and the deer have less and less deep wooded areas to live in; that's why we now find small herds of them feeding on people's front lawns in my area!
I feel sorry for the deer, but I certainly don't want to hit one on my scooter! So I ride very slow at night on certain roads in the areas where they are known to habitat...!
I'm used to the ones who cross the road in front of me by now, because almost every evening that I ride there are small packs of deer who do this! -What does scare me tho is I once had a deer run out into the road and ram the side of my van, hitting it right in the middle. The deer staggered off, so maybe it survived, but if it had done that to me on my scoot it could've really hurt!
Things I've hit in 29 years of motorbike riding: Rabbits, squirrels, a skunk, chickens, and I once had to outrun two huge German Shepherd guard dogs who were snapping at my legs and trying to tear me offa my motorcycle!!
Oh, and also once a HUGE turkey buzzard took off from a feed on the side of the road as I was passing by, and I had to duck as it flew right at my head! It then flew straight ahead in front of me, so close I could've put my finger in it's AH! I had to slow down to let it fly away from me!
And then there was the Fed Ex truck whose packages came spewing and bouncing out of it's open side door as I was riding behind it....
All part of the joys of riding...
Last edited by Drumwoulf on Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Namaste,
~drummer~
07 Buddy 125
07 Vespa GT200
~drummer~
07 Buddy 125
07 Vespa GT200
- Twentyfourskys
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Once I took my scooter on a long road trip and I was riding at night and I realized it wasnt the living creatures that were the problem on my night ride. It was the dead ones. I turned this corner and a dead raccoon was in the middle of the road and I couldnt turn in time so I braced myself. I hit it and it launched me in the air(mind you I was going 50mph) and I flew so high that my knees hit the handle bars and turned on my hazards. I landed and wobbled out a little bit but landed it. Crazy stuff.
- sotied
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PHEW. Ducks are some of my favorite people. I never would have forgiven you if you had turned his quack into a croak.DennisD wrote:Timely thread.
My route to work takes me around a bayou and I call it the devil's triangle. Its where I've been hammered in thunderstorms 3 times this summer. Yesterday, riding a bit faster than usual, a duck wandered from behind some shrubs and into my path. A car was oncoming so maneuvering space was limited. The more I went to the left the faster the duck waddled into my path. All of this happened really fast including the realization that "Oh s***, this is gonna hurt!" You see it coming and nothing will change it. Suddenly the duck developed the agility if not the speed of a squirrel, reversed course and waddled back to the bushes on the side of the road. Big, big sigh of relief.
I have yet to hit a critter, but the squirrels and chipmunks are pure Kevorkian-trained up here in Boston. And this time of year they're just pulling out lounge chairs and spreading themselves out in the middle of the road.
Let's not mention the skunks that are splatted everywhere these days AND they're quite slick if you ride over them by mistake. I had a quiver as my scoot skipped a beat going over the wiry fur and mushy guts of a skunk the other day.
- Scooter Hoot
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Do stupid pedestrians count as critters? If so then I've had what seems like dozens of near misses this month alone ... I swear everyone in downtown Houston is too busy playing with their blackberries or cell phone to even bother looking ...
Thankfully my normal routes don't take me through areas that have a significant amount of wildlife, but we'll see.
Thankfully my normal routes don't take me through areas that have a significant amount of wildlife, but we'll see.
- dorian
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During the lunch hour today I was riding down a busy street (El Camino Real). I usually split lanes when coming up to a traffic light with stopped traffic so I can start out in front.
As I was going by a pickup truck some little SOB of a fuzzy dog suddenly stuck its head out the window and bit the shoulder of my jacket. I wear a Joe Rocket mesh jacket, and its teeth apparently got hung up in the mesh and padding of the shoulder. So I came to a stop and this fuzzy snorting 2 pound rat of a dog is stuck to my shoulder and this bleach blonde Hilton wannabe is yelling at the top of her lung capacity from the pickup truck.
I put the side stand down and basically parked the scooter on the cross walk at the intersection. Amazed that the dog is still hanging from my shoulder, and half hoping it would fall off and put itself out of my misery, I walked back to the pick up truck. I didn't bother taking off my helmet in fear that little purse-rodent would next attack my ear. The blonde in the truck leaned back away from me in fear as I approached her door. I asked her to please remove her @^$%$#@ beast from my shoulder before I scraped it off on the pavement. She reached out the window and delicately disengaged the oddly silent beast from my jacket.
Thats the only critter encounter I've had so far with scooter.
As I was going by a pickup truck some little SOB of a fuzzy dog suddenly stuck its head out the window and bit the shoulder of my jacket. I wear a Joe Rocket mesh jacket, and its teeth apparently got hung up in the mesh and padding of the shoulder. So I came to a stop and this fuzzy snorting 2 pound rat of a dog is stuck to my shoulder and this bleach blonde Hilton wannabe is yelling at the top of her lung capacity from the pickup truck.
I put the side stand down and basically parked the scooter on the cross walk at the intersection. Amazed that the dog is still hanging from my shoulder, and half hoping it would fall off and put itself out of my misery, I walked back to the pick up truck. I didn't bother taking off my helmet in fear that little purse-rodent would next attack my ear. The blonde in the truck leaned back away from me in fear as I approached her door. I asked her to please remove her @^$%$#@ beast from my shoulder before I scraped it off on the pavement. She reached out the window and delicately disengaged the oddly silent beast from my jacket.
Thats the only critter encounter I've had so far with scooter.
- Becktastic
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holy $h!^! That's a crazy story o_O I would have demanded she buy me a new jacket ><dorian wrote:During the lunch hour today I was riding down a busy street (El Camino Real). I usually split lanes when coming up to a traffic light with stopped traffic so I can start out in front.
As I was going by a pickup truck some little SOB of a fuzzy dog suddenly stuck its head out the window and bit the shoulder of my jacket. I wear a Joe Rocket mesh jacket, and its teeth apparently got hung up in the mesh and padding of the shoulder. So I came to a stop and this fuzzy snorting 2 pound rat of a dog is stuck to my shoulder and this bleach blonde Hilton wannabe is yelling at the top of her lung capacity from the pickup truck.
I put the side stand down and basically parked the scooter on the cross walk at the intersection. Amazed that the dog is still hanging from my shoulder, and half hoping it would fall off and put itself out of my misery, I walked back to the pick up truck. I didn't bother taking off my helmet in fear that little purse-rodent would next attack my ear. The blonde in the truck leaned back away from me in fear as I approached her door. I asked her to please remove her @^$%$#@ beast from my shoulder before I scraped it off on the pavement. She reached out the window and delicately disengaged the oddly silent beast from my jacket.
Thats the only critter encounter I've had so far with scooter.
Lift heavy eat clean!
- dorian
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By far, the best written critter encounter ever can be found here. It has become quite a bit of lore and can be found at most two-wheeled forums:
http://www.bloggingwv.com/biker-squirrel-from-hell/
http://www.bloggingwv.com/biker-squirrel-from-hell/
- betsy q. bramble
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You know what...I have used the magical powers of my air horn more times on ANIMALS than bad drivers. I've had squirrels and bunnies run into the road, and as soon as I hit that horn, they flee back into the woods from which they sprang. It's awesome! I'd really really hate to hit one.
I recently drove through a flock of birds. That was awesome. Somehow none of them hit me...we just kind of floated along together for a second, me in the middle. I love me the animals.
I recently drove through a flock of birds. That was awesome. Somehow none of them hit me...we just kind of floated along together for a second, me in the middle. I love me the animals.
- olhogrider
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- k1dude
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Actually it's not that we're encroaching, they are just getting smarter. If you talk with fish and game officials, it's a trend happening all over. Deer have figured out they get food and safety in residential neighborhoods. A neighborhood has a virtual salad bar for them to feast on along with a ready supply of water. They have figured out they are also protected from hunters and natural predators. Deer population studies have been done where they find the thousands of square miles of surrounding forest/grasslands are devoid of deer, yet the adjacent few square miles of subdivisions are full of them. I know that has held true in several neighborhoods in several states I've lived in. The scary trend is bears. They are beginning to figure out neighborhoods mean food and water too. And that is not a good thing for bears or people.Drumwoulf wrote:I think the problem is that in many areas of the USA we're over-developing the burbs, and the deer have less and less deep wooded areas to live in; that's why we now find small herds of them feeding on people's front lawns in my area!
I feel sorry for the deer, but I certainly don't want to hit one on my scooter!
Last edited by k1dude on Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:43 am, edited 2 times in total.
- BeetleGoose
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Well, I think the underlying fact is that wild animals don't know any better than to go down into developed areas. The concept of boundaries to them is foreign.k1dude wrote:Actually it not that we're encroaching, they are just getting smarter. If you talk with fish and game officials, it a trend happening all over. Deer have figured out they get food and safety in residential neighborhoods. A neighborhood has a virtual salad bar for them to feast on along with a ready supply of water. They have figured out they are also protected from hunters and natural predators. Deer population studies have be done where they find the thousands of square miles of surrounding forest/grasslands are devoid of deer, yet the adjacent few square miles of subdivisions are full of them. I know that has held true in several neighborhoods in several states I've lived in. The scary trend is bears. They are beginning to figure out neighborhoods mean food and water too. And that is not a good thing for bears or people.Drumwoulf wrote:I think the problem is that in many areas of the USA we're over-developing the burbs, and the deer have less and less deep wooded areas to live in; that's why we now find small herds of them feeding on people's front lawns in my area!
I feel sorry for the deer, but I certainly don't want to hit one on my scooter!
I wanted a scooter; ended up buying a motorcycle instead.
- addictionriot
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